Elton John - High Flying Bird Lyrics






You wore a little cross of gold around your neck
I saw it as you flew between my reason
Like a raven in the night time when you left
I wear a chain upon my wrist that bears no name
You touched it and you wore it
And you kept it in your pillow all the same

My high-flying bird has flown from out my arms
I thought myself her keeper
She thought I meant her harm
She thought I was the archer
A weather man of words
But I could never shoot down
My high-flying bird

The white walls of your dressing room are stained in scarlet red
You bled upon the cold stone like a young man
In the foreign field of death
Wouldn't it be wonderful is all I heard you say
You never closed your eyes at night and learned to love daylight
Instead you moved away





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Elton John High Flying Bird Comments
  1. B.... O....

    By far one of my favorites!

  2. s.... a....

    It's fine, like her little cross and chain, and 24 carat!

  3. A.... S....

    Was it really a million years ago....

  4. Y.... ....

    The BEST song on the Don't Shoot Me album. A masterpiece from Taupin/Elton. EJ fan since 1975.

  5. K.... M....

    Love this song.

  6. A.... ....

    My favorite song. Elton can't make a song like this anymore. Since 80's, his songs became too commercialized and don't have the same touch like 60's and 70's.

  7. D.... J....

    Has a little bit of a Mona Lisas vibe to it

  8. f.... i....

    Noel Gallagher...Who is your artistic father?....

  9. K.... K....

    💖💖💖💖💖

  10. n.... ....

    Sure everyone remembers the greatest hit singles like "Daniel" and "Crocodile Rock", but Elton/Bernie and the band made some other masterpieces which could have easily been hit singles on their own. "High Flying Bird" and "Blues for My Baby and Me" from this album are epic tunes. Who knows, maybe just a tad too long for radio play at that time? All I know is I sang my heart out to those songs hundreds of times in my bedroom with the volume way up, as a young pre-pubescent lad in the early/mid-'70s.

  11. G.... C....

    To close your eyes at night and learn to love daylight...

  12. K.... A....

    This , Captain Fantastic and GBYBR are my top 3 Elton and Bernie albums! Shining stars with timeless music, imo. The soundtrack of my teen years! Great Post!

    K.... A....

    These are my top 3 also.

  13. R.... L....

    Brilliant 🎧👌💓

  14. W.... A....

    Noel Gallagher band.

  15. J.... W....

    As brilliant as music can be.

  16. C.... Y....

    Elton John in 73 was my high flying bird.... 😭🧡💛💙💖 Love your scrumptious voice and your songwriting so much....

  17. t.... j....

    where is my High Flying Bird soaring up above Reason above Logic above Words all High and way up there on a Passion Wing flying on up to that Love that lives so far up above...

  18. T.... L....

    Top song.  I can remember singing this song on my way to High school all those years ago.  Brilliant Elton!!!

  19. B.... R....

    Haven't seen you for 44 years and I still miss you, Valerie. You were the one that got away......

  20. J.... D....

    The best song on the album !

  21. D.... K....

    TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO GET AROUND TO THIS SONG. Now at 62 I listen to it once a month and still get goose bumps

  22. R.... C....

    Way underrated song. Should have been a single.

  23. D.... J....

    When I was 11 I used to skip this song. Now it's my favorite

  24. E.... R....

    My favorite Elton John song.

  25. R.... D....

    i was soo in love with him in the very early seventies. sadly...i think his voice is gone. but thank god it's been preserved for all of we sad souls.

  26. R.... D....

    and that lovely wall of sound...

  27. R.... D....

    ah...the lyrics..

  28. S.... F....

    Sir Elton is the greatest of all time.I was a teen when he came on the scene and has been my
    favorite since first hearing 'Benny and the Jets' in '69.

    S.... F....

    Bennie and the Jets was on the Yellow Brick album which wasn't released until 1973.

  29. V.... R....

    Sir Elton ♥️

  30. J.... L....

    By far my favorite Elton John song. Absolutely incredible!!!

  31. M.... D....

    “You bled upon a cold stone in the foreign field of death.”

  32. J.... M....

    And what no one is mentioning is Nigel Olsson's great work on this track. He had a hang up with rim shots on this album, and it suits this track beautifully.

  33. R.... C....

    Elton and Bernie had an arresting effect on each other.

