Song of the Day 11/23: Elton John, “Friends”

Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani shocked most people by getting along – not just politely coexisting, yukking it up together like old friends. Josh Marshall of TPM pointed out that Mamdani arrived with a press gaggle in tow, something bound to impress Trump who is, as LGM’s Scott Lemieux noted, an “incorrigible starfucker.” So maybe not so mysterious after all.

Elton John broke out in the U.S. with “Your Song,” a track from his eponymous 1970 LP (his second, but the first released in America). The tune hit No. 8 on the Hot 100 in early 1971 and made such a splash that the soundtrack to the teen romance movie “Friends,” released two months later, was billed as an Elton John album. It yielded his second Billboard Top 40 single in the film’s title song, which reached No. 34 in the U.S. (and didn’t chart at all in Britain). Another 55 Top 40 hits followed over the years, leaving this as one of his most obscure hits in his catalogue.