“Harmony” by Elton John

Elton John and Bernie Taupin saved "Harmony" for last: it closes Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the sprawling 1973 double album, and was cut that May at the Château d'Hérouville in France with Gus Dudgeon producing. Elton plays piano and sings, Davey Johnstone plays acoustic guitar, Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson hold down bass and drums, and all three stack the backing vocals behind him.

Taupin's lyric greets a lover back after a long time gone, wonders whether she returned only because he's the last friend she has, and decides to love her anyway. The music isn't so sure: writer James Perone hears a slide into a minor key hinting that the happiness won't last. It spent 1974 as the American B-side of "Bennie and the Jets", and Britain finally gave it an A-side of its own in 1980.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.