Candle in the wind - the harmony of Elton John
Elton John’s song sold 33 million copies when Diana died, but the music he used for the Norma Jean version ( a tribute to Marilyn Monroe ) is essentially the same. For reference purposes, I invite you to listen to this version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JcBi8qIic
There are several strands to the musical content which involve melody, the harmony, the pianism and the instrumentation. This blog will focus on the chords or harmony used by Elton. For ease of comprehension I have moved his tonal centre from its original E to C. It’s simpler for a non musical person to follow if we do, and since the intent is to de-mystify Elton’s harmonic thinking, it makes sense to do so.
Harmony