John, Elton - Sixty Years On Lyrics






Who'll walk me down to church when I'm sixty years of age
When the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave
And senorita play guitar, play it just for you
My rosary has broken and my beads have all slipped through

You've hung up your great coat and you've laid down your gun
You know the war you fought in wasn't too much fun
And the future you're giving me holds nothing for a gun
I've no wish to be living sixty years on

Yes I'll sit with you and talk let your eyes relive again
I know my vintage prayers would be very much the same
And Magdelena plays the organ, plays it just for you
Your choral lamp that burns so low when you are passing through

And the future you're giving me holds nothing for a gun
I've no wish to be living sixty years on





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John, Elton Sixty Years On Comments
  1. L.... Y....

    I’ll be 62 soon. My brother is 60 in a couple of days... Note to him with the song link: So I’m thinking about the fact that you’re on the cusp of being 60 & remembering that I had the 1970 album where Elton John sang this song ~ 60 Years On ~ playing on repeat on my 6 record stack player *stereo* from Sears where all of our Xmas presents came from back then. I was 12, you were 10, Greg was 8. Dad was headed for Vietnam. 50 years ago! Back then we (including Elton John) couldn’t conceive of being 60 y/o. Ancient! Doesn’t seem like that so much now. 😘

  2. D.... S....

    Yet another precious gem from Elton John's massive vault of music. I first heard this as a cover version by NZ artist Hayden Wood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_B1HD461NU&list=PLqHapEfQyuXSJNldXurkPZJCAo0XhGUYt

  3. c.... ....

    Oh how I LOVE these obscure tunes. This is so haunting and wonderful.

  4. P.... T....

    What a song. First heard during Spring Break 1977.

  5. S.... M....

    One of the best pieces of music ever written. I put this as one of the greatest songs of all time.

  6. R.... P....

    Great song, it all went down hill after Madman, his second album

    R.... P....

    This is his second album

  7. J.... S....

    The guitar introduction by Bernie Taupin is just delightful !!!

  8. P.... E....

    I was a freahman in high school when this came out still sounds as great now as it did then

  9. D.... M....

    Half a century later the sound quality is beautiful here such a lovely song

  10. Z.... ....

    Such an underrated song!

  11. T.... E....

    no touch-ups, just his raw voice and beautiful music.

  12. D.... H....

    I am nearing 60 years so thought to play this song. I was an Elton John fan in my teens; even wore dual colored prescription glasses. Reginald Kenneth Dwight from Middlesex England (March 25th, 1947). How's that for an old man's memory.

  13. I.... F....

    Listening now to young Elton John I've just got to the said conclusion that he just did not posses a voice of expression as Greg Lake did at same the age. As a matter of fact, if you listen carefully to this album, Elton wasn't much of a singer.

  14. Q.... E....

    I'm 22 and have no wish to be living in sixty years on. But you just do live, don't you...

  15. e.... b....

    I passed away at 60 but am ok now.

    e.... b....

    ej b nice

  16. A.... W....

    It makes me so happy knowing that others still listen to this beautiful music 😄

  17. H.... ....

    Paul Buckmaster's orchestral arrangements for Elton are beautiful.

  18. K.... M....

    Love the build up to this song.

  19. D.... O....

    This is Elton John's Greatest album of all time. Musical genius. I was 20 years old in first-year university when this came out in 1970

  20. T.... ....

    A friend from church just passed away suddenly, of a heart attack. His wife passed 3 years ago. This song makes me cry to think of him.

  21. J.... C....

    I'm Sixty today !! I first fell in love with this Album at 15. No one here to walk to church with...No one has layed down their gun.... But I do love living sixth years on ! Much love to you all !

  22. C.... D....

    I have requested this at my funeral not that I plan on going anywhere soon. Fantastic song.

  23. S.... M....

    Forty years on, this still gives me the shivers.
    Great words, music and arrangement.
    Thank You.

  24. D.... R....

    Non sembra nemmeno la sua voce...

    D.... R....

    Avvvvuto Tutte le voci.. Le più belle... 55 anni di canto... e continua !!

  25. J.... F....

    This is my favorite Elton John song

  26. J.... D....

    This might be my favorite Elton album

  27. S.... T....

    Listened to this album (and all his others) for hour upon hour, upstairs in my room during the 70's. Sixty years of age was an impossibly long time away for me, then. Have just turned sixty-two. Where did the years go to?

  28. A.... C....

    Try also Thief In The Night by Cliff Richard

  29. g.... ....

    My favorite elton tune by far his first album is special

  30. s.... w....

    Coldplay stole the intro to their song Clocks from the harp intro in this song. It's blatantly obvious.

  31. A.... C....

    If you like this song try also Soldier of Fortune David Coverdale unplugged

  32. C.... G....

    Well,this piece looks like a song titled "Ala bianca", by the Italian band called "Nomadi". I don't believe it is a cover, as well as somebody stated. Music looks quite different, and words are not the same . Traslation from Italian "Ala Bianca" into English : "White wing", that is quite different from the English version "Sixty years on"....However, I'm not the "devil's lawyer".... I'm a Nomadi's follower! Both the versions are amazing. Augusto Daolio R.I.P.

  33. S.... F....

    haunting and amazing

  34. L.... J....

    Such a great album and this song only has 341,000 views in the 10 years it’s been on here (the other songs don’t have many views either). Maybe there will be more interest after the Rocketman movie is released in 3 weeks on May 31, 2019 but I doubt it. Most people only know Elton’s songs from after he became very commercially successful (like Crocodile Rock, etc.) and they think those are his only songs. Not too many people view Madman Across the Water or Tumbleweed Connection either. So sad....

  35. l.... A....

    Beautiful 🎼🎵🎶🎸

  36. H.... G....

    I started listeing to elton johns old albums to get ready for the movie. And came across this song, absolutely love it!

  37. C.... ....

    beautiful

  38. m.... M....

    An early defiining moment for me to be at the Fillmore East NYC to hear Elton perform this lp and tumbleweed connection....the atmosphere was set.......

  39. B.... T....

    I agree. His early stuff was raw, soulful, sometimes dark and always brilliant. As often with musicians, success robs them of the very special qualities that gained them that success.

  40. f.... ....

    I used to have the cassette. It's like it grew legs 'N walked off. All @ once it was gone. GONE!

  41. B.... F....

    That orchestra gives me the feels

  42. e.... b....

    Oh my mistake- I thought this was '60 Beers On.' My apologies.

  43. L.... M....

    Sir Elton is an amazing artist. Thank you Sir Elton ..

  44. G.... B....

    the first time i have earded this song it was in italian by the band i nomadi !the title was " ala bianca"

  45. M.... R....

    Here I am at work and listening on my headphones. I'm reflecting that I remember buying this album when it came out and now I'm 66. Some time late this year I will quit working. Time has gone by and I would love to be back in my teens n early 20's. There was a lot of fantastic music being created. Greetings from Silicon Valley.

  46. J.... A....

    AWESOME

  47. M.... D....

    Reginal Denny at his best......

    M.... D....

    Reg Dwight dear boy..Reginald Kenneth Dwight..

  48. D.... G....

    Great arrangements, just a timeless song,this album and TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION is Eltons best work..Music was so much better at the time,i guess because they put in so much effort to make it right

  49. D.... 7....

    I wonder why Paul Buckmaster did those weird strings as the intro.......

  50. A.... D....

    This was Elton's best album. The King Must Die and Sixty Years On have held up. I played this song a lot when I got back from the Republic of Vietnam in 1970. He and I are the same age...

  51. r.... h....

    Before he lost his soul.......Elton was magic

  52. j.... z....

    Who'll walk me down to church when I'm sixty years of age
    When the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave
    And senorita play guitar, play it just for you
    My rosary has broken and my beads have all slipped through
    You've hung up your great coat and you've laid down your gun
    You know the war you fought in wasn't too much fun
    And the future you're giving me holds nothing for a gun
    I've no wish to be living sixty years on
    Yes I'll sit with you and talk let your eyes relive again
    I know my vintage prayers would be very much the same
    And Magdelena plays the organ, plays it just for you
    Your choral lamp that burns so low when you are passing through
    And the future you're giving me holds nothing for a gun
    I've no wish to be living sixty years on

  53. M.... C....

    beautiful song, amazing album

  54. C.... B....

    I liked his earlier stuff better. . .

  55. d.... p....

    Show's what he is all about! Creative Majestry!

  56. a.... l....

