I think everyone remembers “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, the iconic duet that Elton John did with Kiki Dee in 1976. Since then, the song has become a karaoke night staple and one of the most memorable songs from John’s catalog. However, if you look into the song’s history, you’ll find that it actually has a forgotten B-side that even Taupin and John rarely acknowledge.
That would be the song “Snow Queen”. And it was apparently inspired by a failed attempt at romance that Taupin had with 60s icon Cher.
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The song doesn’t hold back, even describing Cher as having very little talent and a bad taste in men. Just take a look at the second verse.
Your talons are tested
They’re polished and they’re shaped
Your talents are wasted
On men of no taste
But how about proving
That passion means more than
A wardrobe of gowns, TV ratings,
Fragile waist and a name.
The song throws some pretty icy insults at the “Believe” singer, to say the least.
Taupin Is “Embarrassed” by “Snow Queen” Now
In his memoir, Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton, and Me, Taupin actually admitted that to this day, he finds “Snow Queen” pretty embarrassing.
“‘Snow Queen’ wasn’t a very good song, and it wasn’t a very good idea,” he writes. “There was no real purpose for it, the lyric portraying a version of Cher that didn’t exist. I’m still embarrassed by it now, ‘Arms are spread like icicles.’ It wasn’t warranted, and even though both Elton and I apologized for it long ago, it was still dumb, dumb, dumb.”
In an interview with People, Taupin reiterated that he doesn’t even like the song.
“You can’t change it. It’s there, the damage is done,” he told the magazine. “I think probably at the time I made it known that I’d written it about her, which was ridiculous. I mean, it was so stupid, and it’s not even a good song! Let’s just regard it as a grand mistake ultimately. I got a story out of it, I suppose.”
Even though it appears that he’s not proud of “Snow Queen” now, it’s hard not to wonder exactly what went down between the songwriter and the entertainer to warrant that kind of song.
Photo by: Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images
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