Top Ten Songs Mentioning the Beatles: Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) (#6)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (87210)
United States
June 25, 2026 11:08am CST
Did anyone really think I was going to leave this one off? Sure, we’re celebrating Paul McCartney’s birthday this month, but, even with the shock of leaving “Live and Let Die” off the top ten, I’m not this unpredictable. 
A beautiful song about one of the worst tragedies of our time.
#6: Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) - Elton John
Bernie Taupin wasn’t too thrilled with this 1982 album, his first return to writing with Elton after time apart. He called it “One of our worst albums. It's a terrible, awful, disposable album, but it had 'Empty Garden' on it, so it's worth it for that one song.” Gee, Bernie, how do you really feel? (Oh, a side note: Taupin only co-wrote half the songs on the album. 
)
Actually, Taupin’s assessment of that album isn’t far off. My favorite songs on the album are “Ball and Chain” and this one. And, like most people in the world, I wish this one didn’t exist.
This is a tribute to John Lennon. Lennon was my least favorite Beatle. He had issues. But nobody “deserves” to be gunned down in cold blood for no reason. As the song says, “It’s funny how one insect can damage so much grain.”
You probably know, because I’ve mentioned it a few times, but John Lennon’s last appearance on a concert stage was with Elton at Madison Square Garden. Lennon hadn’t been too sure about the song “Whatever Gets You Thru the Nite,” which Elton sang duet on, and Elton made Lennon a bet that the song would hit #1. If it did, Lennon had to appear with Elton at the next Madison Square Garden show. It did, and Lennon did. That was 1974.
It seemed like Lennon had put all that weird stuff and “lost weekend” (an 18-month separation from Yoko) behind him. Instead, we have to wonder about “what if,” with December 8, 1980 being as infamous a day in music history as the day before (December 7, 1941) was in world history.
Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Recorded by Elton John
From Jump Up!, 1982
BEATLE REFERENCE LYRICS:
I’ve been calling, oh hey, hey, Johnny
A beautiful song about one of the worst tragedies of our time.
#6: Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) - Elton John
Bernie Taupin wasn’t too thrilled with this 1982 album, his first return to writing with Elton after time apart. He called it “One of our worst albums. It's a terrible, awful, disposable album, but it had 'Empty Garden' on it, so it's worth it for that one song.” Gee, Bernie, how do you really feel? (Oh, a side note: Taupin only co-wrote half the songs on the album. )
Actually, Taupin’s assessment of that album isn’t far off. My favorite songs on the album are “Ball and Chain” and this one. And, like most people in the world, I wish this one didn’t exist.
This is a tribute to John Lennon. Lennon was my least favorite Beatle. He had issues. But nobody “deserves” to be gunned down in cold blood for no reason. As the song says, “It’s funny how one insect can damage so much grain.”
You probably know, because I’ve mentioned it a few times, but John Lennon’s last appearance on a concert stage was with Elton at Madison Square Garden. Lennon hadn’t been too sure about the song “Whatever Gets You Thru the Nite,” which Elton sang duet on, and Elton made Lennon a bet that the song would hit #1. If it did, Lennon had to appear with Elton at the next Madison Square Garden show. It did, and Lennon did. That was 1974.
It seemed like Lennon had put all that weird stuff and “lost weekend” (an 18-month separation from Yoko) behind him. Instead, we have to wonder about “what if,” with December 8, 1980 being as infamous a day in music history as the day before (December 7, 1941) was in world history.
Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
Written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Recorded by Elton John
From Jump Up!, 1982
BEATLE REFERENCE LYRICS:
I’ve been calling, oh hey, hey, JohnnyYour browser isn’t supported anymore. Update it to get the best YouTube experience and our latest features. Learn moreRemind me later
7 people like this
7 responses
@FourWalls (87210)
• United States
25 Jun
I was listening to the Wild West Extravaganza podcast the other night, and Josh quoted a line out of The Godfather (the book):
There are men in this world who go about demanding to be killed. You must have noticed them. They quarrel in gambling games, they jump out of their automobiles in a rage if someone so much as scratches their fender, they humiliate and bully people whose capabilities they do not know. I have seen a man, a fool, deliberately infuriate a group of dangerous men, and he himself without any resources. These are people who wander through the world shouting, ‘Kill me. Kill me.’ And there is always somebody ready to oblige them.
There are people who fit that bill. There are people, like Reverend King, who did NOT fit that bill.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (87210)
• United States
25 Jun
@rebelann — I must say I like the movie better than the book, because the subplot about Sonny’s mistress is just stoopid. Thankfully they didn’t put it in the film.
2 people like this
@AliCanary (4508)
•
15h
I remember this song well. Seems like "Candle in the Wind" has been released not long before, so Elton was like The Tribute Guy, at the time. I like George Harrison's poignant "All Those Years Ago", but Elton truly captured the anger and outrage we felt with that line calling Chapman an "insect". Lennon had issues, as you said, but his creative genius was a light in this world, and that insect's only fame was snuffing it out. Just despicable.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (383298)
• Rockingham, Australia
9h
@FourWalls My BIL plays Song for Guy on piano so I'm aware of that one.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98431)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
20h
Elton did a good job here on this song.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (87210)
• United States
14h
I think he did. It’s a highlight of his 80s output.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43838)
• Denver, Colorado
25 Jun
There's a Jack Reacher novel that's set in part at The Dakota. He keeps asking everyone if they've ever seen Yoko.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (87210)
• United States
23h
“No, but my dogs hear her and are whining.” 
2 people like this
@FourWalls (87210)
• United States
1h
I definitely agree. Just wish he hadn’t had to make it a tribute. 
