This Train Don't Stop There Anymore by Elton John

Album: Songs from the West Coast (2001)

Charted: 24

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This piano ballad finds Elton John in a reflective mood, looking back on his past glories and thinking about how he feels now. Using a railroad metaphor, he sings about how he used to be a huge star ("the main express"), but now he's done with those days ("this train don't stop there anymore").

These are not the words of Elton John, but of his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, who throws light on one side of Elton's personality. His days of high excess may have ended, but Elton's train kept going and making lots of stops along the way, as he kept touring, continuing to put on grand performances.
The song has a very memorable video directed by David LaChapelle and starring Justin Timberlake as a young Elton John at the height of his fame. Timberlake walks in slow motion as he lip-syncs the track, mingling with fans and industry associates along the way. Paul Reubens also appears in the clip.

Robert Downey Jr. did something similar in the 2013 Elton John video for "Home Again," miming the words while a camera tracks him.

LaChapelle is a renowned celebrity photographer and fine artist who was still making a name for himself as a director when he started working with Elton John (a year earlier, he directed the popular video for Moby's "Natural Blues"). He helmed a couple more videos for the singer, including "Original Sin" and "All That I'm Allowed," and also created visuals for his The Red Piano 2008 concert residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He also snapped images of Elton for magazines like Interview and GQ.

Comments: 1

Johan from LondonThis is a defining song for Elton John. It is not just about the artist’s career but also about realising that the stories we string together about our own life, the sentimental words (‘purple prose’, a term from Horace), the pursuit of love, drama, highs and lows, are superficial in the end. Reality is black and white, love is simple and honest when it’s real and anything else destroys the heart. The song is about becoming real, no longer stopping at certain stations, saying no to what you know to be lies. It’s linked to Goodbye Yellow-Brick Road but here the critique is of the writing business, of writing one’s life, itself. Nice detail in the video is that Timberlake wears a black and white suit, and rose spectacles.

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