    Bernie and Elton.......THE Dynamic Duo of all time, maybe tied with Simon & Garfunkle.

  57. P.... B....

    Tremendous stuff and one of Elton and Bernie's very best. The artistry is all there, but I actually prefer the depth and power of the live version from 17/11/70. It's the highlight of a great album, in a wonderful year in which he also released his masterpiece Tumbleweed Connection.

  58. l.... g....

    I wish he had done more of this type of music, breath taking

  59. I.... G....

    Twelve year old me heard this song by a 23 year old Elton John in 1973 and had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I was hooked. Now 57 year old me wishes 71 year old Elton John could somehow live forever

  60. D.... W....

    WOW forgot just how good this was

  61. T.... K....

    "you know the war you fought in wasn't too much fun!" is putting it mildly.

  62. T.... ....

    Breath Taking!

  63. C.... B....

    Melody made me feel good

  64. C.... D....

    This is what I want playing at my funeral. Amazing

  65. K.... A....

    I was 14 teen when I bought this album, the words can melt your heart. Elton was before his time.

  66. P.... V....

    Magdelena-play the organ-play it just for you

  67. J.... B....

    This is my favorite Elton John album, which I got when I was probably about 12. Such incredible songs on here that most people have no idea of. In fact, I listened to it alot during my "depths of despair" years, the mid teens, angst and all that.

  68. 5.... ....

    Elton and Bernie's best work ?   Toss up for me between sixty years on and come down in time.  ....   some great arrangements since but for me those two speak volumes.

  69. D.... K....

    Listening now, at work. Sadness passes through me. Why? Life on Earth can be hard. I am 66, and have been through a lot. Tough tough early years. Now, I am doing fine. Elton and Bernie, thank you from my Heart!

    D.... K....

    It brings back such vivid memories of the past.

    D.... K....

    Me to brother.

  70. f.... ....

    I love the live version of this too ("17-11-70" album, recorded live in a NY radio station, with a small audience: Nigel Olsson drums, Dee Murray bass, and Elton on piano of course -- that's all, a great 3-piece sound), but I really LOVE this arrangement by Paul BUCKMASTER: a brilliant young Royal Academy of Music graduate (1967), who I think should get some songwriting credits for this. I know Elton didn't like some of Paul's arrangements (I don't like all of them), but I like to think he admired this one. But of course, Elton originated this excellent original music which gave Paul such a great framework to add some original enhancements to. Brilliant lyrics from Bernie Taupin which so many lonely people can relate to.

  71. J.... S....

    My rosary has broken , my beads have all slipped through.. Sweet!!!

  72. j.... s....

    The late, great Paul Buckmaster.

  73. A.... C....

    Rigging Reggie was a masculine lezzy man before he went full blown insane gay and defamed the best of writing recorded music that exemplified the defined times of the 1970s songs about society and the subsequent uprising of truer feelings reaching for revision from war

  74. P.... T....

    Há quem não goste destes "clássicos" de Elton John? Será que gostam de música?

  75. A.... M....

    Paul Buckmaster, the orchestrator for this died......:-( https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/19/paul-buckmaster-obituary

  76. T.... ....

    RIP Paul Buckmaster. Gone too soon.

  77. D.... J....

    An obituary today for Paul Buckmaster brought me to this wonderful song. I had never known who Paul Buckmaster was and was surprised to learn he was the principal arranger for many of the songs that have been important to me over the years. He was a principal arranger for Elton John (including this song, he was responsible for the harp at the beginning and the string arrangements) and for David Bowie as well for whom he arranged "Space Oddity" (Major Tom). He also worked for The Rolling Stones and Miles Davis
    I find it interesting how many people there are who had major influences on the music we listen to who we never learn about until they are gone.

  78. M.... s....

    No one ever mentions Paul Buckmaster the true genious behind Elton first records!

    M.... s....

    Also of Judie Tzuke's - after Elton signed her to the Rocket Records label.

    M.... s....

    Manuel santa rita I give every credit to Paul Buckmaster .. he was awesome

    M.... s....

    @Lord Brett Sinclair Agreed. Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, George Martin and Tony Visconti get (justifiably) huge plaudits for creating masterpieces from often pretty average material. Less so, Joe Meek and even lesser so, Paul Buckmaster. One day, these guys will be recognised for their genius as much as the Classical alumni such as Bach, Beethoven, Strauss etcetera.

