Bernie Taupin: Elton John's lyricist and songwriter on his memoir and future projects

Elton John is one of the most iconic artists of the fifty years, but his lyricist Bernie Taupin is nearly as well known.    The partnership between the two is known as one of the most successful in history, as the pair have been working together since the 1960s.  It began with a talent advertisement from Liberty Records and while neither of them passed the initial audition, a connection was formed.   “It’s beyond explanation, and I don’t think you really want to figure it out.” Taupin told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking.  “If you think about things too much you might gum up the works,” he said.    While it might be hard to believe considering the massive critical acclaim the music has received, Taupin said they weren’t that good in the beginning.    “We were just trying to find our way and we were sort of emulating what was current at the time,” he told Hosking.  “We we’re just doing bad versions of a lot of good stuff.”     Eventually they realised that they needed to create something original, culminating in the creation of ‘Your Song,’ their first International Top 10 single.   While Taupin wrote the lyrics, Elton John was the one to put them to music.    In the early days, Taupin explained that he didn’t really know what song writing entailed and was “flying by the seat of his pants.”    “The fact that I got hooked up with somebody who could actually make sense of it was icing on the cake.”   Although most people would know of Bernie Taupin through his partnership with Elton John, going into his memoir expecting 417 pages of Elton would be a mistake.   “I think the subtitle of the book is a bit misleading if people think the entire book is about Elton and I’s adventures,” Taupin told the Newstalk ZB host.  “He only partakes of the book, probably about a quarter of it.”    Most of the book focuses on Taupin’s own life and experiences to date: “It doesn’t get any better than what it is at the moment.”    “That’s not to say this is the end of my career,” he told Hosking. “We’ve got lots more to do.”   He said that they’re going to start recording again now that Elton is done with touring.  “We can’t wait to get back in the studio.”  ‘Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me’ is out now and available at all bookstores. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.