Recorded January 1985 | Genre Pop rock, soft rock | |
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B-side "The Man Who Never Died" (U.K.)
"Restless" (U.S.) Released 29 October 1985 (UK)
February 1986 (U.S.) Format CD, vinyl record (7" and 12") Length 5:44 (album version)
4:54 (single version) | ||
"Nikita" is a song by English singer Elton John about the Cold War from his 1985 album Ice on Fire. Released late in the year, the song was successful in many countries and was a top ten hit in almost all of them.
Contents
Song synopsis
In the song, Elton John describes his crush on a person called Nikita, an East German border guard whom he cannot meet because he is not allowed into the country. It features George Michael and Nik Kershaw on backing vocals, and is notable for a distinctive synthesizer solo. The song charted at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and at number 7 in the US.
Composition
The song is composed in the key of G major in 4/4 time. The song employs a verse-chorus-verse format, with the second chorus being shorter than the first, plus a mechanically-themed breakdown halfway through the second chorus.
Video settings and song information
The video for the song "Nikita", directed by Ken Russell, featured Anya Major in the role of Nikita and a cameo appearance by Justin Lewis. Elton John accepted the proposed script written by Russell which was a male-female love interpretation of the song, as indeed the depicted East German border guard in the video is a blonde woman with short hair. Scenes showing the two together in various happy situations, including wearing the colours of Watford FC of whom John is a supporter and former Chairman, were based in fantasy. In interviews, John has said that he was aware that Nikita was a male name in Russian.
The car, Elton John is sitting in, taking photos from Nikita and trying to pass by her checkpoint, is a Bentley Continental Convertible, bought by himself from new in February 1985. The registration plate B120 WYM is its original, before Elton John changed the registration for a personalised plate.
In 1986, in the wake of the song's success, video actress Anya Major recorded a spin-off song titled "Moscow Nights" which she released under the stage name "Anya".
Allegation of plagiarism
Elton John, Bernie Taupin and Big Pig Music were accused of plagiarism by South African photographer and songwriter Guy Hobbs. Hobbs wrote a song in 1982 entitled "Natasha", about a Russian waitress on a cruise ship, who was never allowed to leave it. The song was copyrighted in 1983, and sent to Big Pig Music (John's publisher) for a possible publishing deal, but Hobbs never heard back from the publisher. In 2001, Hobbs came across the lyric book to "Nikita" and noticed similarities with his song. Despite repeated attempts by Guy to contact John over the issue, he never heard from him and so commenced legal action in 2012. On 31 October 2012, a US federal judge granted John and Taupin's motion to dismiss, finding that the song did not infringe Hobbs' copyright because the only similar elements were generic images and themes that are not protected under copyright law.
Track listings
- "Nikita" — 4:54
- "The Man Who Never Died" — 5:10
- "Nikita" (album version) — 5:43
- "The Man Who Never Died" — 5:10
- "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (live) — 3:26
- "I'm Still Standing (live) — 4:38