John, Elton - Tell Me When The Whistle Blows Lyrics






There's a dusty old gutter he's lying in now
He's blind and he's old
And there's a bottle that rolls down the road
Me I'm young and I'm so wild
And I still feel the need
Of your apron strings once in a while
For there's taxi cabs hooting
But I can't be foot-loose forever
My suitcase it's a cheap one
My darling she's a dear one
My head's feeling light as a feather

Take my ears and tell me when the whistle blows
Wake me up and tell me when the whistle blows
Long lost and lonely boy
you're just a black sheep going home
I want to feel your wheels of steel
Underneath my itching heels
Take my money
Tell me when the whistle blows

Part of me asked the young man for the time
With a cool vacant stare of undue concern
He said nine
It's not so bad but I really do love the land
And rather all this than those diamante lovers
In Hyde Park holding hands
Blowing heat through my fingers
Trying to kill off this cold
Will the street kids remember
Can I still shoot a fast cue
Has this country kid still got his soul





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John, Elton Tell Me When The Whistle Blows Comments
  1. D.... D....

    This Track is The beginning of one of my films ,
    " Rogers Todger" 🌭😋

  2. c.... ....

    Pure blues

  3. D.... L....

    I think this is perhaps Nigel's best work. If anyone doubts his chops, check out what he's up to on the instrumental fade-out section from 3:36 on. Effortless grooving.

  4. D.... G....

    Great great song

  5. E.... K....

    I Wanna feel the wheels of steel
    Underneath my itching heels

  6. B.... D....

    If you want to hear a gospel rave-up of this song listen to Brian and Brenda Russel's version - with Elton and the Band doing back-up!

  7. B.... D....

    Whenever I hear this song I think back to Drexel University fall 1976 and a black dorm-mate (don't recall his name) singing along to it while heating up his canned Sunday dinner in the dorm kitchen. I always wondered how much he personally related to the lyrics - as they seemed to parallel his situation at the time...away from family making a cheap TV dinner.

  8. T.... ....

    Tell me when this fucked up life is over. Thank you to all corporate commies for fucking up everyone's lives with their primitive centurion greed, lust and non stop competition. The corporate commies got no problem with taking all your money.

  9. e.... n....

    played the hell out of this album even named a car after it super album start to finish thanks

  10. M.... I....

    eltons voice is better tha a lpt in the charts now

  11. s.... ....

    Jason Silva is an atheist, transhumanism cultist.

    s.... ....

    https://www.naturalnews.com/040925_transhumanism_Ray_Kurzweil_cult.html

  12. P.... O....

    Take my monay!!!!
    Classic Elton

  13. M.... I....

    One of your nicest songs

  14. T.... W....

    My first album...$2 at modells in Commack N.Y.
    Wish I still had the poster it came with☺✌💗🍕

    T.... W....

    Mine too.

    T.... W....

    The booklet by itself was worth the price of the album, although there is a part of the album that is fundamentally dishonest . . .

  15. T.... 5....

    I loved this album when it first came out and I have never stopped loving it.

  16. S.... ....

    This song brings back memories of a carefree childhood.

  17. r.... s....

    It's a little bit cheezy,but when you go to bed?I'll eat all your cheese and eat your bread???????????????????

  18. k.... ....

    Would've loved to hear a duet with BB King on this.

  19. K.... H....

    Legendary song from a legendary album

    K.... H....

    Kiwanis Hinton indeed

  20. A.... L....

    This has been my favorite EltonJohn album since its release. In fact, it is my all-time favorite album of any artist. I Grew up listening to and loving Elton John and he was my favorite artist..

  21. J.... D....

    That Fender Rhodes is fantastic next to Davey's guitar and the Gene Page orchestral arrangement.

    J.... D....

    Totally R&B-esque

    J.... D....

    Davies fuzz guitar just killer on here.
    many people don't know Jean page was the string arranger for all of Barry White's great Classics with the Love unlimited orchestra.. up until his passing he became a very in demand string arranger

  22. A.... A....

    along "yellow break road" this is his best work ever!!

    A.... A....

    ABDENNACER, Without question his best 2 albums,

    A.... A....

    @Kiwanis Hinton imo madman and dont shoot are best but everybody has there favourite and blue moves is great too

  23. R.... M....

    Bernie and Elton wrote so great songs together. This is they're best.The band was tight, Elton John, Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray,Ray Cooper.

    R.... M....

    Then Elton made the worst move of his career and fired Nigel and Dee. Never understood that and the band was never that good again.

  24. D.... M....

    One of my favorite Elton John albums.

  25. J.... S....

    Not too pretty bagdad. Really good!

  26. r.... b....

    MCA did not have much then, but this was enough.

    r.... b....

