When you first listen to “Daniel” by Elton John, it sounds like you’re listening to him tell a story about a guy with some serious emotional baggage. In the lyrics of the track, the singer describes a man on a plane headed for Spain. It appears that he is quite wounded, whether that be a real or metaphorical wound. His name is Daniel, and his story is told on the album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player.
Daniel, my brother, you are older than me
Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won’t heal?
Your eyes have died, but you see more than I
Daniel, you’re a star, in the face of the sky.
While music is always up to interpretation, there’s actually an unexpected twist behind the meaning of this song. Bernie Taupin actually wrote the lyrics of Daniel about a Vietnam veteran. As he revealed on his website, per Songfacts, he saw an article in Time magazine about soldiers coming home and being unsure of what to do with the attention that was thrown at them. He chose to write the lyrics of “Daniel” from the perspective of someone’s younger brother.
“…For the most part, they just wanted to get back to a normal life,” he explained. “But found it hard, what with all the looky-loos and the monkeys of war that they carried on their backs.”
A Missing Verse Answers Many of the Questions Surrounding “Daniel”
A big part of the reason why “Daniel” doesn’t really sound like it’s telling the story of a Vietnam veteran is that there’s actually a lost verse to the song. Originally, there was an additional final verse that explained that Daniel was a veteran and talked about his reason for choosing to leave for Spain. However, Elton John decided to cut it out, as the song’s runtime was too long with the verse included.
Even though “Daniel” is missing context, Taupin believes that you don’t need to hear that verse to understand what the song is about.
“We had that whole thing about the missing verse that everybody seems to believe explained the true meaning of the song,” he shared. “I think that’s just an urban legend. It didn’t really explain anything. Sure, it was cut out. But that used to happen all the time with our songs. I would often overwrite, and Elton felt it necessary to edit somewhat. But believe me, it didn’t say anything that the rest of the song didn’t say.”
Listen to “Daniel” for yourself. Do you think it says everything that needs to be said?
Photo by: Arthur Grimm/United Archives via Getty Images
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