You can’t plant me in your penthouse/
I’m going back to my plough.

“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is obviously a reference to the path that Dorothy traveled in The Wizard of Oz. But what is the meaning Elton John is trying to convey to us in “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”? For Dorothy, the yellow brick road was a path from her boring life in Kansas to the magical land of Oz. The Yellow Brick Road led from rags to riches. Just as Dorothy discovered, Elton and Bernie Taupin are suggesting that Oz might not be all it was made out to be.

Taupin suggests that once you reach a certain level of fame there are people who want to possess you and then show you off to their friends. That’s not what he signed up for. Perhaps his old man was right. Maybe fame isn’t all it is made out to be. Maybe life on the farm isn’t that bad.

Elton demonstrates an amazing ability to go from chest voice to falsetto and back again—and have it sound so smooth. Falsetto is hard to get right. A bad falsetto can just sound goofy on someone with an otherwise good voice. Elton has one of the best, and he uses it to great effect in his songs.

The amazing production should be pointed out. While the first verse is just Elton and the piano, the rest of the song contains and array of instruments that creates a wall of sound—with the piano just adding the occasional riff.

Sara Bareilles

I would be remiss if I did not mention the Sara Bareilles’ version of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”. She strips down the piano arrangement, slows down the song and delivers a slightly different vocal interpretation that is breathtaking. Bareilles’ cover of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is one of the best covers out there of any song! It is probably her finest performance (which is saying something) and somehow it isn’t in her Spotify top ten played songs.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Lyrics

When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?
I should have stayed on the farm,
I should have listened to my old man.

You know you can’t hold me forever,
I didn’t sign up with you.
I’m not a present for your friends to open,
This boy’s too young to be singing, the blues.

So goodbye yellow brick road,
Where the dogs of society howl.
You can’t plant me in your penthouse,
I’m going back to my plough.

Back to the howling old owl in the woods,
Hunting the horny back toad.
Oh I’ve finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road.

What do you think you’ll do then?
I bet that’ll shoot down your plane.
It’ll take you a couple of vodka and tonics,
To set you on your feet again.

Maybe you’ll get a replacement,
There’s plenty like me to be found.
Mongrels, who ain’t got a penny,
Sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground.

So goodbye yellow brick road,
Where the dogs of society howl.
You can’t plant me in your penthouse,
I’m going back to my plough.

Back to the howling old owl in the woods,
Hunting the horny back toad.
Oh I’ve finally decided my future lies,
Beyond the yellow brick road.