Song · Elton John
“Madman Across The Water” by Elton John
From the album Madman Across the Water (1971)
“Madman Across The Water” by Elton John appears on 22 radio countdowns from 11 stations between 1997 and 2026. It was first released in 1971 on the album Madman Across the Water. Its best result is #197 on the KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,355 indie & aaa song of all time.
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The title track of Elton John's 1971 album Madman Across the Water is a slow, brooding epic, and Bernie Taupin's words sketch a man shut away in an institution by the shore who isn't sure whether he belongs there. Elton's piano and voice lead a heavyweight crew: Rick Wakeman on organ, Chris Spedding's electric guitar, Davey Johnstone on acoustic, Herbie Flowers on bass, Terry Cox on drums and Ray Cooper on percussion, with Gus Dudgeon producing.
The sessions ran 4 days, one fewer than planned, after arranger Paul Buckmaster spilled ink across his only copy of the score and had to write the whole thing out again in a day. The row ended their partnership for decades. An all-acoustic take with Michael Chapman was cut and shelved, and the song has long counted among Elton's finest.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
Also listed as: Madman Across the Water; Madman Across the Wate.
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