John continued to perform this song in various locations. In 1992, Elton played it together with " Your Song" to close some concerts. This was the first time Elton had got this far without a mistake. If the extremely unthinkable happened and I ran out of tape before he finished my life wouldn’t be worth living. As they got two minutes into another take, Epps realised to his horror that his tape reel was running awfully low, and Elton was still going. The song opens with an octaved solo piano, which is then accompanied by a looped Roland CR-78 drum machine, [2] with occasional shaker and wind chimes alternating; other keyboards are often layered in shortly after, with a bass guitar mainly accompanying this. It is instrumental until the end, in which the words "Life – isn't everything (3x)" are repeated over the primary melody. While “Song for Guy” may not have enjoyed the spotlight during Elton John’s live performances or found its way onto his farewell setlist, its understated beauty and emotional resonance endure. Sensational Seventies

As well as Clive Franks on bass and Ray Cooper on wind chimes and shakers, it features Elton on all the other instruments – piano, Mellotron, Polymoog, ARP String Ensemble and those very few vocals. Offiziellecharts.de – Elton John – Song for Guy" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 21 November 2021. Elton was now four minutes in and still playing verse after verse with middle bits and all sort," he said.Stuart Epps | Music Producer". www.stuartepps.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Tim Scott from East YorkshireI'm not surprised that many comments on Song for Guy seem to avoid the clear and obvious sense of the lyric. Falsely terming it an 'instrumental' is one evasion. By 'Life isn't everything', EJ opines that staying alive isn't an absolute imperative. There are states of physical and mental illness which can make life unbearable and lead to a decision to end it. Personally, I think Song for Guy one of the most beautiful and mature of songs. It is EJ confronting his own mortality, and the universal truth of mortality. I admire his courage in writing and performing. I thought it was a bit over the top! It was certainly different, but I wouldn't have described it as brave.

Kevin from IrelandAlways thought it would be great if Elton would re-record it using the lyrics "Life.... Isn't ever in vain"Jonogrooveus Maximus, it isnt ‘life is a temporal thing’. It’s ‘life isn’t everything’. I’d send you a photo of the lyrics written on the inner vinyl cover, but I can’t send photos The take-up reel was looking like it only had a few feet left on it and Elton wasn't showing any signs of stopping," he said. Song for Guy was a hit for Elton John in 1978. This largely instrumental song was one of the few successful songs written without Bernie Taupin. Years later when I met Gianni Versace told me it was his favourite song of mine. He kept saying how wonderfully brave he thought it was. After while it became apparent that Gianni thought it was wonderfully brave because he'd misheard the title and was under the impression I'd called it 'Song for A Gay'."

Peter from Vancouver, BcI always thought the words were “Life....is a temporary thing” I guess because they made so much sense considering the subject matter. Even if the vinyl cover says differently, it is one of many songs by John that I can listen to repeatedly and never tire.Just as it looked like I was dead he played an outro and the last chord. As the last chord died away the tape ran out. Clive and I nearly died anyway from relief." Elton continued writing, working with lyricist Gary Osborne instead working on what became Elton’s 12th album A Single Man. Who was Guy? The song was one of his most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 4 in January 1979, and remaining on the chart for ten weeks, returning him to the Top Ten since 1976's " Don't Go Breaking My Heart", where it reached at No. 1 at the same chart. [5] It wasn't released in the US until March 1979 where it barely made the charts, peaking at No. 110. It was a modest success, though, on the American adult contemporary charts, where it peaked at No. 37 in the spring of 1979.

a b "Kent Music Report No 288 – 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979". Kent Music Report . Retrieved 10 January 2023– via Imgur.com. He added: "It was like nothing I'd done before, and my American record label refused to release it as a single. I was furious But it became a colossal hit in Europe.As I was writing this song one Sunday, I imagined myself floating into space and looking down at my own body. I was imagining myself dying. Morbidly obsessed with these thoughts, I wrote this song about death. The next day I was told that Guy [Burchett], our 17-year-old messenger boy, had been tragically killed on his motorcycle the day before. Guy died on the day I wrote this song." [1] David C from Fareham, Hampshire, Uk.At the tender age of just achieved 68!, Song for Guy has been in my head for the last week, I have not played the piano for 21 years, yet I must now go and buy a piano and learn to play this wonderful music. Beyond that I was having similar thoughts to what I think Elton was having at the time, making it a strange haunting connection.... I had always missed the words at the end... but so relevant too me! Thankyou for this wonderful "Song for Guy" It stands as one of the few songs written by Elton John alone and the only instrumental piece of music made by himself to be released as a lead single. After this song, his other instrumental songs were only released as B-sides notably "Choc Ice Goes Mental" (A-sides: " I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" & " Kiss the Bride") and "The Man Who Never Died" (A-sides: " Nikita" & " The Last Song").