Tiny Dancer Lyrics
Blue jean baby, L.A. lady
Seamstress for the band
Pretty-eyed, pirate smile
You'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must've seen her
Dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me
Tiny dancer in my hand
[Verse 2]
Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back, she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad
Piano man, he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on, she sings the songs
The words she knows, the tune she hums
[Pre-Chorus]
But, oh, how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you, and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
[Verse 1]
Blue jean baby, L.A. lady
Seamstress for the band
Pretty-eyed, pirate smile
You'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must've seen her
Dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me
Tiny dancer in my hand
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you, and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Ooh
About
For pretty much all of Elton John’s greatest songs, the words were written by Bernie Taupin. The result is that sometimes Elton is singing words that are actually intensely personal to Bernie, and there’s no better example than “Tiny Dancer.” “Tiny Dancer” was originally about Bernie Taupin being a single man living in LA, but by the time he finished it, he was dating his future first wife, Maxine Feibelman, so he retroactively declared that the Tiny Dancer was her – and Elton found himself singing a love song to his writer’s fiancee.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Despite being dedicated on the album to Maxime – the songwriter’s wife – Taupin would later say on a Rolling Stone interview that this song wasn’t about any woman in particular:
We came to California in the fall of 1970, and sunshine radiated from the populace. I was trying to capture the spirit of that time, encapsulated by the women we met–especially at the clothes stores up and down the Strip in L.A. They were free spirits, sexy in hip-huggers and lacy blouses, and very ethereal, the way they moved.
They were just so different from what I’d been used to in England. They had this thing about embroidering your clothes. They wanted to sew patches on your jeans. They mothered you and slept with you. It was the perfect Oedipal complex.
The 2000 film Almost Famous, a love letter to the classic rock bands of the 1970s, features “Tiny Dancer” in a pivotal scene. After the lead guitarist, Russell, gets in a fight with the rest of the band, they sit in silence on the tour bus. “Tiny Dancer” comes on the radio, and by the end of the song, everyone on the bus is singing together loudly.
- 7.Your Song
- 9.Border Song
- 10.Sixty Years On
- 11.Country Comfort
- 13.Friends
- 14.Levon
- 15.Tiny Dancer
- 17.Honky Cat
- 20.Daniel
- 21.Crocodile Rock
- 28.Jack Rabbit
- 29.Harmony
- 33.Pinball Wizard
- 39.Island Girl
- 43.Ego
- 44.Song for Guy
- 46.Cartier
- 47.Little Jeannie
- 49.Fanfare / Chloe
- 50.The Retreat
- 51.Blue Eyes
- 56.Act of War
- 57.Nikita
- 63.Sacrifice
- 64.Made for Me