Elton John: Daniel Meaning

Song Released: 1973

Daniel Lyrics

Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes

They say Spain is pretty though I've never been
Well...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Nov 25th 2006 !⃝

   Ok well your not totally wrong, but the song Daniel is actually based on a short story of a Vietnam Soldier (Daniel) that returned home blind, he was welcomed like a hero something he did not want because of what the war did to him and so many of his brethren. He would then leave his home for Spain, to be with his fallen soldiers. It is a protest of the war, but it is based on a short story of such a soldier.
2. anonymous

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   Mar 5th 2018 !⃝

   "God it looks like Daniel." Please, can somebody explain this verse to me?
   
   I think he is looking at the planes taking off and he is not sure which plane is his brothers... He is crying. It is more a state of confusion rather than fact.. Just my opinion
3. anonymous

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   Jun 19th 2017 !⃝

   Want to stop guessing and know the REAL meaning to this song? Get it right from the horses mouth.....Bernie Taupin.
   
   http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2350
4. anonymous

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   Jul 29th 2016 !⃝

   I love this song - but I always thought they singer (male or female) had somehow lost his brother (Daniel). I had thought that the plane, which carried Daniel was in some sort of accident - and Daniel was killed. I'm glad that reading the information at this site - that I was REALLY off base. But it's still kinda sad knowing that Daniel was miserable and felt he had to leave the country he had defended.
5. anonymous

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   Jun 25th 2016 !⃝

   A younger brother must part with his old brother.
   Daniel returns home yet due to the scars of war and how others treat him so different. He decides to leave again to Spain. Once again, his brother must lose Daniel.
   
   To the person who wanted the meaning of "Someone saved my life tonight." Elton John was to marry a girl who had no true love for him. He placed his head in an oven due to his depression. A friend found him in time. After his friend and others pointed out how little she cared for him, he clearly came to the realization to let go of her. It was noted that even after she was told how he almost died, She replied about him waiting the gas. Sugar Bear is gone due to someone saved my life tonight.
6. rlquall

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   May 18th 2013 !⃝

   I don't know, but somehow I always saw "Daniel" as being part of the great gay "brotherhood", which is why the Wilson-Phillips cover that so many people loved sounded so empty to me. Interesting that even though Daniel can't really see, he claims that Spain "is the best place that you've ever seen," even though he apparently has never seen it (literally) himself.
   
   Another possible (and not necessarily incompatible) explanation is that the narrator (like Sir Elton John himself) has a fairly serious vision impairment and feels a brotherhood with the fully-blinded Daniel.
7. anonymous

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   Mar 2nd 2013 !⃝

   "God it looks like Daniel." Please, can somebody explain this verse to me?
8. anonymous

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   Jan 21st 2013 !⃝

   Anonymous-
   
   You're going to be super sad someday.
   
   ALL relationships end.
   
   -anonymous
9. anonymous

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   Oct 16th 2011 !⃝

   It's about family. It's told through the eyes of the brother of a blind vet who missed his brother, Daniel, while he was at war and now he's going to Spain. I have two brothers who are like everything I live for and I would be super sad if anything happen to them.
10. ollie510

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    Sep 19th 2007 !⃝

    I am really glad for your impressive interpretations. If the song is about a short story of a blind Vietnam vet, then that is a beautiful thing to know--thank you for sharing. I always cry when I hear this song in the right frame of mind. It is heart-sick and lovely. I'm not a very good singer but I can sing this song pretty good--there's only one difficult interval leap DAN-iel you're a star. I wish someone would interpret "Someone Saved My Life Last Night."
11. anonymous

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    Aug 14th 2006 !⃝

    This was a mild war protest song. Spain was where the bodies of fallen american soldiers were sent from vietman before being returned to the usa.

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