Elton John dedicated this double-A side single to the memory of the late Princess Diana of Wales and had what has been certified as the biggest selling hit of all time. After the death of his close personal friend in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, Elton John sank into a deep depression. As a tribute to his friend, he asked his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin to write new lyrics for the song 'Candle in the Wind' from his album 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'; which was originally written about Marilyn Monroe. Taupin says: "I thought it was very important to project it from a nation's standpoint. I wanted to make it sound like a country singing it. From the first couple of lines I wrote, the rest sort of fell into place."
The new version was recorded at Townhouse Studios in West London with producer George Martin. It was released as a double A-sided single with 'Something About the Way You Look Tonight', the first single from his new album 'The Big Picture'.
The single went to number one in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and the US. In the UK, it debuted at number one, selling six hundred and fifty-eight thousand copies on the first day and one and a half million copies in the first week, making it the fastest selling single in British history. It went on to sell four million nine hundred thousand copies and spent five weeks at number one and has been certified as the biggest hit of all time in the UK. In the US, it also made its debut at number one, selling three and a half million copies in the first week. It held the top spot for fourteen weeks and is the only single to be certified diamond in the US with sales of over eleven million copies. It went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1998. In Australia, it is also the best selling single of all time, having spent six weeks at number one and selling over fourteen million copies. In Canada, it was in the top twenty for three years and spent forty-six non-consecutive weeks at number one. In Finland, it is also the best-selling single of all time. In Germany, it is the eighth biggest seller in history.
With over thirty-three million certified copies sold worldwide, the single is considered the best-selling single of all time. The single for 'White Christmas' by Bing Crosby has probably sold more (about fifty million); but the sales can only be estimated. All royalties and profits were donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.
John considers: "In the end with Diana she trusted the wrong people. She didn't trust the people she should have trusted: her true friends. I always thought the people that really felt for her and really were true to her she just was a bit airy fairy towards in the end. Me playing at the funeral was one of the most surreal things I have ever done."
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The video for 'Something About the Way You Look Tonight' included some of the cast from the BBC show 'This Life', as well as supermodels Kate Moss and Sophie Dahl.
There was a time
I was everything and nothing all in one
When you found me
I was feeling like a cloud across the sun
I need to tell you
How you light up every second of the day
But in the moonlight
You just shine like a beacon on the bay
And I can't explain
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
It's that feeling I get about you, deep inside
And I can't describe
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
The way you look tonight
With you smile
You pull the deepest secrets from my heart
In all honesty
I'm speechless and I don't know where to start
And I can't explain
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
It's that feeling I get about you, deep inside
And I can't describe
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
The way you look tonight
And I can't explain
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
It's that feeling I get about you, deep inside
And I can't describe
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
The way you look tonight
Elton John has performed 'Candle In The Wind '97' only once, at the funeral for Diana at Westminster Abbey on the 6th of September, 1997: "What was going through my mind was, 'Don't fuck this up. Don't sing a wrong note. Don't sing the wrong note. Be stoic. Don't break down and just do it to the best you can possibly do it without showing any emotion whatsoever.' "My heart was beating quite a lot, I have to say...This is an unreal experience and I hope I never have to do it again."
Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart
You called out to our country
And you whispered to those in pain
Now you belong to heaven
And the stars spell out your name
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will
Loveliness we've lost
These empty days without your smile
This torch we'll always carry
For our nation's golden child
And even though we try
The truth brings us to tears
All our words cannot express
The joy you brought us through the years
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will
Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart
Goodbye England's rose
From a country lost without your soul
Who'll miss the wings of your compassion
More than you'll ever know
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will
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