Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy

Elton is "Captain Fantastic," his writing partner Bernie Taupin is "The Brown Dirt Cowboy." The song is a look back on the early days of their songwriting partnership.

Elton John composed the music for Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy on board a ship during a voyage from the UK to New York. Percussionist Ray Cooper recalled to Uncut magazine: "Elton decided to take everybody on the boat to New York, and then we would go to Caribou Ranch out in Colorado to record. His idea, which worked perfectly, was that he would write the material on the boat. We went on the SS France, and it turned out to be the last voyage of that ship. He had a suite with a grand piano, and he wrote all the material for Captain Fantastic on that boat trip, which was six days. Go figure that one!"