From Chapter 3: When Karen and Patrick go on their first date in July 1975, she hears Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" playing on a radio in the kitchen of the Arthur Treacher's. To Karen, the song's title hints at a new romance; she's looking for someone to save her own life, to fill it with meaning and love.
But this is no love song. It's a scathing kiss-off to a scheming, manipulative woman who "almost had your hooks in me." The life saved is the singer's own, and he's happy to be sleeping alone. Bernie Taupin's often complex lyrics ("I'm strangled by your haunted social scene / Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen") can be difficult to take in on early listens. Sometimes it requires serious attention for the subtle and not-so-subtle messages to sink in.
The song, from the fantastic Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, spent 10 weeks on the pop charts during that summer, rising to number 4.
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