Candle in the Wind 1997

Infobox Single
Name = Candle in the Wind 1997


Cover size =
Caption =
Artist = Elton John
Album =
A-side = "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" "Candle in the Wind 1997"
B-side = "You Make History"
Released = 1997
Format =
Recorded = September 1997
Genre = Pop rock
Length = 3:59 ("Something About The Way You Look Tonight")
4:11 ("Candle In the Wind 1997")
Label = A&M (US/Canada) Rocket Records
Writer = Elton John, Bernie Taupin (re-written)
Producer = George Martin
Certification =
Last single = "Live Like Horses"
(1997)
This single = "Candle in the Wind 1997"
(1997)
Next single = "Recover Your Soul"
(1997)
Misc =

"Candle in the Wind 1997" or "Goodbye England's Rose" is a remake of "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John that was released as a tribute single to Diana, Princess of Wales. Released in September 1997, the song peaked at number one in the UK becoming John's fourth number one single. It also peaked at number one in most other countries. In March 2007, Media Traffic ranked "Candle in the Wind 1997" as the most successful song in music history. However, despite the popular and artistic success of this recording, The Guinness Book of Records 2008 recognizes that Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" is the world's best-selling single in history.

The 1997 version of "Candle in the Wind" is based on the 1973 version of "Candle in the Wind," released by Elton John. The lyrics of that earlier version, written by Bernie Taupin, were a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. The opening lines of the 1973 version, "Goodbye Norma Jean, though I never knew you at all," were adapted to "Goodbye England's rose, may you ever grow in our hearts." In fact, most of the lyrics were adapted to suit the circumstances of Diana's life and death.

ong information

On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in Paris, France. The news immediately shocked John, as he and the Princess had been very good friends. He had also lost another good friend, the fashion designer Gianni Versace, earlier in the summer, and had attended his funeral with Diana.

As a result of these deaths, John sank into a deep depression, and considered not going to the funeral due to the emotional trauma.Fact|date=June 2008 In the end, he decided to attend after receiving support from other friends. Following the recovery, John decided he wanted to pay a tribute to Diana. With that in mind, he contacted his veteran writing partner, Bernie Taupin. Due to the limited time available, they felt it was not possible to write a new song, and chose to re-write the lyrics to "Candle in the Wind".Fact|date=June 2008 George Martin was contacted to help produce the song, and added a string quartet, (Peter Manning, Keith Pascoe, Levine Andrade and Andrew Shulman), and woodwind (Pippa Davies, flute) to help balance the recording.

John sang "Candle in the Wind 1997" in public, for the first and only time, at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in Westminster Abbey on 6 September 1997. Though he continues to perform the original 1973 version of the song at his concerts, John has repeatedly turned down requests to perform the 1997 version. He refused even when asked to do so for the memorial Concert for Diana in July 2007, having vowed never to perform it again unless asked by Diana's sons.Fact|date=June 2008 The song has never been re-released on any of his other albums or compilations.

Chart performance

As the song was a tribute to the popular Diana and because pre-order numbers had been high, it was expected by chart analysts for the song to top the charts, but its results were record breaking. Released on September 13 1997, it became the fastest-selling single in the UK, selling 658,000 copies in the UK on that day alone, and over 1.5 million copies in its first week. The single would remain at number one for 5 weeks. All in all, it eventually sold 4.86 million copies in the UK, overtaking the 13-year-old record held by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to become the best-selling single of all time in the UK.

The response in the USA was quite similar. It became the 7th album/song in history to debut at number one, and sold over a million copies in its first week. As a result, the album/single held on to the number one position for 14 weeks, the record for a male solo artist. In total, it sold over 11 million copies in the United States to become the second best-selling single worldwide, after receiving advance orders of nearly 9 million.

Besides being the best-selling single in the USA, it is also the most shipped single in the USA with a certification of 11x platinum. This makes "Candle In The Wind 1997" the only album/song in the USA ever to be certified for more than 4 million copies sold, and the first and only diamond single ever.

Its success was also seen in most countries around the world.Fact|date=June 2008 In Canada, it spent three years in the top 20, with 46 weeks at the top spot. However, the song's unusual chart performance in Canada has also been explained as a structural factor — due to the relative lack of CD singles available for sale in Canadian stores, in some weeks the song was able to chart on sales of less than 100 copies across the entire country.

From a worldwide perspective, over 33 million copies were sold around the globe, making it the second best-selling single of all time worldwide, although it should be noted that this sales figure takes into account only CD singles and was released after the era of the traditional single had effectively ended. It is estimatedFact|date=June 2008 that at the peak of sales, almost six copies of the single were sold across the world "per second". All artist and composer royalties and record company profits were donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

Comprehensive charts

ales

*United States: (11x Platinum) (Sales: 11,000,000)
*United Kingdom (9x Platinum) (Sales: 5,400,000)
*Germany: (9x Platinum) (sales: 4,500,000+)
*France: (Diamond) (sales: 2,000,000+)
*Canada: (Diamond) (Sales:1,000,000)
*Australia: (14x Platinum) (Sales: 980,000+)
*Japan: (2x Platinum) (Sales: 630,000+)
*Switzerland: (9x Platinum) (450,000)
*Spain: (9x Platinum) (450,000)
*The Netherlands: (6x Platinum) (Sales: 300,000)
*Austria: (6x Platinum) (Sales: 180,000)
*Brazil: (Platinum) (Sales: 125,000)
*Mexico: (Gold) (Sales: 100,000)
*Norway: (8x Platinum) (Sales: 80,000)
*Finland:(5x Platinum) (Sales: 54,225)

Trivia

*This song is parodied in "The Simpsons" episode "Funeral for a Fiend" (a parody of "Funeral for a Friend", another Elton John song) with Krusty the Clown singing altered lyrics while playing piano at Sideshow Bob's funeral.

*In 2004, this song was voted 4th worst song of all time in Channel 4's [http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/pop_records/results.html 100 WORST POP RECORDS]

*The song was parodied by Australian comedy team The Chaser in 2007 with Andrew Hansen's altered lyrics lamenting the departure of host Naomi Robson from the current affairs program Today Tonight.

*The song is listed at #41 on "Billboard's All Time Top 100." [cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-50.shtml|title=The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs (50-41)|accessdate=2008-10-04|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc]

ee also

*Candle in the Wind

References

*The Guinness Book of Records 2007 states that "Candle In the Wind 1997" is the biggest selling single 'since records began', however states that in total overall sales, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" has sold the most copies. This accounts for the ambiguity appearing in the main article when stating 'best selling single'.