The Favorite Rock Who-What-Why Questions: Who Wears These Shoes (#4)

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I let country go first today in these dual series of songs with questions in the title. Why? No, today's rock song isn't a "why" question, it's a "who" question. Not The Who, either! (Spoiler: "Who Are You" didn't make the top ten, but it was on the initial list.). Here's today's "who/what/why" question. #4: Who Wears These Shoes - Elton John Today is March 19. In six days Elton John will turn seventy. He was my teenybopper idol!!! How'd he get so old?! Sir Elton has been around for nearly 50 years, and for good reason: he's been making quality music. It wasn't just one album that people can point to and say, "Yeah, that's the one." It was pretty much the entire decade of the 70s. Although his career dropped off dramatically during the disco era (for a number of reasons, including the fact that it was the disco era), he rebounded nicely in the mid-80s with one of my personal favorite albums from his career, 1984's Breaking Hearts. (One place where he was woefully lacking, however, was in videos: he went from really good "performance piece" videos in the 70s to some real garbage in the 80s. In fact, I'm linking a lyrics-only clip below because I don't want to subject you to the woeful video for this song.) Here Elton is singing about finding a pair of shoes and getting very suspicious, coming to the realization that his romance is over ("two silhouettes tell me it's over") and trying to deal with it ("my friends all say 'don't go to pieces'"). Some great performances from the "classic" Elton John band line-up (Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson, and Dee Murray) drive the music along. One of Elton's great songs in a career loaded with great songs. Who Wears These Shoes Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin Recorded by Elton John From Breaking Hearts, 1984 I wanna know who's in my footsteps: