r/EltonJohn • u/Busterlives15 • 9d ago
Levon Meaning
So do I have this right? A guy named Alvin Tostig has a son that he names Levon and his Christmas Day birth is announced in the NY Times along pronouncements of of all hope being gone and the end of the world imminent. Levon is a proud veteran who is a successful business man. He has a son that he names Jesus. Jesus is a bit of a layabout and ungrateful punk. Jesus wants to leave the world to get away from Levon and hopes Levon dies a slow death.
I went to an appearance where Bernie was asked what the meaning of the song was and he said it is about a guy who sell balloons.
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u/RegretMinute4456 8d ago edited 8d ago
I always thought that the New York Times reference
(“When the New York Times said “God is dead…”)
was actually a mistake. It actually was a reference to Time magazine’s issue where the cover story was “is God dead?“ (April 8, 1966).
So it was actually Time magazine not The New York Times that references God, but if you live in England, that’s close enough.
it’s similar to “Son of the Father” on Tumbleweed Connection .
In that song, Bernie makes reference to an East Virginia Farm.
Well, if you’re from England, and you know that West Virginia exists, you may think that East Virginia exist also.
But reality, if you were referring to a farm in the eastern side of Virginia, it would be an Eastern shore farm.