The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, Elton's writing partner.
When Elton wrote the music for it, he chopped off the last verse because
he thought the song was already too long. This completely changed the
meaning of the song, as the deleted verse explained that "Daniel"
was a Vietnam Vet who returned home after the war, lost his eyesight,
and decided to leave America and go to Spain. With the last verse chopped
off, it became a fairly vague story of 2 brothers who part ways.
This was written and recorded the same day. Taupin wrote the lyrics
one morning at the recording studio and brought them downstairs to Elton,
who put music to it and recorded with the band that day.
This was part of a very productive songwriting period for Taupin and
John. In an effort to quickly record songs for the album, they wrote
12 songs over a 2 day period. This was one of them.
The record company didn't want to release this as a single because they
thought it was too long and somber to be a hit. Elton had other ideas,
and insisted they release it as a single before the album came out.
The record company did, but with very little promotion. It became a
hit anyway.
Here are the 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 Daniel says it's the best place that he's ever seen
Oh and he should know, he's been there enough
Lord I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much
Daniel my brother you are older than me
Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal
Your eyes have died but you see more than I
Daniel you're a star in the face of the sky
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
Oh God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
