Nikita

Album

Single

Label

The Rocket Record Company

Genre

Pop rock

Media Type

45s

Duration

4:54

Composer(s)

Elton John;Bernie Taupin

Entered Chart

Jan 18, 1986

Peak Date

Mar 22, 1986

Released

4 October 1985

Recorded

January 1985

B-Side

Restless

In this Cold War ballad, a Westerner falls in love with an East German citizen he cannot meet because he is not allowed to cross the Berlin Wall. This was a very revolutionary song during the Cold War; Eastern Europeans who lived in the communist block would listen to Western radio stations like Free Europe and pick up on the sentiments. George Michael sang backing vocals on this track. He also sang on another track from the album, "Wrap Her Up," but by far their most successful collaboration was when they teamed up in 1991 for a duet version of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" that went to #1 in America. Though the song appears to be about a woman, Nikita in Eastern Europe is a man's name. At the time Elton John was married to the German recording engineer Renate Blauel. Their marriage lasted four years, although Elton later admitted he realized he was homosexual before his marriage. The Ken Russell-directed video has Elton John regularly crossing the border post into Communist Europe. One of the guards is Nikita, and gradually the two fall in love. The girl in the video is Anya Major, who played the hammer thrower in a famous "1984" television commercial for Apple Computer. The video also features a red Bentley Continental Convertible, which was owned by Elton John from 1985 to 2000. A songwriter named Guy Hobbs sued Elton in April 2012, claiming that he wrote a song called "Natasha" in 1982 about a Western man falling for a Russian woman that worked on a cruise ship during the Cold War. He alleged that Elton stole his lyrics three years later for this song. The Grammy-winning singer argued that a successful musician like him would never lift lyrics from some no-name songwriter and also that the song's theme was too general to win copyright protection. The Illinois judge found in favor of Elton and dismissed the lawsuit.

Hey Nikita, is it cold
In your little corner of the world?
You could roll around the globe
And never find a warmer soul to know
Oh, I saw you by the wall
Ten of your tin soldiers in a row
With eyes that looked like ice on fire
The human heart, a captive in the snow

Oh, Nikita, you will never know
Anythin' about my home
I'll never know how good it feels to hold you (hold you)
Nikita, I need you so
Oh, Nikita, is the other side
Of any given line in time
Countin' ten tin soldiers in a row
Oh no, Nikita, you'll never know

Do you ever dream of me?
Do you ever see the letters that I write?
When you look up through the wire
Nikita, do you count the stars at night?
And if there comes a time
Guns and gates no longer hold you in
And if you're free to make a choice
Just look towards the west and find a friend

Oh, Nikita, you will never know
Anythin' about my home
I'll never know how good it feels to hold you (hold you)
Nikita, I need you so
Oh, Nikita, is the other side
Of any given line in time
Countin' ten tin soldiers in a row
Oh no, Nikita, you'll never know

Oh, Nikita, you will never know
Never know anythin' about my home
I'll never know how good it feels to hold you
Nikita, I need you so
Oh, Nikita, is the other side
Of any given line in time
Countin' ten tin soldiers in a row
Oh no, Nikita, you'll never know

(Nikita)
Countin' ten tin soldiers in a row
(Nikita)
Countin' ten tin soldiers in a row, woo-ooh-hoo-ooh
(Nikita)
Countin' ten tin soldiers in a row
(Nikita)