ELTON JOHN
I’m still standing – 1983
Elton John drives along the French Riviera in his flashy convertible, singing up a storm and looking like a million dollars. Throughout the course of this video, he’ll undergo multiple wardrobe changes and don a million different pairs of sunglasses.
The video begins with a blue circle moving across a black screen that dissolves into a shot of Cannes as if approaching it by helicopter. This instantly sets a tone of quaint, expensive European luxury. In sync with some keyboard riffs are the emergence of the colours of the French flag quickly on, then off, the screen, one by one. Later, when the musical riff repeats, we see three hands shoot into the camera frame, each one made up in one of the colours of the French flag (blue, white, and red). It is a sunny day with a bright blue sky. A French flag blows in the breeze. We see Elton driving in a very expensive looking convertible. It is an image of glamour, leisure, and conspicuous consumption.
As the first verse begins, we see dancers break-dancing on the sidewalk and Elton in the car lip-singing with a large glamorous yellow luxury hotel in the background. John’s sunglasses and safari hat evoke adventure, his red jacket, class, and his mandarin collar shirt that he is a world traveler. A group of males, mostly naked dance in front of the doors of the hotel.
“….behind the mask you use”. The lyrics have very direct idea with the image. This can possible mean, that the person to who the song is dedicated, was using a mask and didn’t show their full personality to Elton John. That has broke his heart and hurt feeling.
A walkway lined with dancers, posing as living statues, each covered in elaborate body make-up (usually two colours, such as patterns of white and blue or green and yellow), the women wearing bikinis and men wearing small speedos. As with many Mulcahy videos, the camera emphasises the male bodies more prominently compared to other MTV videos.
In this picture, audience can see how Elton gives gold glitter to a “guard” of the hotel. To start with, we can look at the costume of this guard. His clothes are recognisable in the hotel, more likely it represents Elton’s sexuality. Elton did not open about his sexuality until 1988, however the music video consists many hidden messages dedicated to this topic.
After establishing a tone of homoerotic European luxury, the video consists of a bunch of visual gimmicks involving interaction between Elton and the dancers. Elton pushes down a line of dancers on a beach, for example, who then all raise their fists and rise up.
There is undoubtedly an element of sexual ambiguity in the clip, perhaps hinting at his bisexual past, but ultimately the sequence seems to say that if given the choice between a man or a woman, Elton John clearly prefers the woman! More bearding meant to give a deliberate false impression of heterosexuality and distract from the pervading homoeroticism of the video’s visual landscape.
A similar moment occurs during the guitar solo. We see a row of wooden stalls on a beach, each stall with its own beach chair, and each beach chair with a woman on it. The women pull the men down for more. It’s rather bluntly sexual for such a popular MTV video, and seems like yet another heterosexual mitigation of the gay vibe in the rest of the video. But it was necessary camouflage so the video wouldn’t seem as a gay video.
The final part of the video takes place at night. Elton enters a museum and the statues come to life. We also see an artfully framed recurring shot of Elton playing a white grand piano in a white suit near the beach as the sun sets. As Elton stands at his piano. The video ends with a freeze frame of Elton sort of doing a little dance move behind the piano just as the sun goes down.
As I said before, there are a lot of hidden details about Elton’s sexuality. Like for example, his hat has a tape with different colours. Somebody would not be able to recognise, however it reminds of the pride flag.
Music video does not have a specific narrative. It is all about happiness, freedom and capability of standing no matter what. Elton John wrote this song right after his serious relationship with woman and only wanted to show that he is still standing after his hard depression.
Music Video consists many interesting shots. As I decided to use this song for my future project, I want to use similar sizes of shots. This will not be seen already in our time music videos, but I think it would be very interesting to try and replicate.
In some of the shots we can see the piano. Elton John became successful because of his amazing skills playing the piano. This instrument has been with him throughout his entire career and became his specialty. The piano is also promoting the image of the artists because without this instrument, Elton John is not Elton John anymore. Furthermore, his image is represented by his iconic crazy colourful costumes and bright neon costumes.
Analysis of the lyrics
“I’m Still Standing” speaks about Elton John’s successful recovery from a hard breakup with his loved one. In the song, he tells his ex that he has moved on and is better off without.
The singer first describes his past lover as a pretentious cold-hearted person who will probably end up revealing their true colours soon. He then reminds his ex that he won because he has forgotten about their affair, gotten rid of their past memories and has even tasted a less complicated form of love elsewhere.
Elton further shows his ex that he is doing much better now after a hard breakup. He uses the phrase “I’m still standing” to depict his rising up from the hurt which made him fall. He sees himself as a survivor who has been able to pick back the broken pieces of his life without thinking of his ex.
While recalling the pain he felt from the manipulative relationship they had, the singer mentions that his lover was always leaving him or threatening him to do so. Yet now that they are no more together, he feels much lighter and is stronger despite the experience.
Elton John Best hits 