Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy

Album: Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
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  • I wrote the songs to captain fantastic
    To the lyrics that Bernie had already given me
    On the last voyage of the SS France from Southampton to New York
    And then we recorded the album at the Caribou Ranch in Colorado
    And not being particularly nostalgic myself
    But having to revisit the album because we wanted to play it on it's 30th anniversary
    It touched a lot of chords and made me feel quite emotional
    About the times that Bernie and I struggled to get a break
    And more than anything the friendship and love that has endured for 38 years
    Between two people that really have become what the title say is
    He is a Brown Dirt Cowboy and I am Captain fantastic
    So here we go, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy

    Captain Fantastic raised and regimented, hardly a hero
    Just someone his mother might know
    Very clearly a case for corn flakes and classics
    "Two teas both with sugar please", in the back of an alley
    While little Dirt Cowboys turned brown in their saddles
    Sweet chocolate biscuits and red rosy apples in summer
    For it's hay make and "Hey mom
    Do the papers say anything good?
    Are there chances in life for little Dirt Cowboys?
    Should I make my way out of my home in the woods?"

    Brown Dirt Cowboy, still green and growing
    City slick Captain
    Fantastic the feedback, the honey the hive could be holding
    For there's weak winged young sparrows that starve in the winter
    Broken young children on the wheels of the winners
    And the '68 summer festival wallflowers are thinning

    For cheap easy meals are hardly a home on the range
    Too hot for the band with a desperate desire for change
    We've thrown in the towel too many times
    Out for the count and when we're down
    Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
    From the end of the world to your town

    And all this talk of Jesus coming back to see us
    Hmm, couldn't fool us
    For we were spinning out our lines walking on the wire
    Hand in hand went music and the rhyme
    The Captain and the Kid stepping in the ring
    From here on sonny sonny sonny, it's a long and lonely climb

    For cheap easy meals are hardly a home on the range
    Too hot for the band with a desperate desire for change
    We've thrown in the towel too many times
    Out for the count and when we're down
    Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
    From the end of the world to your town
    We've thrown in the towel too many times
    Out for the count and when we're down
    Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
    From the end of the world to your town Writer/s: Bernie Taupin, Elton John
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 4

  • Phil Twosheds from East Yorkshire Was Captain Fantastic a big hit in the USA
  • Mika from FinlandThis album is second after Goodbye yellow brick road. Caribou was first.
  • Bpkparksteve@aol.com from Bigpine Key Fl 33043This album was the first after Goodbye Yellow brick road and it debut at number 1.
  • Kevin from Reading , PaThis song is one of Elton's great album cuts -- songs that could have or should have been hit singles but were never put on a '45' and subsequently got a lot of FM radio play. In my home near Philadelphia, WYSP and WMMR were the cool rock stations that would play cuts like this. The song is a little unusual for Elton in that is driven primarily by an acoustic guitar, not a piano. The chorus kicks in nicely, with the usual stellar electric guitar work from his longtime sideman Davy Johnston.
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