  34. R.... B....

    This, Crocodile rock and, Funeral for a friend resonate with such unbearable heartache.

  35. F.... G....

    pure love.

  36. s.... ....

    High Flyin' times eh - both in music and in the general attitude of human beings - if we could only turn the clock back....Elton & Bernie ruled supreme but then again, they still do in my book - enjoy!

  37. j.... M....

    Elton was blessed to have the finest backing harmony vocals in his own band members.

  38. d.... ....

    Just a flawless song that gives me chills whenever I hear it.

  39. W.... A....

    The name of Noel Gallagher band

    W.... A....

    He has eat E.J....Breakfast, launch...and other...

  40. s.... s....

    "My high flyin' high flyin' bird

  41. A.... M....

    The best EJ song

  42. t.... ....

    I used to lay on my bed in 1974 when I was 15 and listen to this album over and over and stare at a picture of a 1974 red Trans Am and dream I was driving it . My wish did come true , I bought a 1976 Trans Am a couple years later after working every summer on the farm and saving up my money .

  43. j.... c....

    of all Elton's this is my fave

  44. U.... ....

    Levon is dead to me but this song still lives.

  45. k.... ....

    I could never just listen to it once. Four to five times minimum.

  46. K.... L....

    What a song!!

  47. s.... c....

    Probably my favorite by Elton.He said one of his too.

  48. J.... D....

    Absolute perfection...

  49. M.... M....

    ..............Hey I noticed that they gave A LOT of Elton John's (Chief Turdburgular) "Homosexual" songs about and even though he's a SO SO singer his sexual preference could do with an upgrade...............Not wishing to DEBATE the issue I will say "He's in SATAN'S hands..............

  50. L.... I....

    Cette chanson me met en trans...

  51. j.... m....

    love this entire album!

  52. J.... J....

    Yellow Brick Roads got all the raves, but this album was just as good.

  53. L.... ....

    Foreign fields

  54. K.... F....

    Awesome song!

  55. C.... A....

    Put your headphones on and listen! <3

    C.... A....

    Connie Andrews you’re not wrong

  56. P.... D....

    Bernie!!!

  57. A.... ....

    Elton and Bernie Ultimately arguing over "pre eminence " Is like comparing an apple tree to an orange tree "The "best by definition does not exist but I think they may have proved that theory wrong ...Epic

  58. E.... B....

    A little hidden treasure

  59. K.... F....

    One of Elton's best!

  60. S.... F....

    CLAYLAVL, you are so right. A timeless classic.

  61. F.... G....

    quite good, isn't it.

  62. D.... C....

    Reminds me of someone I love

  63. L.... H....

    This album reminds me of my parents when I was a kid. I'm now 54

    L.... H....

    Lorraine Huntsman Well you would have been around 8 yo when this album came out. So your parents were probably around 28-30 at that time? Did they listen to Elton?

  64. B.... M....

    For many of us who are just old enough— but not too old —Elton John helped guide us into the awakening of our emotions. Of what it means to love, to feel, to think, to rebel, to grieve... and to rejoice. We could not have had a better teacher.

    B.... M....

    I'm 61. Well said.

    B.... M....

    right on !

    B.... M....

    Thanks, that was said nicely!!!☯️

    B.... M....

    Beutiful, and well said my friend!!!☯️

  65. S.... F....

    Those late '60's and thru the '70's are unequaled.

  66. k.... ....

    Totally inscrutable lyrics but still an amazingly beautiful song.

    Thank you Elton, Bernie, and company!

  67. J.... G....

    11-17-70 EJ FIRST US APPEARANCE AT THE FILMORE IN LA

  68. M.... M....

    Elton owned the 70s. He put out several albums each year from 71 to 76.

    M.... M....

    Greatest 5 year stretch in the history of rock.

  69. p.... ....

    Dee Murray, Davey Johnstone , Nigel Olson , Gus Dudgeon, my fave Elton John era !!,,, astounding

    p.... ....

    tremendous group at every level, with Gus producing, superb

  70. H.... H....

    This song is so touching and brings me to years. I thank Jesus for creating Elton John. I'm hoping I can see him in concert once more before I die.

  71. m.... ....