    The Who? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Not much?

    r.... b....

    Plus Golden Earring, Jimmy Buffett, Steely Dan, Neil Diamond, Tom Petty (RIP) And The Heartbreakers.

  27. r.... b....

    Pretty much fabulous!

  28. V.... ....

    Had a chance to talk to Davey Johnstone"s guitar tech before an EJ concert about 7 or 8 years when I worked at the local area. As we were talking Davey came up and asked what we were chatting about..
    I had the chance to actually say thank you for all the hard work over the years he's put in, and that I had grown up a few miles away from the venue. I said I would be listening over and over to the guitar parts, learned them and just loved the production. Funny I said that now I'm standing in front of him and its 30 years later....such a mind blower! He was such a nice down to earth person, he told me he recorded back in the day with Mesa Boogie Amps etc... that night he had a Matchless DC40 and of course a bunch of guitars...my favorite being his black Les Paul Custom. Also had an amazing sound from his acoustic Takamine...awesome show.

    V.... ....

    I have to give it up for either Elton John, Gus Dudgeon or whomever insisted on the kind of guitar work turned in by Davey Johnstone, Caleb Quaye, and anyone else who performed on Elton's albums. The musicianship across the board was excellent, the recordings of the highest sonic quality, and as a guitar player, I'd commend Johnstone for his really tasty solo's, fill-in's, and embellishments throughout this track and many others. Elton's song-writing, vocals, keyboards were a big part of the success obviously but the backup band was impeccable at the time. Don't understand why they got fired and what instigated the change. Something was lost in the translation.

  29. M.... C....

    love you elton youre the greatest maria

  30. K.... K....

    Just before dawn...just before the coffee is available...consider this.

  31. M.... ....

    So luck those guys who lived the good times where talent spoke more than crazy acts on tv. This time asks to get a gun and acts some Cobain away!

  32. R.... C....

    Superb arrangement. Flawless.

    R.... C....

    +Roy Crawford , that's the late, great Gene Page...he also arranged Philadelphia Freedom

    R.... C....

    Gene Page on strings.

  33. B.... B....

    has too be one of best songs i ever heard

    B.... B....

    You obviously haven't heard much music Amigo,
    Sounds like the beginning of an old Porno's I used to do. 😂🤣😭

  34. C.... P....

    Probably my favorite Elton album.The band was tight such excellent musicians-especially the guitar playing on this song.

  35. S.... A....

    To paraphrase the infamous words of one 'Nancy Pelosi' regarding the Socialist Medicine Bill:

    "I couldn't wait to buy it, so I could hear what was in it"

    That was exactly how I felt before purchasing "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" out of Caribou Ranch, Colorado some years ago.

    And so it was, it went on & on, a full "two years" without missing a single day.
    It was a compulsive album to me--an electrifying melodic compulsion within Pop Music I had never experienced before unto the very day.

    ~"I used to know this old scarecrow
    He was my song, my joy and sorrow
    Cast alone between the furrows
    Of a field no longer sown by anyone"  

    S.... A....

    Back in the days of record players you could leave the arm up on the record player and the album would play over and over. This album side 2 and Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life side 4 got played over and over countless times . . . . both burned into my consciousness forever!!

    S.... A....

    Solid Asian Gold ...That was priceless...so refreshing to hear someone who uses their brain...to bad more can't see thru the fog.

    S.... A....

    I knew somebody somewhere was going to insert a political comment. But I'm glad it was you. Great line

  36. O.... L....

    Nice :)
    abeldanger net

  37. J.... M....

    The best song on Captain Fantastic,bar none..

  38. d.... h....

    eltons music got me through the 70s got this album for my 16th birthday in 1975 got in on my mp3 now im 50 years old now still love it

  39. b.... ....

    And I Still Feel The Need.....
    ::EJ4Eva::

  40. h.... ....

    effin jam ~

  41. O.... ....

    @jemimakahn I hear ya bro.

  42. S.... B....

    a 21st birthday present in 1975!!

  43. E.... ....

    @muskokan59 hardly left mine during the summer of '11! :D

  44. L.... S....

    one of my Faves from Captain Fantastic! YES!!!

  45. N.... ....

    @P2000Camaro hang in there sweet pea. You're in it with the best of us :-)

  46. I.... ....

    @P2000Camaro IF YA CANT FIX IT ... REPLACE IT .. TIME HEAL'S ALL .... WELL TO A DEGREE ...

  47. P.... ....

    I'm 25.. The chorus of this is my ringtone.lol. This is my favorite album of all time. In fact I'm listening to it because I just poured my heart out to my ex girlfriend, and she totally rejected me, so I had to listen to We All Fall In Love Sometimes on repeat.. Then Curtains of course.. Now I'm trying to bring my mood back up a bit with the rest of the album.

