Released May 19, 1972 Length 3:35 | Recorded January 1972 | |
Genre Rock, honky tonk, dance hall Label DJM Records
Uni Records (US/Canada) Writer(s) Elton John, Bernie Taupin | ||
"I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" is a song by Elton John, released on his 1972 album Honky Château. The song is a tongue-in-cheek parody of a moody teenager's thoughts about suicide.
Contents
Musical structure
The song maintains the New Orleans atmosphere from the opening track of Honky Chateau, "Honky Cat," with a style that Elizabeth Rosenthal describes as "New Orleans-style jazz." Rosenthal calls the song "an amusing ditty." Author Phillip Norman describes it as "a cheerful little thing," but Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls it "surprisingly cynical and nasty." Mary Anne Cassata calls it "a jumpy pop tune," like "Honky Cat," and an "ode to teenage lust." The book Songwriting for Dummies described the song as "a deceptively happy ditty" and an example where the lyrical content contrasts with the music.
It opens with an upbeat piano, with accompanying bass licks and fast-paced drumming, stirring up a situation image. The chorus continues this, before briefly turning into a slow-paced Doo-wop choir, accompanied by a smooth Acoustic guitar, singing the word "blues". After that, it returns to its main tempo. Later, a honky-tonk piano solo accompanied by tap dancing is present, with the song switching in and out of the slow-paced "blues" before fading out. "Legs" Larry Smith performed the tap dancing routine on the track.
Lyrical meaning
The written lyrics are dramatic, starting out with "I'm getting bored being part of mankind". The song is about a manipulative teen not having his way with respect to issues like using the car or staying out late, and because of that, wishes to kill himself, in order to get attention. For example, the lyrics include the line "Yeah, I'm gonna kill myself - get a little headline news - I'd like to see what the papers say on the state of teenage blues." Later verses aren't as dramatic: "I can't use the car - I gotta be in by 10 o' clock - who do they think they are?" and that he wouldn't kill himself if "Brigitte Bardot gotta come and see me every night".
Performances
It was premiered in 1972, both with and without "Legs" Larry Smith, who also did the tap dancing on the album. Smith performed the tap dance on stage during the American leg of the 1972 tour, which began on September 26, with Smith sometimes wearing a wedding dress. Smith also performed on the song at the London Palladium for the Royal Command Performance Variety Show on October 30. After that tour, it was not played until returning as a solo piece in 1976, and on the 1979 tour with Ray Cooper. The second tour with Ray Cooper (1993–95) also featured this song, and it was also featured in his 2009-10 tour with Cooper. It has not been played solo since 1976.
During these performances, the honky-tonk solo is transformed into a marimba-solo played by Cooper, adding to the already tragi-comical melody.