Elton John: Bennie and the Jets Meaning

Song Released: 1974

Bennie and the Jets Lyrics

Hey kids, shake it loose together
The spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the weather
We'll kill the fatted calf tonight
So stick around
You're gonna hear electric music
Solid walls of sound

(Refrain)
Say,...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Apr 18th 2011 !⃝

   A song Taupin wrote about a fictional glam band and how popular they were in music.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Aug 5th 2012 !⃝

   This song is too screwed up to interpret!! He must have been on drugs while writing this. As weird as it is, one of my favorite songs!!
   
   Susan from Kansas
3. anonymous

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   May 23rd 2022 !⃝

   On the surface it’s about a band named “Bennie and the Jets” which gives over-the-top performances. On a deeper level it’s about the excesses of the music industry in the 70’s with outrageous costumes, wild parties, and rampant drug use. “Bennie” refers to Ben Franklin, who is the person on the $100 bill. The “Jets” are the lines of cocaine, since lines of cocaine look like jet contrails in the sky. So “Bennie and the Jets” is a reference to snorting cocaine with a $100 bill. After all, it’s a song about excess, and snorting coke with a hundred dollar bill screams excess. Notice also that when Elton John says “Jetssssssssssss” in the chorus the “ssss” sound is exaggerated because it makes a hissing sound — like the sound of cocaine being snorted. It’s no secret that both Elton John and Bernie Taupin were heavy cocaine users at that point in time.
   
4. anonymous

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   May 6th 2019 !⃝

   Bernie Taurpin is a genius
   Elton John is a genius
   I love that the interpretation above knew the allusion to Jesus's Parable. American Modernity has lost it completely. And even the grinning happy every day to pray and thoughts for every family and friend on TB oh I mean TV
   Taurpin touches on the bible a lot throughout that brilliant five year run. "Though they may be 'blinded' bEnnie makes them ageless."
   I know not whether this man is a sinner or not. All I know is that I was blind and now I SEE....
5. anonymous

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   Nov 26th 2017 !⃝

   I could be wrong possibly a future band.. But wasnt he into drugs pretty big and candy and ronnie.... Cocaine and heroin?..probably thought it was funny to tell magazines it was a song about a future band, he couldnt say.. Well... Drugs lol
6. anonymous

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   Jun 5th 2017 !⃝

   Fighting agaisnt society..for art...group mentality...get masses to think awesome
7. anonymous

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   Oct 2nd 2014 !⃝

   Bennie is Benzedine.
8. rlquall

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   May 18th 2013 !⃝

   Yes, Bennie's the lead singer for a glam-rock band, "The Jets", as demonstrated by the fact that she has a "mohair suit" and "electric boots", or at least a magazine has so reported.
   
   Note the religious references: "Kill the fatted calf" is a reference to Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son. Nonetheless, Bennie is an invitation to "plug into the faithless," and is a source of intergenerational conflict.
9. anonymous

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   Apr 12th 2011 !⃝

   Bennie is a female rock star. The jets are her band and the singer is a big fan

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