I’m Still Standing




I’ve only seen Rocketman twice, so I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it after it’s released digitally. But these are my thoughts for today, and they’re focused on the ending song “I’m Still Standing.”

First, I know that the lyric, which was written by Bernie Taupin, was about a failed love relationship. But I think the lyric had a two-fold double meaning for Elton John. Yes, for John, it was also about a failed relationship, but it wasn’t about another person. It was about his failed relationship with himself— with the self he had been running from for years. 

It was also about the fact that he had come to peace with himself through Recovery. The song was written and released after he was sober from alcohol, drugs, etc. “I’m Still Standing” was a testament to the fact that Elton John had survived his demons and himself. He had finally accepted the fact that he was a gay man who could love and be loved in this life without having to be untrue to himself. He had survived his mother, his father, his manager and his inner-critic, and he was still standing.

But I think that “I’m Still Standing” is also a testament to the fact that Elton John had survived artistically beyond his 1970s heyday. The song itself went to #1 in Canada and Switzerland, #4 in England and #12 in the USA in 1983. The album, of the same title, went Platinum. Just as most 1960s artists didn’t survive well into the 1970s, most 1970s artists didn’t survive well into the 1980s. Every decade produces its own sounds and superstars, making it difficult to hold on to success for older, established artists. Elton John has joined the ranks of Madonna, Cher, Paul McCartney, Duran Duran, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and select others who have withstood the test of time. 

Everyone of us in every Recovery program needs to have “I’m Still Standing” as our theme song. Like Elton John, we’ve made it past the worst stages of self-hatred and addictively medicating our emotional pain away. Sure, we all still take steps backwards. Even Elton John admits that although he’s been sober for 29 years now, he still has trouble with shopping. And don’t we all have something beyond our primary addiction that we still have trouble with? My guess would be “Yes.” But we’re all “Still Standing.”

I'M STILL STANDING

"You could never know what it's like
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice
And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use

And did you think this fool could never win
Well look at me, I'm coming back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
And if you need to know while I'm still standing you just fade away

Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah
I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah

Once I never could hope to win
You starting down the road leaving me again
The threats you made were meant to cut me down
And if our love was just a circus you'd be a clown by now

You know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah
I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah

Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah
I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah

I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah
I'm still standing yeah yeah yeah."

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