    The 2nd best ending to an Elton album, after Curtains on the masterpiece Captain Fantastic album. So many other great Elton songs: Someone Saved my Life Tonight, Candle in the Wind (1973), Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer, Your Song, Original Sin, Daniel, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, We all Fall In Love Sometimes, Indian Sunset, The Last Song, Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Skyline Pigeon, Captain Fantastic, Believe, The One, Pinky, First Episode at Hienton, I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That, Where to Now St Peter, Levon, Bennie and the Jets, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Come Down in Time, Tonight, Sacrifice, I've Seen that Movie Too, Empty Garden, The Best Part of the Day, Gone to Shiloh, Ticking, One More Arrow, They Call it the Blues, Nikita, Philadelphia Freedom, Burn Down the Mission, Empty Sky, Mandalay Again, Blessed, Blues Never Fade Away, American Triangle, Roy Rogers, You Gotta Love Someone, Idol, One Horse Town, Song for Guy, Crazy Water, Elderberry Wine, The Bitch is Back, Hey Ahab, This Train Don't Stop There Anymore, Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me, Home Again, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Sixty Years On, Street Kids, Harmony, Madman across the Water, Porch Swing in Tupelo, Club at the End of the Street....

  72. G.... R....

    She thought I was the archer, a weather man of words. But I could never shoot down, my High Flying Bird...Susie Bernet...this is for you.

  73. K.... M....

    love thi song!

  74. P.... c....

    Bernie wrote the lyrics

  75. A.... M....

    In my view, probably his best.

  76. J.... T....

    I WEAR A CHAIN UPON MY
    WRIST THAT BEARS NO NAME....

    J.... T....

    In my Jr. High school years I listened to the 8 track of this album quite a bit when it came out, so much that I still know every word.This this is my favorite song on it. 'High Flying Bird' is a very symbolic song, and to understand it I think (and this is my interpretation) (the song could mean something different to others) but you'll have to look at the time this album - and this song in particular on the album. It was written toward the end of the Vietnam war, and appears to have been released after the end of the Vietnam war. Know this: That the song 'Daniel'on the same album was written by Elton about a brother singing about his brother blinded in the Vietnam war. To me, High Flying Bird is about the symbolic bird of peace, toward the end of the Vietnam war, but peace (the end of the war) had not yet been not achieved (the Jan. 1973 peace accord had not yet been signed).


    It appears Elton was writing this album before the signing of the Paris peace accords in Jan. 1973 to end the war, and it's release occurred after the signing of it (1973) . This is what this song means to me, and has since time and memorium. Remember : This album came out around the time when the POWS were released in 1973. In High Flying Bird', "I wear a chain upon my the wrist that bears no name, you touched it and you wore it " .... chains (maybe Elton means) that, during the last years of the Vietnam war years 1971- 1973 Americans wore with a POW or missing serviceman's name on it ... The chain he talks about bears no name, maybe meaning representing all POWs and missing. "The whitewalls of your dressing room are stained in scarlet red, you bled upon a cold stone like a young man, in the foreign field of death ..." "Wouldn't it be wonderful, is all I heard you say, you never closed your eyes at night and learned to love daylight, instead you moved away = the High Flying Bird of Peace" = The evading end to the Vietnam war. Just my interetation.

  77. J.... J....

    I have to say "BEAUTIFUL SONG" Elton his voice is off the charts! But you have to give Bernie his !! And most of all!! If it wasn't for Davey , Dee & Nigel !! where would he be !!, Right now, he's still have Nigel drumming& Davie on guitar ! What if Dee was here with us to complete that first attention to Elton!! I'm a drummer from back in that time !"DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE MUSICIANS" Without them nothing's possible!!

  78. b.... m....

    His music from the 60's and '70's will never be matched. I was hooked the first time I heard Bennie and the Jets on the radio.

  79. C.... B....

    Been a ej fan since I was 10, thankx to my bro, Easton for turning me on to Reginald and Bernie. That's ej's real name.

  80. C.... B....

    Well said by yo both, Mellissa and Jason

  81. E.... B....

    Elton's ode to Van Morrison's work really is a masterpiece. That whole album is a fantastic collection of genre imitation and it's amazing.

  82. j.... T....

    better I was really high when I wrote that

  83. j.... T....

    I'm voting for Trump

  84. D.... P....

    Steffan Pila

    To me, This is one of Elton John's great vocal performances of "High Flying Bird." A longtime favorite from the "Don't Shoot Me. I'm Only The Piano Player" album back in 1973.

