Handwritten Your Song lyrics up for auction

Elton John

LOS ANGELES • When Elton John was given the lyrics of Your Song, it took him just 10 minutes to come up with the tune for the 1970 hit.

Now, the handwritten original lyrics - by John's long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin - are going up for auction in New York.

The romantic ballad - which begins with the words "It's a little bit funny" - was the British singer's first big hit and remains one of his best-known songs.

Bonhams, the auction house, said last Friday that the lyrics, written and notated in blue ink and signed B. Taupin, are the "original, first and only draft" of the song. They are to be sold at a Nov 19 auction in New York by Taupin's first wife, Maxine, and expected to fetch a six-figure sum.

In 2013, John told Rolling Stone magazine that Your Song was "a perfect song. It gets better every time I sing it. I was 22 and he was 19, and it gave us so much confidence".

Song lyrics, especially if hand-written, have become sought-after items by rock-memorabilia collectors. The original lyrics for Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone sold for a record US$2 million at an auction in New York in 2014.

Taupin is selling many of his other lyrics, including the rewritten Candle In The Wind words for Princess Diana's London funeral in 1997, at another auction in New York on Friday.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 05, 2018, with the headline Handwritten Your Song lyrics up for auction. Subscribe