"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" is a 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 ...

, taken from his 25th studio album, '' The Big Picture''. It was written by John and

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 produced by Chris Thomas. It was released as the album's first single on 8 September 1997 by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it ...

and

the Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973 in music, 1973. The company was named after the hit song "Rocket Man (song), Rocket Man". The label was ...

. Five days after the song's solo release, it was issued as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single with "

Candle in the Wind 1997 "Candle in the Wind 1997", also known as "Goodbye England's Rose" and "Candle in the Wind '97", is a song by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, a re-written and re-recorded version of their 1973 song "Candle in the Wind". ...

". That single and its video were dedicated to the memory of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, who died that year, with proceeds from the sale of the single going towards Diana's charities. According to the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

, with certified sales, this double A-side is "the best-selling single of all time".Elton John: Biography , Rolling Stone Music
''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' "Candle in the Wind 1997," easily became the all-time highest-certified single". The ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' 2009 states that the song is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies".Guinness Book of Records, 2007 Edition, page 187
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Music video

The video for the song was directed by

Tim Royes Tim Royes (December 25, 1964 – August 13, 2007, New York City) was a British music video director and editor, producing videos for artists such as Westlife (" Mandy"), Melanie C (" I Want Candy", " The Moment You Believe", " Carolyna"), Emma B ...

and features Elton singing and playing piano to an empty theatre, as well as actors and actresses from the UK television programme '' This Life'', as well as supermodels

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...

and Sophie Dahl appearing in a fashion show. Many consider it as one of Elton John's best videos. John has publicly revealed (through his "warts and all" documentary ''

Tantrums and Tiaras ''Tantrums & Tiaras'' is a 1997 documentary film about the private life of English musician Elton John, directed by his husband, David Furnish. It was recorded during John's Made in England Tour in 1995 and includes parts of interviews and conce ...

'') that he finds videos "fucking loathsome" and after the videos from his album ''The Big Picture'' refrained from appearing in his own videos unless they were cameo appearances.

Sales and chart positions

In the UK alone, the

single with "

" sold over 4,930,000 copies (8×

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

), making the song the best-selling single ever in UK history. It remained for five weeks at the number-one position. In the US, the double A-side single spent 14 weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The best-selling single in ''Billboard'' history and the only single ever certified Diamond in the US, the single sold over 11 million copies in the US. On the US adult contemporary chart, however, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" and "Candle in the Wind 1997" charted separately; while the tribute to Princess Diana peaked at number 2 on this chart, "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" spent 10 weeks at number 1 in late 1997 and early 1998. This double-sided single holds the record for the fewest weeks in a chart year from a year-end number-one single, with as few as eight. (In 1998, it had 34 more total weeks, however it was number 8 in the year-end list of 1998.) After this song, John was unable to reach the top spot of the US adult contemporary chart for 24 years until his collaboration with

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

, titled "

Merry Christmas The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late Novemb ...

" reached at number one for five weeks.

Critical reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' magazine said the song is a "grandly executed ballad that washes John's larger-than-life performance in cinematic strings and whooping, choir-styled backing vocals. An instant fave for die-hards, this single will bring kids at top 40 to the table after a few spins." ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote that "this single proves that Elton John's composing and performing skills are as good as ever. A ballad, boasting a classy string arrangement by

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genr ...

Art Of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mus ...

fame, it's vaguely reminiscent of another John/Taupin composition, 1973's Candle In The Wind, but it's too original to be called a ripoff."

Personnel

* Elton John – piano, vocals *

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in ...

– guitars * John Jorgenson – guitars *

Bob Birch Robert Wayne "Bob" Birch (July 14, 1956 – August 15, 2012) was an American musician. He was primarily a session musician and sideman to a variety of notable artists. Early life At an early age, Birch was inspired to pursue music by his fath ...

– bass guitar * Guy Babylon – keyboards * Charlie Morgan – drums and percussion *

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

– organ *

Carol Kenyon Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...

– backing vocals * Jackie Rawe – backing vocals * Strings arranged by Guy Babylon and Anne Dudley * Anne Dudley – conducting

Charts

The following chart entries are for "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" as a solo single.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Songs about nights 1990s ballads 1997 singles 1997 songs Elton John songs Mercury Records singles Music videos directed by Tim Royes Pop ballads Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer) Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin Songs with music by Elton John The Rocket Record Company singles