Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Infobox Single
Name = Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
Artist = Elton John
from Album = Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
B-side = "Jack Rabbit""Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)"
Released = July 16, 1973
Format = Vinyl Record (7")
Recorded = Chateau d'Hierouville
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:54
Label = MCA (US/Canada) DJM Records
Writer = Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer = Gus Dudgeon
Last single = "Daniel"
(1973)
This single = "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
(1973)
Next single = "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
(1973)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side One
#"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"
#"Candle in the Wind"
#"Bennie and the Jets";Side Two
#"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
#"This Song Has No Title"
#"Grey Seal"
#"Jamaica Jerk-Off"
#"I've Seen That Movie Too" ;Side Three
#"Sweet Painted Lady"
#"The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1903-34)"
#"Dirty Little Girl"
#"All the Girls Love Alice" ;Side Four
#"Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n' Roll)"
#"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
#"Roy Rogers"
#"Social Disease"
#"Harmony"

"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (sometimes written "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)") is a rock & roll song performed by musician Elton John and covered by Nickelback and The Who.

Background and writing

The song was written by Bernie Taupin and composed by John for his album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and is written in the key of C Major. It is one of John's harder-rocking songs (Like "Grow Some Funk Of Your Own" and The Bitch is Back), with a sound similar to bands like The Who and The Rolling Stones (indeed, The Who later covered it in 1991). The song is a complete departure from his past renown as a mellow singer/songwriter. ["Classic Rock Gold" (liner notes).]

The song was released in 1973 (see 1973 in music) as the album's first single, and entered the Top Ten in the U.K and the Top 20 in the U.S. Despite only being a modest hit compared to his other hits, it remains one of his best-known songs.

Composition and inspiration

"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is a lively throwback to early rock & roll with a Glam edge; the lyrics discuss a night out in town in which the narrator plans to "get about as oiled as a diesel train." Taupin has said that the song was meant to be an American rock & roll song, set in Britain, and was inspired by his raucous teenage days, in particular in the fights happening in his local pub, the Aston Arms [ [http://www.onthisveryspot.com/spot/Aston_Arms_Pub Aston Arms Pub - On This Very Spot ] ] [ [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article46843.ece Elton town in yob ban | The Sun |HomePage|News ] ] in Market Rasen. This song was the only song that came out of Elton's time in Jamaica, where he was going to finish the rest of the album, but he only wrote this song because of riots happening while he was in Kingston, Jamaica. After the writing of this song, John went back to France to finish the album.

Cover versions

The rock band Queen has covered it numerous times in their concerts. In 1988, it was covered on Flotsam and Jetsam's album "No Place for Disgrace". In 1991, The Who covered it for the album '. In 2003 it was also performed by Nickelback (featuring Kid Rock) and included in the soundtrack for ' as well as certain copies of The Long Road. It is also used by the U.S. cable network Showtime as introduction music for its Showtime Championship Boxing series (as the series airs on the first Saturday of each month). An edited version of the song is used at the end of the opening tease for the CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada", as that series airs on Saturday nights. It is also used as the theme song for TBS's "Saturday Night College Football". In the show's open, the song is accompanied by a drumline and cymbalists, while clips of the two teams playing the night's featured game are interspersed throughout. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emoGwlqETVY]

In November 2003, the song was covered in France by the Star Academy 3 and reached #5 in France, #8 in Belgium (Wallonia) and #37 in Switzerland. ["Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" by Star Academy 3, in French, Belgian (Wallonia) and Swiss Singles Charts [http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?key=5900&cat=s Lescharts.com] (Retrieved June 19, 2008)]

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

ide one

# "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" - 4:54

ide two

# "Jack Rabbit" - 1:50
# "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" - 2:50

Chart & sales performance

In the U.S., the song entered the "Billboard" Top 40 the week of August 11, 1973, rose to #12, and stayed in the Top 40 for nine weeks. It was the only single by Elton John that failed to make the Top 10 in the three-year, 13-hit period between May 1972 ("Rocket Man") and October 1975 ("Island Girl"). It was the only Elton John single that failed to go gold or platinum in the three-year, 11-hit period between December 1972 ("Crocodile Rock") and October 1975 ("Island Girl").

In the UK, the song entered the "Music Week" Top 50 the week of July 7, 1973, rose to #7, and stayed in the charts for 9 weeks.

References

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles.shtml "BBC: The Official UK Charts Company"] . "United Kingdom sales chart". Retrieved June 11 2006.
* [http://billboard.com "Billboard"] . Billboard "Hot 100 airplay and sales charts". Retrieved June 11 2006.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Night and Day Concert — The Night and Day Concert is a concert performed by Elton John on June 30, 1984 in the Wembley Stadium. Promoting John s Breaking Hearts album, the concert was videotaped for air on the Showtime cable channel, as well as commercial distribution… …   Wikipedia

  • Hockey Night in Canada — H.N.I.C. redirects here. For the albums, see H.N.I.C. (Prodigy album) and H.N.I.C. (Pastor Troy album). Hockey Night in Canada The present logo used since 1998. Format Sports …   Wikipedia

  • Elton John One Night Only — – The Greatest Hits Live album by Elton John Released 21 November 2000 – 12 …   Wikipedia

  • One Night Only: The Greatest Hits Live at Madison Square Garden — is a DVD release, featuring Elton John performing some of his best known hits live from Madison Square Garden in New York. The concert was filmed in October 2000. Track listing Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding Candle in the Wind Bennie and …   Wikipedia

  • Concert for Diana — Location(s) Wembley Stadium, London, England Years active 2007 Founded by The Duke of Cambridge Prince Harry …   Wikipedia

  • Concert for Diana — Elton John beim Concert for Diana Das Concert for Diana war ein Konzert im neuen Wembley Stadion in London, England, Vereinigtes Königreich, das am 1. Juli 2007 zu Ehren der verstorbenen Diana, Princess of Wales, die an diesem Tag 46 Jahre alt… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • A Night at the Opera Tour — Gira de Queen Lugar(es) Reino Unido, Estados Unidos, Japón, Australia. Álbum(es) A Night at the Opera Fecha de inicio 11 de noviembre de 1975 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Concert for Diana — Основная информация Годы проведения 2007 Страна …   Википедия

  • Elton John One Night Only - The Greatest Hits — Infobox Album | Name = Elton John One Night Only The Greatest Hits Type = Live album Artist = Elton John Released = 21 November, 2000 ndash; 12 December, 2000 Recorded = 20 21 October, 2000 Genre = Rock, Live recording Length = Label = Universal… …   Wikipedia

  • Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding — Infobox Song Name = Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding Type = Song Artist = Elton John Album = Goodbye Yellow Brick Road track no = 1 Released = October 5, 1973 Recorded = Genre = Rock, Pop Length = 11:09 Label = DJM (UK/world) Uni… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”