Recently I had been looking around for a few new old songs to learn to irritate the neighbours with. I was in my car driving to work when the Elton John/Burnie Taupin song 'Levon' came on the radio. I took a tissue and wiped up the mess and was left thinking to myself...that song has been around since 1971, I've always liked it and I've always had an idea of what its about, but there are passages or key words in the lyrics which I've never quite understood.
Now despite the shallowness of some of Sir EJ's moolah making popcorn, Bernie Taupin is a pretty talented lyricist over all and has plenty enough depth to stitch words together in a double edged kind of way. But sometimes when listening to his work, well at least the less commercial stuff, I get left with the feeling that perhaps some catchy phrases have been thrown in simply to fill gaps. You know what I mean, those kind of phrases that do capture your attention but don't really seem to be telling you very much about what's going on.
Anyhow up until that morning a couple of days ago when the song Levon came on the radio, I had gone along happily for the last 40 years in the belief that the underlying story is about the struggle of generational change. The gradual dilution of family values from father, to son, to son etc. A story of how we tend to move away from those values as we seek ourselves in the world and the disappointment we face when, despite doing our best to provide for them and our own designs for their security, our own offspring are probably destine to see those things which we view as important as the very things driving them away from us and into the world to find themselves....(come on bear with me this does have a twist). This is only conjecture mind as the music industry realised a long time ago that longevity of interest relies heavily on saying mum and retaining the mystic, so as far as I know, Bernie Taupin has never really fessed up as to what the song is about so I guess we will never really know.
If you don't know the song well, and that's quite likely because whilst its been around for a long time, it hasn't ever really received a great deal of air play, but its a thought worthy song so even if it is not your cup of tea, it is worth investigation just from a song writing craft perspective.
Here's are the lyrics:
Levon
Verse 1:
Levon wears his war wound like a crown, he calls his child Jesus
Cause he likes the name, and he sends him to the finest school in town.
Leven, Levon likes his money, he makes a lot they say
Spends his days count'in, in a garage by the motorway.
Chorus:
He was born a pauper to a porn, on a Christmas day, when the New York Times said god is dead, and the war's begun.
Alvin Tostig has a son today.
And he shall be Levon, and he shall be a good man
And he shall be Levon, in tradition with the family plan
And he shall be Levon, and he shall be a good man
He shall be Levon.
Verse 2:
Levon sells cartoon balloons in town, his family business thrives.
Jesus blows up balloons all day, and sits on the porch swing watching them fly.
And Jesus, he wants to go to Venus leaving Levon far behind.
Take a balloon and go sailing, while Levon, Levon slowly dies.
Repeat chorus x 2 ...end.
So its a short song and even if you hadn't paid attention to the lyrics before hand, I think most people could immediately identify the generational struggle I mentioned above. The questions that bugged me however were, who f#%k is Alvin Tostig? And what's the " He was born on a Xmas day when the New York Times said god is dead, and the wars began" all about?? I had always accepted these as the fillers as I suggested....but with the internet at my finger tips I had to find out what gives with Mr T
So off I went googling about the globe and what I found was quite incredible...well you may not thinks so because the lyrics remain open to your own interpretation but I found there were some that believe the song is actually about.........heroin!! Yes, yes, I know, there are those who seem to believe that every freak'in song that you pull apart from the 70's is about drugs so they will find reference in just about anything, but Levon...really??
Considering my own interpretation at that time, I was very resistant to the idea. So I went digging......and now having downed the shovel I stand with mud upon my face and a new understanding so I now believe the song is indeed at least partially about heroin. I believe the underlying story in this two edged tail is of one man fictitiously named 'Alvin Tostig' and his ongoing internal struggle between the conservative values of his upbringing which molded the man he had been, and the just wanting to stay 'out of it' couldn't give a rat's about values heroin addict he has now become. The 'internal struggle' is represented by Levon Tostig, a metaphorical son born to Alvin with his decent into drug abuse. Jesus Tostig is the metaphorical son of Levon the battle, Jesus represents the junky in Alvin that no longer cares about much but the drug heroin, in fact he is heroin and just wants to stay that way.
