"A Song For You" - a musical sibling of Elton John's "Your Song?"

Buried Alien

Active Member
Leon Russell wrote "A Song For You" in 1970, and the Carpenters recorded the song in 1972. In 1970, Elton John also released "Your Song," which would be Elton's first major hit.

In terms of theme (as can be gathered from the title), are the songs musical siblings? Not only do they share a similar theme and title, but the melody for the verse that begins, "but we're alone now and I'm singing this song for you" echoes that of "my gift is my song and this one's for you" from "Your Song."

I'm not arguing that Leon or Elton consciously plagiarized each other, but it seems like both of them were headed in similar directions with these two songs, both melodically and lyrically.
 
I think it might be like the Beach Boys & Bing Crosby's Melekalikimaka songs. Both share the same title, talk about Christmas in Hawaii, but are otherwise different songs (and apparently, according to the liner notes to The Beach Boys Ultimate Christmas, Mike Love wasn't even aware of Bing's song until someone pointed it out to him in the 90's.
 
Bing's and the Beach Boys' songs were written/recorded decades apart in different styles, however. The stunning thing about "A Song For You" and "Your Song" is that both were written and recorded during the same time period (late 1960s/early 1970s) in a similar style and with similar melodic form and lyrical content.
 
I never thought of them as similar and yet you present an interesting point, but then again all love songs have similar patterns and some even share topics. The texture of the songs are different as well as the appeal. Your Song is a sweet Elton John song. On the other hand, A Song For You is legendary and through the decades is still sung by legendary artists. There are many songs that use the words "just begun" or we've just begun" that always makes me think of We've Only Just Begun even when they have little in common. I also think Leon Russell and Elton John are completely different writers. Yet, your topic did make me ponder on the subject at hand.
 
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