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Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad
Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows, the tune she hums
But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad
Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows, the tune she hums
But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
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However, this song has been in my head since watching Les Miserables this weekend. Curiosity about Fantine's sad circumstances led me to Wikipedia for a quick search, where I came upon the term grisette:
In the first quarter of the 19th century, Grisette also came to refer more specifically to the independent young women, often working as seamstresses or milliner's assistants, who frequented bohemian artistic and cultural venues in Paris. They formed relationships with artists and poets more committed than prostitution but less so than a mistress. Many grisettes worked as artist's models, often providing sexual favours to the artists in addition to posing for them.
Part whore, part muse, I guess.
I just thought the song's words kind of fit into the general definition of the term....
My relationship ended and sad I lonely I decided to go out again. After a few months, I met Iris again despite a huge crowd. We immediately recognized each other. We danced and laughed. Again I was too nervous to ask her out. But afterwards I kept accidently meeting her and finally got the balls to ask her for her number. We called sometimes. We confessed each other our feelings. But... she had a boyfriend for over 6 years. So it never became more than dancing and laughing between us.
We were like this for one year, when suddenly after a party where we danced and laughed a lot. She walked with me to my car. We talked for hours on end. Suddenly she said that she dumped her boyfriend and I kissed her passionately. It was the most beuatiful fridaynight ever and we repeated this the week after.
I was the most happy man ever. But fate struck. 2 days later, after we first kissed I received an e-mail of her mother, saying her daughter really liked me, but she died in a car accident saturdaymorning while driving home. She was 27years old and the most beautifull girl I ever loved. I am scarred for life.
This song was her favorite song of all time. She loved playing the piano, she loved dancing and just like Tiny Dancer will never be Elthon John's girl, Iris will never be mine and will forever remain within me. I get goose bumps when he sings "counts the headlights on the highway". It reminds me of highway hypnosis, and it is thought Iris died because she fell asleep behind the wheel.
So to me this song is someone loving a girl that loved to dance but died tragically and way too young.
I honestly have no idea what it's actually about. I don't know about the reason it was written or the message behind the lyrics. AllI know is that this song will always mean the world to me.
I'm a dancer. I am a dreamer, a writer, a learner. I am going to college and studying, trying hard to make a future for myself.
My boyfriend, on the other hand, sings and plays guitar. He tries hard to make a living off of his music, him and the band.
Everyone says that I'm too good for him, because I have so much to offer and so much ahead of me, and he's just some boy that could never make it to the college and work, adult world.
We stopped caring, though. We stopped caring about what people had to say.
This song always reminds me of one night...
It was after my dance recital, he picked me up and we were driving home (It was a pretty long ride) at night, down the highway. We were completely silent, because I was so exhausted. He just stared at me like he couldn't be any prouder.
We're both a little bit... well, completely obsessed with "oldies" music.
This song came on the radio, and we just started singing it with the top down, riding down the highway.
People looked at us like we were insane, but that didn't really matter.
He would sing most of it, and then we'd both scream the chorus.
It was perfect.
I was watching an episode of Big Love (season 2, episode 4), the song plays at the end of the episode where a girl is running away...
As I listened, the vision I had was of an orphan, who learned to survive on her own. While many others grow up, and look for meaning or a place to belong in life, the orphan was thrust into the world early on and has an uncommon, hard, self found wisdom that she had no choice to find. While others may turn to religion or some other group appropriated means of feeling safe (Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God Turning back she just laughs The boulevard is not that bad). It's not a spiteful laugh. She just knows. She sees reality for what it is. This is ironic since others may not find this simple truth until late in life (or never), or after having dreams shattered or experiencing the many disappointments that life can bring. But it's not bad that she was an orphan. She learned to float and thrive upon the magic of life..the hard times also brought out the real beauty and ability "to see"...the same thing many creatives strive for. But in a way, the orphan never sought out to grab that ability, to be famous, or be seen as creative, or have "the experience" that life can bring. It happened as a result of tragedy, and became a quiet saving grace...really, the hardest way to come to the experience of enlightenment or peace.
As Elton John sings the song, I hear him, or any nameless character who is famous and regarded as a superstar, for their ability to articulate such beauty, realizing that the glory to sing the song or be up on stage is not where the real glory is "Piano man he makes his stand In the auditorium" and that this is kind of sarcasm, and humility vs. the experiences that the runaway/orphan had. She is the real super star in the grand experience.
Well, the orphan grows up. She is ok. She is in the background, naturally attracted to the life of creativity of the musician, although maybe not particularly talented in that regard herself. It is the only place that really defines her. She is in the shadows, behind the limelight, in appreciative servitude...and the beauty of this song, is that her love for the experience, is more beautiful to the singer than his attempt to put the experience into words. It is the singer who is regarded as the enlightened, who turns to the orphan for comfort and to feel safe. This is the irony: The orphan, the unwanted, the discarded...becomes the central figure, or a saving angel, in a quiet unnoticed miracle behind the face of the power (the man singing the song). He sees how hard she has really had to work. What makes it better is that she is ultimately with him, but he really feels how high she really is above him. It is truly beautiful.
Be careful to explain meanings of songs by reference to real life events. Journalism is the means of communicating real life events whereas art is the means of communicating the artist's own reality according to his values. A real life event may trigger the making of art, but that does not mean the event is the art itself, far from it. The art is contained in the actual words, nothing more and nothing less.
The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, John's writing partner. They were inspired by Taupin's first trip to America. John and Taupin are from England, and this was the first album they wrote after spending time in the US.
The "Blue jean baby, LA Lady, seamstress for the band" is Maxine Feibelmann, Bernie Taupin's girlfriend. She traveled with the band on their early tours, often sewing together the costumes and fixing their clothes. She and Taupin were wed in 1971.
This album was much more heavily-produced than Elton's first 4. It was one of his first songs with a lush string section arranged by Paul Buckmaster, who arranged the stings on many of Elton's albums as well as songs by The Rolling Stones, Train, and Leonard Cohen. Ron Cornelius, who played guitar on Cohen's album Songs Of Love And Hate, told us: "Buckmaster is a wonderful string arranger, he's just one of these guys who can make an orchestra talk. In other words, if the strings aren't saying something, it ain't on the record."
Rick Wakeman, who later joined the group Yes.
This was featured in the 2000 movie Almost Famous. It is used in a scene where the band is mad at each other, but remembers why they love music when they all start singing this on their tour bus.
When Tony Danza hosted the ESPY Awards on ESPN, Chris Berman gave him the nickname Tony "Tiny" Danza. He hated it. On the show, he claimed he wanted the nickname Tony "Extrava" Danza.
Elton performed this as a duet with Tim McGraw to open the 2002 American Music Awards. McGraw was named Favorite Male Country Artist, but left before he could accept the award.
of course, 'the words she knows, the tune she hums.....'
it's one of the shining gems of taupin's love songs.