A few of the verses, well they got me quite cross.

Continuing my trip up the list of the most streamed songs for each year.  

1970 : Your Song - Elton John

Ah - this is a very nice song indeed. I thoroughly approve, although I'm somewhat surprised by its appearance (although I guess I should wait until I see the competition).  Elton and Bernie came out with some absolutely classic tracks in the first half of the 70s and there's a very good argument that this is where it all kicked off.  Wikipedia tells me it's a whopping 4:03 and, surprisingly, it wasn't recorded first by Elton but instead was an album track for Three Dog Night who Elton was opening for at the time.  When released by Elton, it was originally the b-side to "Take Me To The Pilot" but received more airplay so was promoted which seems, with hindsight, to be a wise choice.  He's played it live at most of his gigs including "one notable version was during his Central Park concert in 1980, when John was dressed as Donald Duck".

The critics were and continue to be very approving of the track and it's fair to say it's done pretty well over the years for a fair few people.  Elton has charted with it at #7, #85 and #4 (with Allesandro Saffina) over the years but the most successful version was by Ellie Goulding which got to #2 in 2010, which she sang at William and Kate's wedding for their first dance.  Other versions that have charted are by Rod Stewart (#41 in '92) and Lady Gaga (in various countries, but not here).  

The other versions that Wikipedia randomly chooses to mention are Ewan McGregor's from Moulin Rouge and Taron Egerton's from Rocketman (which is well worth a watch if you haven't seen it).  secondhandsongs.com gives us a much better selection - Andy Williams, Cilla Black, Solomon Burke, The Osmonds, Al Jarreau, The Nolan Sisters, Boyzone, The Streets (really?) and Alexander O'Neal are "highlights" from a selection of 363 versions!  

Looking at other songs available from the year, the best selling track was Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime" which I struggle to imagine too many people seek out these days.  Slightly better options offered up by the UK charts are Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", The Beatles "Let It Be", Free's "All Right Now", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" and T Rex's "Ride A White Swan" - a small selection for this year, but a fine one.  I was also surprised to see Clive Dunn's "Grandad" came out in this year (it got to #1 in 1971) - I thought it was quite a bit later than this.  I was also somewhat surprised to see it was written by Herbie Flowers who, amongst many other things, played with T Rex and came up with the bassline for Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side".   Some other options from across the pond are The Carpenters' "Close To You" and "We've Only Just Begun", Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky" (which is amusingly mad) and The Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy - He's My Brother".

I think I'd be happier with The Beatles having won a year for "Let It Be" rather than "Here Comes The Sun" and I think "Bridge Over Troubled Water" must be well up there as well, but I'm very happy for Elton to take the year with this lovely song - it's simple but heartfelt.

1969 - Of all of their tracks, I wasn't expecting this one
1971 - I'm not convinced many people stream this