    D.... P....

    It was 1972

  85. M.... C....

    Elton (not Bernie Taupin's like I originally thought) genius really shines here: "she thought I meant her harm, she thought I was the archer...but I could never shoot down my high flying bird." Oh man. If I could write a single line like that, I'd feel so satisfied for life. The best in poetry.

    M.... C....

    Mellissa Cross all of these lyrics are Bernie's - not EJ - Have you never heard of the "two rooms" legend? Rarely if ever did Bernie and Elton get together and write songs in the same physical place - Bernie wrote the lyrics (poetry, really) and most often than not, mailed or messengered the material to EJ, who would sit down, and in a flurry of intuition and creative genius, write the music to match t he lyrics, sometimes in as little as ten minutes - even Lennon and McCartney, Bacharach and Davis, Rogers and Hammerstein took weeks and months to work together to craft their work - there's never been anything like Taupin and EJ and the never will be - MUSICAL MAGIC!

    M.... C....

    Actually this song is one of a few where Elton wrote the lyrics along with music, though, Bernie still played the role of editor. Elton did write the lyrics for some of these songs, like: Hymn 2000 on Empty Sky, Don't Go Breaking My Heart and Hard Luck Story for Rock Of The Westies, Someone Saved My Life Tonight for Captain Fantastic, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word for Blue Moves, and Song For Guy for A Single Man, however, Bernie is still edited all of those lyrics for it looks like a natural poetry. Everything but Song For Guy, where one phrase repeats itself three times, and when Bernie and Elton broke their partnership.

    M.... C....

    Elton didn't write the words to any of those songs (except "Song for Guy"). He didn't write the words to this one, either. They're all in Bernie's book "The One Who Writes The Words For Elton John." Elton wrote the words to the song on the flip side of the "Ego" single, and it's not very good. He knows his strengths -- writing gorgeous music to someone else's gorgeous lyrics.

    M.... C....

    From what I have heard, Elton DID write the song for those songs mentioned by me. But Bernie edited still edited them.

    M.... C....

    Hi Meliisa hope you are doing well. I was listening to "Curtains" just now and had to share these poignant lines with you, "I held a dandelion, that said the time had come, to leave upon the wind, Not to return"

  86. M.... C....

    This has always been one of my all time fav songs!!!

  87. R.... B....

    great old tunes

  88. j.... T....

    I will find the 6 people who disliked this song I make then see the MISTAKE FOR THE EVIL JUEDEN SHALL FEEL THE RAFE OF THE THIRD RICH AND WILL SHOW THE ENEMY TO THERE PIT OF FURLING............ UHHHHH I mean nothing nothzing at All

  89. J.... ....

    This one is for Ann Buckner.. my 1st love, I have listened to this song in the dark with headphones on. ( Aug 73 post Canim Lake Sandpoint) 1000's of times...never sick of it She also sang a beautiful Ram, McCartney and wings on 8 track.

  90. B.... R....

    ..beautiful elton tune...

  91. b.... m....

    In '73, when I bought the album I never gave this song a second thought. Now I play it almost every day and find myself singing it out loud constantly. It was the same with Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.

    b.... m....

    1973 - Rock's greatest year - especially for albums.

    b.... m....

    I loved them at once!

    b.... m....

    Perhaps because in order to appreciate this song you first needed to do some living to relate to it.

    b.... m....

    I grew up on Elton's music. My dad had all of his albums in the 70's, and played them all the time. The same with the Eagles. To this day, they're my favorites and I listen to them every day.

  92. D.... L....

    Just great. Very underrated song and album.

  93. p.... m....

    Nice one

  94. J.... P....

    Man. I love Elton's voice during this period. "Wouldn't it be wonderful... is all I have to say"

  95. M.... F....

    A moving ballad from two great masters, Elton and Bernie.  One of their greatest tracks in their repertoire.

    M.... F....

    Elton made more money/hits with lyrics with Tim Rice than Bernie Taupin; Taupin could be writing for Hallmark cards as many do but never match the musical ear, voice or piano mastery of Elton John - so stop pretending to know EJ when you barely do, obviously. Poets/writers are a dime a dozen.

    M.... F....

    @bourbon red ,u krazy.taupin is the best lyricist ever.