    M.... s....

    Buckmaster added such powerful resonance .
    It gave me chills!
    Nice touch with the Harp.
    Only cheesy line was::
    You know the war you fought in wasnt too much fun..

  79. V.... P....

    RIP Paul Buckmaster.

  80. t.... ....

    I am crying my eyes out to this, it's that beautiful.

  81. C.... M....

    I'm 58, 59 next year, I never understood the sentiment "I've no wish to be living.... 60 years on...." but there's a lot of Bernie that I don't quite get, and he wants it that way I think... so I'm happy to give it to him. I still don't get it... I want to be living in another 60 years on... I'm having a ball... and I think Bernie would agree almost 60 years on from this song....

    C.... M....

    happiest of more MORE birthdays to you, Clifton...i'm going to be 66 in a couple days....and ya know what...IT DOESN'T FEEL ANY different than any of the other years...so...suck it up...enjoy your LIFE....and rejoice for every moment you have

  82. a.... ....

    I haven't listened to this song in decades, but dang - I'll be sixty soon.

  83. M.... R....

    I'm 64 now, always thought this song and the orchestral arrangements were superb. I continue to listen.

    M.... R....

    Me to! Incredible!!

  84. S.... R....

    still my favorite of his albums, most early albums by any artist are often their best.

  85. P.... S....

    I was 12 when this came out new... I will be 60 next year. Yes circle of life. But when he wrote this, he thought that 60 was the end... He's still going strong!

  86. r.... s....

    There was only one immaculate conception???????????????????????

  87. c.... ....

    22 thumbs down, really piss off ...

    c.... ....

    and your absolute intelligent comment is?

  88. H.... R....

    In 1970 I was 17, we used to drop Acid and listen to this great LP.

  89. L.... N....

    Love this song, reminds me of my father when he had a great stereo with wonderful big speakers and a kind and loving, compassionate outllook and a humble perspective on life with hope ever present in his heart...

  90. P.... ....

    Masterpiece!

  91. K.... H....

    I remember Elton playing this song at Moody Coliseum in Dallas on 11/10 79, his entire band had left him to play the concert ALONE , the first and best concert I had ever seen from EJ. Priceless was anyone else there that remembers?.

  92. M.... P....

    first heard this song in college many years ago... some of the greatest music I've ever heard in my life

  93. V.... D....

    This album is a masterpiece.

    V.... D....

    I totally agree, well said! Every song on the album is a true statement of the brilliance of Elton John.

    V.... D....

    @Lars Nilsson I bought this album on vinyl from a thrift shop yesterday. Only knew 3 songs listed. Got home and tossed it on. So glad I bought it! Can you recommend any other Elton albums? (Already have Brown Dirt Cowboy and Yellow Brick Road)

    V.... D....

    @Curtis Walchock Seems to me, you´ve got some of his best albums, even so, Don´t shoot me, I´m only the piano player (1973) and Tumbleweed connection (1970) should be mentioned here. If you ask me, Goodbye yellow brick road is the real masterpiece, but Elton John ia an icon and most of his music is timeless.

    V.... D....

    Opus magnum

    V.... D....

    Diamond!!

  94. S.... L....

    I really adore Captain Fantastic. .tally worth attention..beautifully produced light and lyrical

  95. P.... R....

    Absolutely fantastic.

    Great music and lyrics - EJ in top form

  96. A.... D....

    fantastic

  97. J.... U....

    The beginning of the song sounds like a scary movie

  98. R.... T....

    Masterpiece!!!

  99. B.... J....

    Pure genius. My favorite Elton John song bar none. Even after listening to it for 46 years it still gets to me.

    B.... J....

    I know this may sound morbid but I want this played at my funeral.  Fabulous song.

    B.... J....

    Same here. And now I'm 61 years on.

    B.... J....

    I'm turning 64 and still think this and the other early albums are a demonstration of pure genius in orchestral arrangement that can't be beat.

    B.... J....

    I know how you feel. Funeral For a Friend will be played at my funeral, which is especially meaningful to me, since I have no immediate family to be there.

    B.... J....

    Cela fait presque 50 ans que j'écoute cette chanson, je ne m'en lasserai jamais.. Un chef d'oeuvre