Elton!

Young Elton - I'm in an Elton mood after reading the current Rolling Stone interview

OK, here comes a delusional bit of blogging from a fan. I don't love anyone like I love Elton John. I've never met him and therefore, my relationship to him is entirely fantasmagorical. Until he was 'outed' in the N.O.T.W - in 1976 or whenever, I loved him like a teen girl loves a popstar. After that I wrestled with a lot of concepts to do with growing up and decided to just carry on loving Elton more. I was so lucky when I bombed over to the UK in December unwittingly in time for Elton Weekend on the beeb!

Elton cares so much about his fellow human creatures, from his foundation, to the quiet giving no-one knows about and his generally loving nature, he is just lovely. Forgive him the odd tantrum, he's a genius for the Goddess's sake! Musically he has inspired all the best  pop musicians, from Axl Rose to Kanye West and Lady Gaga. I could go on here. In concert his voice is full of heartbreaking soul and spirit you can't help but be moved into wonderfully heavenly places when he's singing. I love all his music, old and new, though I struggled with 'Nikita'. On the other hand, those were the times we lived in...

EJ tells Rolling Stone this week so much poignant stuff for us fans. 'Levon' from the Madman album is one of his favourite songs, for instance.  OMG EJ, mine too!  Why? It's a dramatic, beautifully produced story. Just like his/my other fave from that album 'Indian Sunset'.  Growing up, these songs felt prolific and prophetic to me,  I was listening to something from the future that I couldn't quite grasp. Levon is about a lonely boy, raised in New York City - now I have sons and live here, it resonates even more. My boys grew up listening to the Madman album and have loved  'Indian Sunset' since they were babies. Sampled by Eminem on a posthumous Tupac hit, EJ's ethnic background is forgiven in this heartbreaking song.

So, after reading the Rolling Stone interview the time has finally come for me to leave my ordinary life behind and just follow Elton. I fancy myself as his official stalker,  think I'll just sit outside his home and eat cupcakes all day.  Because like all delusional fans, I see Elton as my unwitting guardian angel and here's why. When I was 13 I made my Dad take me to see Hull City play Watford just so that I could see Elton. Lucky enough to sit in the Director's box virtually next to him, I collected his Wrigley wrappers and still have them pinned in my scrapbook from the time. I didn't speak to EJ and barely looked at him as it was too embarrassing. Nor did I notice my future HUSBAND sitting on the other side of him. Because my spouse's Dad was a Watford official and travelled with them. I ended up giving birth to both of my children in Vicarage Road, one of them to the sound of the Watford FC crowd.

Before I met my hubby, I had a gay hubby I went everywhere with and he lived virtually at the end of Elton's driveway in Berkshire. He was also an Elton fan, the foundation of our close friendship. He was a pantomime dame, I a lonely, impoverished little hackette living alone in the Big City. That's almost an Elton song in itself.

When I married, the novelty of living near Watford (which we did) quickly wore off  but I did love the Elton connection. I used to love going home through Pinner and Northwood on the train and bought a piano from a shop opposite the pub where Elton played his first gig. In fact that was the only thing I liked about living in Hertfordshire and eventually I had to force a family move back to London for my sanity's sake. Elton had left, why shouldn't I?

Elton's American-inspired early albums cemented the USA in my heart. Although I miss friends and family, America feels like home to me now, thanks to Elton I was already living here in my imagination, years ago.