Music / Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player

Are you blind to the winds of change?
Don't you hear him any more?

I remember when rock was young
Me and Suzie had so much fun
Holding hands and skimming stones
Had an old gold Chevy, a place of my own

But the biggest kick I ever got
Was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock
While the other kids were rocking round the clock
We were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock

—"Crocodile Rock"

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player is the sixth studio album recorded by English pop musician Elton John. It was released through DJM Records in the United Kingdom on 22 January 1973, and through MCA Records in the United States on 26 January 1973.

Following the success of Honky Château, Elton and writing partner Bernie Taupin returned to Château d'Hérouville to do some more recording. Many of the backing musicians, especially the horns, were reassembled to assist on the next album.

The title of the album was the result of a personal performance he put on for comedian Groucho Marx at a party at his house. Groucho pointed his fingers at Elton like a gun while he was playing the piano, and he responded with that line.

All the recording for the album was in June 1972. Right before the end of the year, the first of its two singles, "Crocodile Rock", hit the radio waves to rapturous acclaim. It was yet another potential signature song.

The album would go triple-Platinum in the United States, repeating the previous album's feat of topping the Billboard 200 album chart. It would also become his first #1 album in his native United Kingdom. It was supported by the singles "Crocodile Rock" and "Daniel". "Crocodile Rock" would be Elton's first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Daniel" would reach #2. Both would be Top 10 hits in the UK.

Tracklist

Side One

1. "Daniel" (3:55)
2. "Teacher I Need You" (4:10)
3. "Elderberry Wine" (3:34)
4. "Blues for My Baby and Me" (5:39)
5. "Midnight Creeper" (3:52)

Side Two

6. "Have Mercy on the Criminal" (5:58)
7. "I'm Going to Be a Teenage Idol" (3:56)
8. "Texan Love Song" (3:33)
9. "Crocodile Rock" (3:55)
10. "High Flying Bird" (4:12)

"God, it looks like Daniel, must be the tropes in my eyes"

• Air Voyance: "Daniel" is all about this, and even provides the trope's quote.
  "Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane
  I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
  Oh and, I can see Daniel waving goodbye
  God it looks like Daniel
  Must be the clouds in my eyes"
• Doo-Wop Progression: The chorus of "Crocodile Rock" was written in this manner.
• Hot for Teacher: "Teacher I Need You"
  "Oh, teacher, I need you like a little child
  You got something in you to drive a schoolboy wild
  You give me education in the lovesick blues
  Help me get straight, come out and say
  Teacher I, teacher I, teacher I, teacher, I need you"
• Idol Singer: "I'm Going to Be a Teenage Idol", written in tribute to Elton's friend Marc Bolan at the height of "TRexstacy".
• Ode to Intoxication: "Elderberry Wine" is a song about getting drunk on the titular beverage.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • The album title was supposedly from an exchange with Groucho Marx.
  • "Daniel" is based on an encounter Elton had in an airport with an American serviceman returning from Vietnam.
• Rock-Star Song: "I'm Gonna Be a Teenage Idol", written about T.Rex frontman Marc Bolan.
• Sand In My Eyes: The "clouds in my eyes" in "Daniel" are likely this.
• Shout-Out: "Crocodile Rock" had the narrator reminiscing about the titular dance "while the other kids were rockin' round the clock".
• Something Blues: "Blues for My Baby and Me"

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