Elton John reveals that he hates one of his own songs, which is a fan favourite, but he vows to “never sing it again”.
The ‘Your Song’ singer admitted there are some tracks in his catalogue that he wishes he’d never penned, including one he wrote “as a joke”.
That song is ‘Crocodile Rock’, which Elton confessed he will “throw a party” when he no longer has to perform, the Express reports.
Speaking on the Deeney Talks podcast, Elton told Watford footballer Troy Deeney: “The last time I have to sing Crocodile Rock I will probably throw a party. It was written as a kind of a joke, like a pastiche.”
He added: “Who am I to say, ‘I am not going to play it? ‘ Because I play to amuse people and to entertain people. But I have to say when the last show is done at the end of the tour I will never, ever sing that song again.”
Even Bernie Taupin, the song’s co-writer, confessed he isn’t fond of the track, telling Esquire: “Crocodile Rock is a strange dichotomy because I don’t mind having created it, but it’s not something I would listen to.”
The song unexpectedly became Elton’s first number one single in the US, holding the top spot for three weeks straight. It also dominated the Canadian charts for four weeks.
The song was initially inspired by Elton’s discovery of Daddy Cool’s single ‘Eagle Rock’.
The track even sparked a lawsuit in the US District Court of Los Angeles, with ‘Speedy Gonzales’ composer Buddy Kaye claiming that the writers used chords from his song to create a falsetto tone in ‘Crocodile Rock’.
A settlement was reached outside of court, leading to the dismissal of the case. Elton remarked: “I wanted it to be a record about all the things I grew up with. Of course it’s a rip-off, it’s derivative in every sense of the word.”