“I'm Still Standing” by Elton John

"I'm Still Standing" came bounding out of Too Low for Zero, Elton John's 1983 album, as its lead single in North America and its second in Britain, and it's pure bounce: Elton pounding the piano and layering synthesizer, Davey Johnstone on electric guitar, Dee Murray on bass and Nigel Olsson on drums, the three of them stacking up the backing vocals behind him. Chris Thomas produced it, and Bill Price recorded it.

Everybody hears it as Elton's survival anthem, but Bernie Taupin says he wrote the words as a parting shot at an old girlfriend, and he's happy to let the world keep its version. An MTV video helped carry it to number one in Canada and Switzerland, number 4 in the UK and number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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