Elton John”s “The Diving Board,” his 30th studio album, came out this week and it”s a beautiful, often complex, piano-led album.
In this HitFix exclusive, John”s longtime lyricist, Bernie Taupin, explains the meaning behind “Oceans Away,” the album”s poignant opening track, which features only John”s vocals and piano playing. Producer T Bone Burnett looks on, adding a few comments at the end.
“Oceans Away” is about Taupin”s father and his service as a soldier during WWll.
“My dad”s pretty much been soaked into so many of my songs. I got to the point where I thought I wanted to do one thing that was just a penultimate song about my father and the Great Generation,” he says. As “the last of those people who fought in the second World War are disappearing and dying that they not be forgotten.”