Sacrifice (Elton John song)

"Sacrifice"
Single by Elton John
from the album Sleeping with the Past
A-side	"Healing Hands" (second release)
B-side	"Love Is a Cannibal" (first release)
Released	October 1989 (first release) May 1990 (second release)
Format	CD, vinyl record (7" and 12"), audio cassette
Length	5:11
Label	Rocket, MCA
Writer(s)	Elton John, Bernie Taupin
Producer(s)	Chris Thomas
Elton John singles chronology
"Healing Hands" (1989) "Sacrifice" (1990) "Club at the End of the Street" (1990)

"Sacrifice" is a ballad performed by musician Elton John. The lyrics are by Bernie Taupin and the music by John. The song appears on the 1989 album Sleeping with the Past. It was first released in October 1989, then in 1990, and was the second single from the album. It achieved success, particularly in France and the UK, where it became his first solo chart-topper, spending five weeks at the top.

Overview

Background and writing

"Sacrifice" is inspired both by the Aretha Franklin song "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and described as a Percy Sledge song by Elton John. The song is beloved by both John and Bernie Taupin and deemed a bookend of sorts to their first hit "Your Song". Taupin has said he is surprised he wrote it, and said in an interview, "I think 'Sacrifice' is one of the best songs we've written." The song is not a typical love song, but rather a song about a breakup of a marriage where the loss of the relationship is "no sacrifice."

Although the single was successful, Elton John did not tour Europe in both 1989–1990 to support the Sleeping with the Past album (with the exception of one appearance in Knebworth Park on 30 June 1990) touring only in the U.S. and Australia. The 1989 European tour was, instead, in support of the Reg Strikes Back album, with no material representing Sleeping with the Past. In all shows that were done to support Sleeping with the Past in 1989–1990, Elton played this song solo on his Roland RD-1000 Digital Piano.

Music video

The video, which follows the song's lyrics, portrays a man and woman having problems in their relationship after being married and raising a daughter. After they go their separate ways, the man raises his daughter alone. The video was directed by Alek Keshishian and it had Yasmeen Ghauri in it.

The version used in the promo video is slightly sped up compared to the album version. The result is a higher pitched vocal and shorter length time. The video was filmed in Los Angeles in 1989, and was the second video made after Elton rejected a version from Ken Russell.

Chart performance

Sacrifice was initially released as a single in 1989, but stalled at #55 in the UK charts and at #18 in the US charts in March 1990. In mid-1990 English DJ Steve Wright began playing the song on BBC Radio 1, soon followed by many more radio DJs. The song was then re-released as a double A-side single, along with "Healing Hands", and reached #1 in the UK in June 1990. Thus, it became John's first solo number-one single in the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the top spot for five weeks. With this re-release, Elton John also got his first number one in France and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks.

Track listings

First release

12" single – UK

1. "Sacrifice" – 5:07
2. "Love Is a Cannibal" (From the Columbia Motion Picture Ghostbusters II) – 3:53

CD single – U.S.

1. "Sacrifice" – 5:07
2. "Love Is a Cannibal" (from the Columbia Motion Picture Ghostbusters II) – 3:53
3. "Durban Deep"

Second release

UK single

1. "Sacrifice" – 5:07
2. "Healing Hands" – 4:22

Charts and sales

Peak positions Chart (1989) Peak position UK Singles Chart[1] 55 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[2] 3 Chart (1990) Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart[3] 7 Dutch Mega Top 100[4] 3 Eurochart Hot 100 1 French SNEP Singles Chart[5] 1 German Singles Chart[6] 36 Irish Singles Chart[7] 2 New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[8] 7 Norwegian Singles Chart[9] 2 Swiss Singles Chart[10] 23 UK Singles Chart[1] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[2] 18 Zimbabwe Singles Chart[11] 6

End of year charts End of year chart (1990) Position Australian Singles Chart[12] 47 Dutch Top 40[13] 11 UK Singles Charts[14] 3 Certifications and sales Country Certification Date Sales certified Physical sales France[15] Silver 1990 200,000 380,000 UK[16] Platinum 1 September 1990 600,000

Personnel

• Elton John: vocals, Roland RD-1000 digital piano
• Davey Johnstone: electric guitar
• Romeo Williams: bass
• Jonathan Moffett: drums
• Guy Babylon: keyboards
• Fred Mandel: keyboards

Cover versions

"Sacrifice" was covered by Sinéad O'Connor for the 1991 Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin tribute album.

German music project Gregorian covered it for their third album.

Karmina covered the song "Sacrifice" on their album "Rewriting Chapter 2" (2009).

Richard Clayderman covered the song "Sacrifice", which is available on most of his compilation albums.

References

1. "Elton John - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
2. "Elton John singles, Billboard charts". allmusic. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
3. ""Sacrifice", Australian Singles Chart". australian-charts. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
4. ""Sacrifice", Dutch Mega Top 100" (in Dutch). dutchcharts. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
5. ""Sacrifice", French Singles Chart" (in French). lescharts. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
6. German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved 9 September 2008)
7. "Irish Single Chart, database". irishcharts. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
8. ""Sacrifice" New Zealand Singles Chart". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
9. ""Sacrifice", Norwegian Singles Chart" (in Norwegian). norwegiancharts. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
10. ""Sacrifice", Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). hitparade. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
11. • Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
12. "1990 Australian Singles Chart". aria. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
13. "Single top 100 over 1990" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
14. Music Week Year-end Charts, pub. January 1991
15. "French certifications, database" (in French). infodisc. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
16. "UK certifications, database". Bpi. Retrieved 9 September 2008.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics