Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” didn’t make a big impression when it was first released. It was on the Billboard 100 for just a week, peaking at No. 41. American Songwriter quotes Bernie Tapuin, John’s longtime lyricist, as saying that “Tiny Dancer” was a bit of poetic license because neither “small dancer” nor “little dancer” were right. The song is about the women of California as the 1970s dawned. Taupin said that they were all sexy free spirits who wore frilly blouses and hip-huggers, almost ethereal in their movements. Taupin’s first wife was the inspiration for the song, however. Taupin also said that the women of California in 1970 were vastly different from those whom he knew back in England. The “blue-jean baby” is a combination of many women with whom he and John interacted. The zeitgeist of Southern California in 1970 inspired John to write the music as a powerful six-minute-long ballad that showed his full range of vocal ability. Unfortunately, the radio stations of the day were addicted to three-minute pop tunes, so they edited the song and made it sound much less stirring. That’s one possible reason for the song’s unremarkable showing on the charts.

Kids in a Toy Store

Both Taupin and John were mesmerized by California when they showed up there. John recently said on YouTube that Taupin was a great storyteller and that the lyrics that he wrote for “Tiny Dancer” engendered scenes in his mind that resembled a movie. Both men agree that arriving on the West Coast from England was like “… moving from black-and-white to color.” They also agree that soaking up everything to do with California was magical.

Enduring Popularity

Television programs and films have featured the song in their soundtracks in every decade since the song’s release. Talk shows like “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” sitcoms like “Friends” and “That ’70s Show,” and reality programs like “America’s Got Talent” and “American Idol” have all used the song. In films, the best-known use is in the “rockumentary” “Almost Famous.” The band in the movie fractures because of disagreements that are both real and imagined. Things are looking grim for the heroes until the drummer starts playing the percussion part from “Tiny Dancer” on the edge of the seat on the tour bus. The fictional group all start singing the song in solidarity, and from that point in the film, you just know that everything is going to work out in their favor in the end.

Lyrics

Blue-jean baby
L.A. lady
Seamstress for the band
Pretty-eyed
Pirate smile
You’ll marry a music man

Ballerina
You must’ve seen her
Dancing in the sand
And now she’s in me
Always with me
Tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks
Out in the street
Handing tickets out for God

Turning back
She just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Piano man
He makes his stand
In the auditorium

Looking on
She sings the songs
The words she knows
The tune she hums

But oh, how it feels so real
Lying here, with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Blue-jean baby
L.A. Lady
Seamstress for the band
Pretty-eyed
Pirate smile
You’ll marry a music man

Ballerina
You must have seen her
Dancing in the sand
Now she’s in me
Always with me
Tiny dancer in my hand

Oh, oh, how it feels so real
Lying here, with no one near
Only you, and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: קפלן ירמי / John,elton / Taupin,bernard J P

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