Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
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| "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Elton John | ||||||||||
| from the album Jump Up! | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Take Me Down to the Ocean" | |||||||||
| Released | March 12, 1982 | |||||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||||
| Length | Single-3:59/LP-5:05 | |||||||||
| Label | Geffen (US/Canada) Rocket Records |
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| Writer(s) | Elton John, Bernie Taupin | |||||||||
| Elton John singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" is a hit ballad from British pop-rock performer Elton John's 1982 album Jump Up!. It reached number 13 in the US singles chart. He dedicated the song in memory of the late Beatle, John Lennon, who had been murdered by an obsessed fan in front of his New York City apartment on December 8, 1980. Lennon and John were good friends, having performed a duet on Lennon's 1974 hit "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", which the pair performed live at one of John's concerts in the same year (Lennon's last stage performance), along with two other songs. As part of his 1982 "Jump Up!" tour, he performed the song live at Madison Square Garden, with Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and their son Sean in the audience. (Elton is Sean's godfather.) He again performed it on his first appearance as a musical guest on the April 17, 1982 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Johnny Cash.
John rarely performs the song live, as he has said it brings back many painful memories of Lennon's death, though he does add it to set lists from time to time, often when playing Madison Square Garden.
The "Empty Garden" referred to in the song is Madison Square Garden, where Lennon performed a duet with John in 1974. John has since performed the song several times at Madison Square Garden. The music video for the song features John sitting at a piano with a mock-up of the Dakota building's drive-up entrance door where Lennon's murder took place.
John wrote and recorded an earlier instrumental tribute to Lennon, "The Man Who Never Died," and in the book accompanying the "To Be Continued ..." box set said he was concerned that songs about Lennon would be no more than "clumsy" or "cheesy," until he saw Taupin's lyrics for "Empty Garden." ("The Man Who Never Died (Remix)" was included as a bonus track on the remastered reissue of "Ice On Fire.")
- Elton John - Yamaha electric piano, harpsichord, vocals
- Richie Zito - guitars
- Dee Murray - bass
- James Newton-Howard - synthesizers
- Jeff Porcaro - drums
[edit] External links
- Empty Garden's Lyrics at Letras.Mus.Br (Portuguese)
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