Passengers is a 1984 song by English musician

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

that appears on his 1984 album '' Breaking Hearts,'' released as the second single of the album. The song reached number five on the UK chart, and reached the top ten in Australia, but was not released as a single in the US. The song was included on his 1990 UK release '' The Very Best of Elton John'', but has not been included on any compilation since.

Background

It was composed by John,

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

and Davey Johnstone. The music for the song was largely based on a South African folk tune called 'Isonto Lezayone', which was recorded in 1963 by Phineas Mkhize. The whistle riff and chorus melody are borrowed from this piece, and Mkhize is given a songwriting credit for the song on this basis. It has been suggested that Taupin's lyric has an anti-apartheid message behind it.

Live performances

John performed the song live during his 1985 tour of the UK, with a slightly re-arranged version of the track, making use of the brass section he used for the tour. The song has seemingly been discarded by John, having not been played live since then, as of 2019.

Music video

The music video, directed by Simon Milne, was filmed in

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, France. The video featured a cameo appearance by

. As was the case for many of the songs in this time period, John appears without his trademark glasses, and does not play piano.

Personnel

* Elton John – vocals, synthesizers, harmonium * Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Dee Murray – bass, backing vocals * Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Elton John songs Elton John songs 1984 songs 1984 singles Songs with music by Elton John Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)