Songfacts®:

• This song deals with the plight of Native Americans, whose land was basically stolen from them, and who in addition to being dehumanized and disenfranchised, found themselves confined to reservations in squalid conditions where alcoholism and other social unpleasantries were rife. According to Elizabeth Rosenthal's biography His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, "Indian Sunset" was inspired by a visit lyricist Bernie Taupin made to a reservation. Narrated by an unnamed Native American, this emotive ballad, which runs to 6 minutes 47 seconds, is about the end of a way of life as the colonization of the vast American continent by the White Man leads inevitably to the subjugation and near extinction of its former masters.
• Although separate by decades and genre this song has much in common with Europe's "Cherokee," and barring the works of Native American singer-songwriter Buffy St-Marie, is one of only a handful of contemporary ballads to explore the suffering of this once proud warrior race. The string arrangement by Paul Buckmaster gives the song both a grandiose and a melancholy effect.
• Bernie Taupin used a little poetic license with this song. Geronimo, who was an Apache, was not killed by renegades; he surrendered to General Miles in September 1886 and was treated magnanimously, becoming a celebrity in his old age and publishing his autobiography. He died of pneumonia in 1909. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3
• The song "Ghetto Gospel" by Tupac samples and repeats the lyrics, "Those who wish to follow me I welcome with my hands" and, "And the red sun sinks at last into the hills of gold," and mixes together the first half of the line, "And peace to this young warrior" and half of "without the sound of guns." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Michael - Sydney, Australia
• In the '70s and '80s, Elton John rarely played this song live, but he introduced it into his setlist on his 1994 tour and played it at many of his concerts in the 2010s, including on his farewell tour. He told Rolling Stone in 2011 that it is one of his favorites to play live. "Nobody knows that song at all," he said. "It's an obscure track from Madman Across the Water, and it gets a standing ovation every night. It's a six-minute movie in a song."