Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" is the opening track on the double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. The first part, "Funeral for a Friend", is an instrumental created by John while thinking of what kind of music he would like at his funeral.[2] This first half segues into "Love Lies Bleeding".

"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"
12-inch single cover (1978)
Song by Elton John
from the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Released1973 (1973)
RecordedMay 1973
StudioChâteau d'Hérouville, France
Genre
Length11:07
Label
  • DJM (UK/world)
  • MCA (US/Canada)
Composer(s)Elton John
Lyricist(s)Bernie Taupin
Producer(s)Gus Dudgeon

Composition and recording

In the Eagle Vision documentary, Classic Albums: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, John said the two songs were not written as one piece, but fit together since "Funeral for a Friend" ends in the key of A, and "Love Lies Bleeding" opens in A, and the two were played as one elongated piece when recorded. With lyrics like "And love lies bleeding in my hand/Oh, it kills me to think of you with another man", lyricist Bernie Taupin uses death symbolism as an angry take on a breakup song.[2]

The grandiose introduction to "Funeral for a Friend" was performed on an ARP synthesizer (erroneously credited as A.R.P.) by the album's engineer, David Hentschel, who, John recalled, overdubbed track after track of music and synthetic atmospheric effects until the mini-opus was complete. In an interview for John's official website, Hentschel recalled that he used melodies from "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-1934)", "I’ve Seen That Movie, Too", "Candle in the Wind" and others in creating the track.[3]

Release and reception

The song was well received by critics. AllMusic's Donald Guarisco later called "Funeral for a Friend" "a stunning instrumental" with "a powerful fusion of classical and rock elements where a gentle, lyrical motif is developed and energized until it builds into a powerhouse full of emotion and bombast."[2]

"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" was too long for a single release, but got significant airplay on FM stations that were predisposed toward rock epics.[2] The whole piece is just over 11 minutes long. A fan favourite, it became a staple part of many Elton John tour set lists.

Billboard magazine listed this song as number two in the list of Elton John's best songs as picked by critics, second only to "Bennie and the Jets".[4] Rolling Stone readers picked this song as number three in a list of "deep cuts" by Elton John, songs that only a true fan would know, even though it has received significant exposure over the years.[5] The song had a strong influence on the Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion albums and, in particular, the song "November Rain".[6] Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows lists the song among the ten songs that helped shape how he relates to music.[7]

Covers

References in other media

Jean Grand-Maître choreographed a ballet for the Alberta Ballet called Love Lies Bleeding.[9]

References
  1. Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 549. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
  2. Guarisco, Donald. "Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  3. "Engineer David Hentschel Talks About 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'". Elton John. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  4. "Elton John's 20 Best Songs: Critic's Picks". Billboard. 18 December 2017.
  5. "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Elton John Deep Cuts". Rolling Stone. 2 September 2015.
  6. "Flashback: Guns N' Roses Play 'November Rain' With Elton John". Rolling Stone. 2 April 2013.
  7. "Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows: 10 Songs That Made Me". Revolver. 2 April 2018.
  8. "Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding". Songfacts. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  9. "Love Lies Bleeding should be around a long, long time". The Globe and Mail. 8 November 2011.
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