Key points:
Verse 1
Levon wears his war wound like a crown: The war is Vietnam, the wound is his addiction to heroin which he has returned with to New York city 1970ish. The crown represents a symbol of power over others but also stands as a symbol of burden because the wearer of a crown is duty bound and despite perceived power there are few real choices in life.
He calls his child Jesus, cause he likes the name: The name is liked by drug dealing Alvin Tostig because it was what he, and so many addicted returned servicemen who filled the streets of New York in 1970 had come to know heroin as, "Sweet Jesus".
And he sends him to the finest school in town: Given the level of corruption that is said to have existed within the ranks of the New York Police Department during that era, this is a possibly reference to, "New York's Finest" or members of the NYPD to whom Alvin Tostig would need to have paid off in order to protect himself from prosecution and stay in business.
Levon, Levon likes his money, he makes a lot they say, spends his days counting, in a garage by the motorway: Possible this line refers to the fact that a parking station (garage) attendant was a well contested position for drug dealers. The customer would drive up to pay for parking and handover the money, the attendant hands back some change and a deal at the same time. This provides anonymity to the buyer and side steps the need to do deals in dark and dangerous ally ways where they would likely be mugged.
Chorus:
He was born a pauper to a porn on a Christmas day when the New York Times said God Is Dead and the war's began, Alvin Tostig has a son today: A pauper represent the poorest or bankrupt and the lyric is "a" Christmas day, not just any Christmas day. Many members of the church of later day saints, or Mormons, hold the belief that Jesus Christ was born on the 6th of April 1 A.D. So Alvin, the draftie, the pawn sent to fight a politicians battle on the chessboard that is Vietnam, gives birth to the morally bankrupt Levon when he starts shooting up heroin in VN sometime in early April 1966. How do we know the year? Well The New York Times never did actually say "God is Dead". But the New York published April 8 1966 front cover of Times Magazine famously asked the question "Is God Dead"
The article focused upon the question put by prominent theologian of the time in response to societies turn from the church to alternatives of the peace love mantra if perhaps God may have lost relevance and churches my soon find their new role in helping people just to live together in peace without any segregation of their beliefs....we move on because we now know that Alvin Tostig's "wars had began" at that moment in April of 1966 when he foolishly started injecting himself with heroin and gave birth to the internal battle between the moral man he had been and the junkie he was to become represented as the son Levon.
And he shall be Levon, and he shall be a good man, and he shall be Levon in tradition with the family plan : This possibly repents the battle in play of the moral man inside Alvin Tostig and if so, it's a masterful stroke by Bernie Taupin...And He Shall 'Believe' On...... and he shall be a good man. And he shall 'Believe' On...in tradition with the family plan. A referral perhaps to the righteous past of the descending junkie.
Verse 2:
Levon sells cartoon balloons in town, his family business thrives : A deal of heroin in that time was often referred to, and actually sold in a balloon, a balloon that is not a real child's balloon could perhaps be referred to as a cartoon balloon and the family business of this man's trilogy would thrive.
Jesus fills up balloons all day and sits on the porch swing watching them fly: If Jesus represents the addicted Alvin Tostig and the substance of his addiction then this line would represent the action of filling the deals and then selling them but with the indifference or apathy reserved for those things that we must do to get by rather than those things we do because we enjoy them.
And Jesus he wants to go to Venus, leaving Levon far behind. Take a balloon and go sailing, while Levon, Levon slowly dies. This possibly repents the battle in play inside Alvin Tostig from the junkies' perspective. The only significance of Venus is that it rhyme with Jesus, but it is a place that is as far away from the battle inside Alvin Tostig that one could potentially imagine, especially if they were shit faced and just wanted to stay that way. To take a balloon and go sailing and leave the battle within that is Levon to die would probably be to load a pick with a king hit and OD so you just don't need to deal with it anymore.
So with the base line laid by other and then filling in the gaps with some fact finding and my own speculation, there's my new interpretation of the song Levon..But to tell the truth as intriguing as it all is, I think I preferred the more innocent version it had been before I started looking. But hats off to Burnie T because that is one heck of a clever bit of writing.
youtu.be/
Cheers
Kim
