The song opens with an octaved solo piano, which is then accompanied by a looped Roland CR-78 drum machine, [2] with occasional shaker and wind chimes alternating; other keyboards are often layered in shortly after, with a bass guitar mainly accompanying this. It is instrumental until the end, in which the words "Life – isn't everything (3x)" are repeated over the primary melody. He added: "It was like nothing I'd done before, and my American record label refused to release it as a single. I was furious But it became a colossal hit in Europe. I thought it was a bit over the top! It was certainly different, but I wouldn't have described it as brave. While “Song for Guy” may not have enjoyed the spotlight during Elton John’s live performances or found its way onto his farewell setlist, its understated beauty and emotional resonance endure. Sensational Seventies After while it became apparent that Gianni thought it was wonderfully brave because he'd misheard the title and was under the impression I'd called it 'Song for A Gay'."

This was the first time Elton had got this far without a mistake. If the extremely unthinkable happened and I ran out of tape before he finished my life wouldn’t be worth living. Song for Guy was a hit for Elton John in 1978. This largely instrumental song was one of the few successful songs written without Bernie Taupin.

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a b "Kent Music Report No 288 – 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979". Kent Music Report . Retrieved 10 January 2023– via Imgur.com. As they got two minutes into another take, Epps realised to his horror that his tape reel was running awfully low, and Elton was still going. Stuart Epps | Music Producer". www.stuartepps.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Years later when I met Gianni Versace told me it was his favourite song of mine. He kept saying how wonderfully brave he thought it was.

The song was one of his most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 4 in January 1979, and remaining on the chart for ten weeks, returning him to the Top Ten since 1976's " Don't Go Breaking My Heart", where it reached at No. 1 at the same chart. [5] It wasn't released in the US until March 1979 where it barely made the charts, peaking at No. 110. It was a modest success, though, on the American adult contemporary charts, where it peaked at No. 37 in the spring of 1979. As I was writing this song one Sunday, I imagined myself floating into space and looking down at my own body. I was imagining myself dying. Morbidly obsessed with these thoughts, I wrote this song about death. The next day I was told that Guy [Burchett], our 17-year-old messenger boy, had been tragically killed on his motorcycle the day before. Guy died on the day I wrote this song." [1] As well as Clive Franks on bass and Ray Cooper on wind chimes and shakers, it features Elton on all the other instruments – piano, Mellotron, Polymoog, ARP String Ensemble and those very few vocals. Just as it looked like I was dead he played an outro and the last chord. As the last chord died away the tape ran out. Clive and I nearly died anyway from relief." David C from Fareham, Hampshire, Uk.At the tender age of just achieved 68!, Song for Guy has been in my head for the last week, I have not played the piano for 21 years, yet I must now go and buy a piano and learn to play this wonderful music. Beyond that I was having similar thoughts to what I think Elton was having at the time, making it a strange haunting connection.... I had always missed the words at the end... but so relevant too me! Thankyou for this wonderful "Song for Guy"

John continued to perform this song in various locations. In 1992, Elton played it together with " Your Song" to close some concerts.