Peak
12
Weeks
16
Score
2,323
Chart Year
1983
Scores & Rankings
Chart Performance
Peak Position12
Peak DateJul 9, 1983
Weeks at Peak2
Weeks Charted16
Weeks in Top 4012
Weeks in Top 100
Weeks at #20
Weeks at #10
Scoring
Summary Calc809
Weekly Calc1,514
Total Score2,323
Rankings
Year Ranking#95
Decade Ranking#1,012
Billboard Year#91
Top 5000#5,952
Details
- Album
- Too Low for Zero
- Label
- Geffen Records
- Genre
- Synthpop
- Duration
- 2:00
- Composer(s)
- Elton John;Bernie Taupin
- Entered Chart
- May 7, 1983
- Peak Date
- Jul 9, 1983
- Released
- Unknown
- Recorded
- Unknown
- Catalog #
- Geffen 7-29639
- B-Side
- Love So Cold
Music Video
The music video, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was shot in Cannes and Nice on the Côte d'Azur in France. It also features the colours of the Flag of France. Arlene Phillips, who choreographed the video, said her work on the video is one of the proudest moments in her entire career (via the Channel 5 pop-documentary, Britain's Favourite 80s Songs, on 25 December 2021). Bruno Tonioli, later a judge on hit shows Strictly Come Dancing for BBC (UK) and Dancing with the Stars for ABC (US), appears as one of the dancers in the video. It was due to be shot over the course of two days, but a camera full of the first day's film was ruined, when Mulcahy accidentally fell into the sea with it. Therefore, it had to be filmed again on another day. During the shoot for the video, John came across Duran Duran. He complained he was exhausted at having been up since 4 o'clock in the morning. Simon Le Bon decided John should have a martini. "So I did," John later recalled, "I had six."[7] In his book, Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran, Andy Taylor writes of the experience: There were lots of celebrities around in Cannes and one day we discovered that Elton John was in town, filming the video for his song "I'm Still Standing". This was before Elton became teetotal, so he was still a steaming party animal. We went up to see him at his hotel and spent the afternoon getting blasted on martinis. We decided it would be a laugh to get him drunk and we were slinging the drinks down him. "Ooh, you are lovely boys," he screeched, loving every minute of it. We got him so drunk that eventually he went upstairs and threw a wobbler in his suite. It caused all sorts of chaos, but it was a great party.[8] The next morning, John awoke with a hangover and wandered into his personal assistant's room – which was "leveled" – and asked him "What happened?" His assistant laughed: "You happened!"[7] In 2019, the original 16mm film negatives were re-scanned and the computer graphics were recreated, forming a newer remastered version of the promotional video.[9] This version of the video serves as the ending to the 2019 biopic Rocketman, with Taron Egerton (portraying John) rotoscoped in to recreate memorable scenes from the original music video. It was also re-released standalone on John's YouTube channel.
Notes
With lyrics by Bernie Taupin, this song is directed at a former lover, as Elton sings about how he is still standing strong without this person. An uptempo song with some harsh lyrics ("You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use"), It conveys a universal theme of finding confidence after a difficult breakup. While the song is often seen as a statement of Elton's resilience, Taupin wrote it with a specific person in mind. Said the lyricist: "It's perhaps one more example of the original idea being interpreted by everyone into something quite different. I think people see it as an anthem based on Elton's strong sense of survival in the face of adversity. Which, believe me, is perfectly fine by me. In fact, it's probably infinitely more interesting, perhaps, than what it was initially written about. Which, if my memory serves me correctly, it was a sort of kiss off to an old girlfriend. You know the sort of thing, 'Don't you worry about me, I'll be perfectly fine.' Unlike George Jones' 'She Thinks I Still Care,' where, in fact, he really did, I really didn't." The video went over very well on MTV, which helped propel the song up the charts and introduce Elton to a younger audience. With lots of scantily clad and painted people, the colorful video made "I'm Still Standing" Elton's first MTV hit, and showed he was ready to embrace the format, something not every established star was willing to do. It helped that Elton is from England, where videos were popular long before MTV went on the air in 1981. After being introduced by the comedian Billy Connolly, Elton opened his set at Live Aid with a performance of "I'm Still Standing." The charity concert was a massive undertaking, broadcast globally with coverage ping-ponging between two stages, Philadelphia and London (Elton played London). Queen's performance, re-created in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, is the most revered, but Elton also did a killer set that also included his hits "Rocket Man" and "Bennie And The Jets." The video was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who says it was "super, super gay." Mulcahy, who directed many of Duran Duran's videos, shot the video with Elton and a variety of painted young men (and a few women), in Nice, France. Elton brought suitcases full of costume changes and put them to use, appearing in different outfits throughout the video. Dancing With The Stars judge Bruno Tonioli appeared in the clip as one of the dancers - he's wearing a black leotard. On January 30, 2018, Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Little Big Town, Lady Gaga and several other artists paid tribute to Elton John by covering his songs at the Madison Square Garden concert Elton John: I'm Still Standing. At the end of the show, Elton took the stage to perform some of his songs, closing the concert with "I'm Still Standing," in which he was joined by the other performers. The concert was packaged into a 2-hour special that aired on CBS April 10. Taron Egerton sang this as the Gorilla in the computer animated movie Sing. Three years later he starred in the movie Rocket Man as Elton John crooning the same song. Former Weather Girls and C + C Music Factory singer Martha Wash recorded this for the 1996 First Wives Club soundtrack.
You could never know what it's like Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use And did you think this fool could never win? Well look at me, I'm a-coming back again I got a taste of love in a simple way And if you need to know while I'm still standing You just fade away Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did? Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid And I'm still standing after all this time Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) Once I never coulda hoped to win You starting down the road, leaving me again The threats you made were meant to cut me down And if our love was just a circus, you'd be a clown by now You know I'm still standing better than I ever did Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid And I'm still standing after all this time Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) Don't you know that I'm still standing better than I ever did? Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid And I'm still standing after all this time Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'm still standing
Chart History (16 weeks)
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 7, 1983 | 56 | 70 |
| 2 | May 14, 1983 | 39 | 87 |
| 3 | May 21, 1983 | 33 | 93 |
| 4 | May 28, 1983 | 28 | 98 |
| 5 | Jun 4, 1983 | 21 | 105 |
| 6 | Jun 11, 1983 | 18 | 108 |
| 7 | Jun 18, 1983 | 18 | 108 |
| 8 | Jun 25, 1983 | 16 | 110 |
| 9 | Jul 2, 1983 | 14 | 112 |
| 10 | Jul 9, 1983 | 12 | 114 |
| 11 | Jul 16, 1983 | 12 | 114 |
| 12 | Jul 23, 1983 | 21 | 105 |
| 13 | Jul 30, 1983 | 30 | 96 |
| 14 | Aug 6, 1983 | 46 | 80 |
| 15 | Aug 13, 1983 | 59 | 67 |
| 16 | Aug 20, 1983 | 79 | 47 |