Daniel (song)

Single infobox
Name = Daniel
Artist = Elton John
from Album = Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player
B-side = "Skyline Pigeon"
Released = March 26, 1973
Length = 3:53
Genre = Pop/Light Rock
Label = MCA (US/Canada) DJM Records
Writer = Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Chart position =

#2 (U.S. Pop)

#4 (UK)

Last single = "Crocodile Rock"
(1972)
This single = Daniel
(1973)
Next single = "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
(1973)

"Daniel" was a major hit slow rock song by Elton John. It appeared on the 1973 album "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player". It was written by John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin. In the United States the song reached #2 on the pop charts and #1 on the adult contemporary charts for two weeks in the spring of 1973. In the UK it made the top 5.

The song

Bernie Taupin wrote "Daniel" while inspired by the events of the Vietnam War. The lyrics (including a verse in the original draft that was cut from the final version) describe a fictional veteran who was blinded as a result of the war, and travels to Spain to escape those around him back home, including his brother, from whose point of view the story is told. [ [http://www.eltonlinks.com/faq.html#qa2 Elton John FAQ] ] "Daniel had been the "most misinterpreted song" that we'd ever written" explained Bernie in the "Two Rooms" tribute project. "The story was about a guy that went back to a small town in Texas, returning from the Vietnam war. They'd lauded him when he came home and treated him like a hero. But he just wanted to go home, go back to the farm, and try to get back to the life that he'd led before. I wanted to write something that was sympathetic to the people that came home".

Covers

"Daniel" was covered on the 1991 album "" by Wilson Phillips. It reached #7 on the US AC chart as an album cut.

"Daniel" was covered on the 1997 album "Light My Fire" by Jose Feliciano.

"Daniel" was covered on the 2005 album "The Brave and the Bold" by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Tortoise.

The American alternative rock band Fuel has also covered the song on their album Something Like Human.

The Japanese ukulele rock duo Petty Booka covered "Daniel" on their album "Blue Lagoon of Petty Booka."

The San Francisco band The Wayside State covers "Daniel" at their live shows.

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