Elton John: Candle in the Wind '97

D and I used to joke that we only ever had two arguments: one about whether The Big Heat was ultimately an optimistic or pessimistic film; the other about whether Diana counted as any more than a forlorn blonde who suffered from poor judgement. I think we did reach an accommodation on The Big Heat (that is, I won: of course it's pessimistic, you can't undo the whole mood of the film with a neat wrap-up in the dying two minutes). But we learned to avoid the subject of Diana, in the interests of maintaining the peace.

The way I feel was reflected in an essay by Douglas Coupland, which used to be on his website, but isn't any more. He went through the standard Barthes-style deconstruction of how Diana commanded the world franchise for princesses, and labelled her the ultimate 'McPrincess': looks desirable in the photos, but lacking substance and nutrition in the flesh. Or something like that. And then in the last sentence he added that he was still sad as hell that she was no longer with us.

I didn't go to London or sign any books of condolence, but for that week between death and funeral I had no interest in any other news. And I was locked to the TV throughout 6 September. With my memory for dates, I read Jon McGregor's If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things and as soon as he mentioned that the events of his story took place on 31 August 1997, I locked into it and waited for Diana to make her presence felt, which, of course [spoiler alert!], she never does.

So here is someone who inhabits a world where a gold cigar clipper makes the ideal romantic gift for a lover, yet her aura still has the power to lift Elton John out of his tawdry persona and even bestow some dignity on him. If you don't believe me, just listen to the two other tracks on this single, and hear how completely flat they are next to Candle in the Wind.

MusicBrainz entry for this album