"Candle in the Wind", with music and lyrics by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. was originally written in 1973, in honor of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier.
In 1997, John performed a rewritten version of the song as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. Candle in the Wind 1997 was released as a single and reached No. 1 in many countries, proving a much greater success than the original, officially being listed as the second best-selling single of all time, behind Bing Crosby's "White Christmas
The original version in appeared on John's 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and was released as a single in 1974. The lyrics of the song are a sympathetic portrayal of the life of Marilyn Monroe. (The song's opening line "Goodbye, Norma Jean" refers to Monroe's real name, Norma Jean Baker.)
In the Eagle Vision documentary on the making of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Taupin said the song is about "the idea of fame or youth or somebody being cut short in the prime of their life. The song could have been about James Dean, it could have been about Montgomery Clift, it could have been about Jim Morrison... how we glamorise death, how we immortalise people."
The single release of the original song reached No. 11 in the UK charts in 1974. At the time, it was not released as a single in the United States ("Bennie and the Jets" was chosen instead).
Taupin was inspired to write the song after hearing the phrase "candle in the wind" used in tribute to Janis Joplin.
This version is ranked #347 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
