Peak
12
Weeks
12
Score
1,801
Chart Year
1973
Elton's songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, wrote the lyrics. Taupin called it his "first attempt to write a rock and roll song that was totally English." Until then, most of his songwriting focused on American culture. This song is about Taupin's teen years going to British dance clubs, where fights were common. Many of Taupin's songs are written to relate to Elton's life, but not this one - it's unlikely that Elton would be fighting in a club. In the liner notes to Elton John's boxed set, it explains that he recorded his vocal while leaping around and "going crazy." It was the first time Elton recorded a vocal standing up, and he made the most out of it. There is a rather clever reference to getting drunk in the lyrics: "Get about as oiled as a diesel train." The song features in the 2010 Ricky Gervais film Cemetery Junction. Gervais told The Guardian why he wanted to use it: "I got permission from Elton John to use this track for the opening credit sequence two years before we started writing the film. I'd always wanted to use the song and it fits the mood and themes of the movie perfectly. Growing up seemed to revolve around Saturday nights. You'd worked hard for someone else all week and now it was your time." Report this ad Part of the recording sessions for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road took place in Jamaica. Bernie Taupin explained to Rolling Stone: "The climate was hospitable, but the natives weren't. To use the terminology of the time, it was not a 'good vibe.' I remember a lot of barbed wire around the studio and armed guards. We spent a lot of time congregating around the pool area of the hotel, feeling there was safety in numbers. The Stones did manage to record there, but in retrospect I think they had a mobile unit with them. The only thing I remember trying to record was 'Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting.' It was an aborted attempted, just atrocious." >> Nickelback and Kid Rock teamed up for a 2003 cover of this song. Other acts to record it include Flotsam and Jetsam, W.A.S.P., Fall Out Boy and The Who. Fall Out Boy recorded this for the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 40th Anniversary edition, released in 2014. Lead singer Patrick Stump produced it with Peter Asher, who was in charge of the project. In a Songfacts interview with Asher, he said: "That one I worked with Patrick Stump, who's someone I greatly admire. He's, of course, a very good producer himself. He's produced a number of successful bands himself, so that was really just me and him, sitting down over in his house here in LA and talking through the song and trying out some ideas and so on. Then, the rest of the band came in, and we did record that with the band because we wanted the live drums and stuff, but we had a sketch already recorded of some programmed stuff that he and I had done at his house." Elton would sometimes let fans come onstage and gather around his piano when he performed the song. That ended on March 1, 2018 when an overanxious fan kept touching him when he played it at a concert in Las Vegas. Elton stormed off the stage, and when he returned, declared, "No more coming on stage on 'Saturday Night.' You f--ked it up."
It's getting late, have you seen my mates? Ma tell me when the boys get here It's seven o'clock and I want to rock Want to get a belly full of beer My old man's drunker than a barrel full of monkeys And my old lady she don't care My sister looks cute in her braces and boots A handful of grease in her hair Don't give us none of your aggravation We had it with your discipline Saturday night's alright for fighting Get a little action in Get about as oiled as a diesel train Gonna set this dance alight 'Cause Saturday night's the night I like Saturday night's alright alright alright Well they're packed pretty tight in here tonight I'm looking for a dolly who'll see me right I may use a little muscle to get what I need I may sink a little drink and shout out "She's with me!" A couple of the sounds that I really like Are the sounds of a switchblade and a motorbike I'm a juvenile product of the working class Whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass Don't give us none of your aggravation We had it with your discipline Saturday night's alright for fighting Get a little action in Get about as oiled as a diesel train Gonna set this dance alight 'Cause Saturday night's the night I like Saturday night's alright alright alright Don't give us none of your aggravation We had it with your discipline Saturday night's alright for fighting Get a little action in Get about as oiled as a diesel train Gonna set this dance alight 'Cause Saturday night's the night I like Saturday night's alright alright alright Saturday, Saturday, Saturday Saturday, Saturday, Saturday Saturday, Saturday, Saturday night's alright Saturday, Saturday, Saturday Saturday, Saturday, Saturday Saturday, Saturday, Saturday night's alright Saturday, Saturday, Saturday Saturday, Saturday, Saturday Saturday, Saturday, Saturday night's alright
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 4, 1973 | 74 | 52 |
| 2 | Aug 11, 1973 | 34 | 92 |
| 3 | Aug 18, 1973 | 26 | 100 |
| 4 | Aug 25, 1973 | 20 | 106 |
| 5 | Sep 1, 1973 | 16 | 110 |
| 6 | Sep 8, 1973 | 16 | 110 |
| 7 | Sep 15, 1973 | 12 | 114 |
| 8 | Sep 22, 1973 | 12 | 114 |
| 9 | Sep 29, 1973 | 15 | 111 |
| 10 | Oct 6, 1973 | 24 | 102 |
| 11 | Oct 13, 1973 | 42 | 84 |
| 12 | Oct 20, 1973 | 49 | 77 |