"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" | |||||||
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Single by Elton John | |||||||
from the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | |||||||
B-side | "Jack Rabbit" "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" |
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Released | July 16, 1973 | ||||||
Format | Vinyl record (7") | ||||||
Recorded | May 1973 at Château d'Hérouville, France | ||||||
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Length | 4:57 (album version) 4:12 (single version) |
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Writer(s) | |||||||
Producer(s) | Gus Dudgeon | ||||||
Elton John singles chronology | |||||||
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"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (sometimes written "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)") is a song originally recorded by British musician Elton John. John composed it with his long-time song-writing partner Bernie Taupin. It was released on John's 1973 studio album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and as the first single. The song is one of John's most critically and commercially successful singles, a #7 hit record in the singer's native United Kingdom. It has been covered by W.A.S.P., Flotsam and Jetsam, Nickelback (with Kid Rock and Dimebag Darrell), Queen, The Who, Fall Out Boy, and several others.
"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is a lively throwback to early rock and roll with a glam edge; the lyrics discuss a night out in town in which the narrator plans to "get about as oiled as a diesel train". Taupin has said that the song was meant to be an American rock and roll song set in Britain. It was inspired by his raucous teenage days. In particular this was the fist fights happening in his local pub, the Aston Arms in Market Rasen.
The song, which showcases the guitar playing of Davey Johnstone, with lyrics by Bernie Taupin and music by John, is written in the key of G major alternating with C major on the chorus. It is one of John's harder-rocking songs (similar to "Grow Some Funk of Your Own" and "The Bitch Is Back"), with a sound echoing bands such as The Who and The Rolling Stones (The Who later covered it in 1991). The song is a complete departure from his past renown as a mellow singer/songwriter.