This is definitely my favourite Elton John song ever. It reminds me of something of the consumer culture, and somebody going against it. Levon is seen as the pinnacle of what is right: he is a family man, he makes a lot of money, he is successful, he has a son. But this son does not want this, but instead "wants to go to Venus/and leave Levon far behind" which makes me think of wanting to get out, go away, find something beautiful instead of the stinking motorway and balloon making he has grown up with.
I love the lead-in to the chorus, the "He was born a pauper to a pawn on Christmas day/when the New York Times said God is dead/And the war's begun/Alvin Tolstig has a son today." For some reason, it gives me the image of the stock market crashing in the '30s and all these men walking around with briefcases realising their money and consumer culture was coming down to nothing.
This is definitely my favourite Elton John song ever. It reminds me of something of the consumer culture, and somebody going against it. Levon is seen as the pinnacle of what is right: he is a family man, he makes a lot of money, he is successful, he has a son. But this son does not want this, but instead "wants to go to Venus/and leave Levon far behind" which makes me think of wanting to get out, go away, find something beautiful instead of the stinking motorway and balloon making he has grown up with.
I love the lead-in to the chorus, the "He was born a pauper to a pawn on Christmas day/when the New York Times said God is dead/And the war's begun/Alvin Tolstig has a son today." For some reason, it gives me the image of the stock market crashing in the '30s and all these men walking around with briefcases realising their money and consumer culture was coming down to nothing.