"Talking Old Soldiers" is a song by Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin. It's the ninth track (fourth track on side two) of his third studio album, Tumbleweed Connection. The song tells the story of chance meeting of a young man and an old man inside a bar. The old man describes the great times he had in the bar with many friends who are all now dead from old age. The old man tells of his sadness that today's young bar patrons mock him as a crazy old coot who is living his final days simply reminiscing about his youth. The young man is enthralled by the stories told to him. He sees parallels with today's modern world and the one of the old mans youth. The young man leaves the bar telling the old man to ignore the taunts from today's young patrons. Finally he tells the old man that all he might have left are his memories.... but that's enough for now.
The song was covered by Bettye LaVette in 2007 on her album The Scene of the Crime.
Famous quotes containing the words talking and/or soldiers:
“I can grouse about the food, and the C.O. and anything I blame please. And that’s more than you with your Gestapo and your storm troopers and your Aryan bourgeois. Ahhh, nuts. What’s the good of talking to you. You can’t even begin to understand democracy. We own the right to be fed up with anything we damn please and say so out loud when we feel like it.”
—Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)
“Better to die, or not to have been born,
than hear that plaining, piteous convict wail
about these beautiful dark eyebrowed women.
It’s soldiers who sing these days. O Lord God.”
—Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941)