Strangers (Elton John song)
Encyclopedia
"Strangers" is a song by Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

 with lyrics by Gary Osborne
Gary Osborne
Gary Osborne is an English singer and songwriter from the United Kingdom.-Career:Osborne was born in London, educated in Switzerland, and followed his father into the music industry at the age of fifteen....

. It was originally released as the B-side to his 1979 disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 single "Victim of Love", but was recorded during the sessions for A Single Man. It appeared on that album's 1998 remaster as the last track.

Musical structure

The song is build up as a simple ballad. It starts with sole piano, then it gets accompagnied by guitars, the rhythm section and various percussion. In the choruses, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 is reminiscent, typical for John's compositions. Featured is also a country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

-esque guitar. There is also electric piano
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...

, which would be John's main sound for albums to come.

Lyrical meaning

The song deals with the trouble of not knowing each other well enough though you have been together as a couple for some time. It could easily be inspired by typical marital
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 issues. The chorus sounds:

"Strangers, after all, we find we're strangers

After all this time

We've made the long and the lonely climb

And now we've reached the part

Where we find we're strangers

We were strangers from the start"

A typical ballad, it was featured as a B-side in late 1979. John managed to record 28 songs for the whole album sessions, with some of them ending up in cases like this one. Twelve songs have yet to surface from the sessions, including the demo for this song which allegedly was written as a waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...

.

Covers

It was covered by Randy Meisner
Randy Meisner
Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...

 backed by Ann Wilson
Ann Wilson
Ann Dustin Wilson is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, flute player, songwriter, and occasional guitar player of the rock band Heart.-Personal life:...

 on his 1982 self-titled album
Randy Meisner (1982 album)
Randy Meisner is the third album by Randy Meisner, released in 1982 .-Track listing:#"Never Been in Love" - 4:26#"Darkness of the Heart" - 4:18...

.
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