Finish Line

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Sep. 30, 20211 viewer17.4K views

Finish Line Lyrics

[Verse 1: Elton John]
You, oh, you
Are still a beauty to behold
You been my muse
Every story that I've told
Oh, take me back some years
To when we were young without a fear

[Pre-Chorus: Elton John]
All along, you have been the song that I wanna hear

[Chorus: Elton John]
I been down the darkest alleys
Been to the bottom where the angels cry
Thought it had all been all for nothin'
Until I saw you at the finish line

[Verse 2: Stevie Wonder]
Forgive me for the ways I've let ya down
Won't you give me another chance to make you proud?
Oh, flash forward twenty years
Forever keep me young and my conscience clear

[Pre-Chorus: Stevie Wonder]
All along, you have been the song that I wanna hear, ooh yeah, ah

[Chorus: Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Both]
I've been down the darkest alleys
Been to the bottom where the angels cry (Where the angels cry)
Thought it had all been all for nothin'
Until I saw you at the finish line

[Harmonica Solo]

[Chorus: Stevie Wonder & Elton John, Elton John, Stevie Wonder]
Yeah, yeah
Yes, I been down the darkest alleys
Been to the bottom where the angels cry (Angels cry)
Thought it had all been all for nothin'
Until I saw you at the finish line (At the finish line)
Oh, I been down the darkest alleys
Been to the bottom watching life go by (Watching life go by)
Thought it had all been all for nothin'
Until I saw you at the finish line (At the finish line, yeah, oh, woah)

[Outro: Choir, Elton John, Both]
I've been down the darkest alleys (Down to the bottom)
Been to the bottom where the angels cry
Thought it had all been all for nothin'
Until I saw you (Saw you) at the finish line

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What did Elton John & Stevie Wonder say about "Finish Line"?

Elton John:

I put the electric piano down. He came and played acoustic piano and then did the harmonica solo. Then we put the Kanye West choir on, which really made the difference. And then Stevie put his vocal on. I haven’t heard Stevie sound so young since he was about 19, just before he did Talking Book; it’s an “Uptight” Stevie. I’m the Ernie Wise to him on that record, because I’m just the straight man. You just listen to what he does vocally and instrumentally, and you think, ‘Oh, my god, this is a true genius.‘ I’m obviously a huge fan of his, and he’s still younger than me, which I loathe. On this track that we did, he produced something very special that Stevie Wonder fans haven’t heard for a long time.

—via Apple Music

How did Elton get Stevie to sing on this song?

We wanted Stevie initially just to play harmonica and then it just grew. Then he put acoustic piano on it so he and I are playing piano on the same record, which is so great. He wasn’t going to sing on it, I think he thought he’d done enough. I really wanted him to sing on it because it, for me, was like an old-fashioned soul song and that’s the music I grew up loving … Andrew [Watt, producer] and I ended up twisting his arm and he did sing on it. … To be honest, it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever recorded. … I just think “I’m singing with Stevie Wonder and I’m playing with Stevie Wonder and I really like it!’”