  48. S.... ....

    Awesome !!

  49. R.... A....

    WOW!!!!!! I love this song.

  50. B.... ....

    me I'm young and I'm so wild....and I still feel the need of your apron strings once in a while

  51. J.... M....

    "Not so bad but i really do love the land..." frigging classic!!

  52. b.... ....

    @inthenameoflove61 I was in LOVE with Dee Murray...Tall, Cool, Lean and a Sexy Bad-Ass, Bass Playing Machine! I WILL ALWAYS remember him!... Elton had THE BEST line -up in ROCK history when he found Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, Nigel Olson, and Ray Cooper!

    b.... ....

    what a great comment.. Dee definitely checked out too soon fucking cancer bad enough and then you get felled by a fatal stroke..😢

  53. b.... ....

    @muskokan59 I was given this L.P as a graduation gift from a fellow 8th grade student, and by the beginning of Fall, my ENTIRE family was" brainwashed" because like you, I played this album from dusk til dawn,

  54. G.... R....

    man, I wanna hear, like, Barry white , or some one do this soul song . . bad ass . .

    G.... R....

    Greg Robertson Maybe some Stevie Wonder, Teddy Pendergrass, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye

  55. m.... ....

    @inthenameoflove61 lol....those headphones were sure something,eh? Now we've got the ear buds which are quite awesome : )

  56. R.... E....

    Elton, Dee, Davey and Nigel: The original Elton John Band. Pound-for-pound the best and tightest rock ensemble ever assembled. Their break-up, to me, was a greater loss than when the Beatles split.

    R.... E....

    Very true, and Dee's inventive bass lines always amaze me.

    R.... E....

    As a young kid i remember it well. The end of a short but meteoric run 71-75. Brilliant it was and unprecedented through today. Rock of the Westies, while a strong album was the fall off and just like that it was over for me.

    R.... E....

    I agree. What an amazing group

    R.... E....

    I thought his original line-up were the guys from Hookfoot.

    R.... E....

    Or like when Curly left the stooges.

  57. m.... ....

    @weedhaven Elton's still going strong!

  58. m.... ....

    An album i've never tired of, probably my favourite Elton, pipping Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Tumbleweed Connection. At first i thought this song the weakest but after countless plays it was coming on strong, and seems ideal lead into the great Someone Saved my Life Tonight. Elton's new album The Union, with Leon Russell, is superb; rightly 5 stars in Rolling Stone

  59. L.... m....

    Um dos melhores discos do Elton...não há canção fraca, todas são boas.

  60. E.... R....

    @edsroraphael TENHO EM VINYL MELHOR TRABALHO DO ELTON.

  61. E.... R....

    EXELENTE!!!!!

  62. d.... ....

    I had a OBE to this song, OBE, meaning Out Of Body Experience to this song, its effect on me was totally celestial or extraterrestrial to me back in the mid 70s as well as today, 2010, the entire Album was out of this world.....

  63. A.... ....

    1975 was a great year, I remember buying this and Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here a few weeks later. Great time for music.

    A.... ....

    70s = high point of American culture . . .

  64. S.... T....

    I like this album and it reminds me of the completion of my first year at college. Yikes! I do think Elton's music began to decline during and after this album. To me there were some good songs but it seems to sound a little tired. I think Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was his peak. One of the best musicians ever!

  65. K.... ....

    OMG MEMORIES....I was 14.....Summer love ( crush on a life guard @ Orchard beach in the Bx.

  66. L.... ....

    I just moved to a small North Carolina town where you can tell the time by the Amtrak passenger and CSX freights that rumble through day and night. There is one crossing where you can see the trains ease slowly around a long, easy curve in the rails on their way south... I never fail to hear the dying last chord of this song as the last car disappears around that bend.

  67. g.... w....

    wow what a track i love it it lifts me up and takes me back to my young years ime in my 50s it makes me feel like dancing around the room again far out elton

  68. K.... R....

    I hated when the album was over ... i shoulda had TWO copies so i wouldnt have to get up to flip it over lol!

  69. m.... ....

    I doubt this ever left my turntable during the summer of 1975.

  70. u.... ....

    Give me a name and a new door opens. Thanks for the name reference.

  71. D.... M....

    The strings were arranged by Gene Page who did the orchestartions for Barry White's hits. He also did Philly Freedom. Sweet indeed!

  72. u.... ....

    Mmmmmmm! Sweet strings! Heeyyy!

  73. w.... ....

    Love this. There's taxi cabs a hootin.

    w.... ....

    my very favorite part of that is there's a couple of real low sounding horns that sound like a car horn going off