Of Sir Elton John And Seeing Things Clearly

by Kevin Burton

   What would you say to Sir Elton John if you could have a moment’s conversation with him today?

   Now that question may be absurd, or at least rhetorical. If you’re like me and grew up with Elton John in his prime all over the radio, as part of the fabric of your young life, you’d surely freeze at meeting him and forget the things you had planned to say.

   I’ve thought about which of my pop culture and media heroes I would and would not like to meet. I said no to Drew Barrymore because we have nothing in common. I said yes to Bob Costas because we could talk baseball.

   But what about Elton John?

   You may have read that John is having severe trouble with his vision these days. That means he has unfortunately entered one of my in groups, and we now have something in common.

   “In September, Sir Elton revealed in a social media post that a ‘severe eye infection’ had left him ‘with only limited vision in one eye,’’” according to the PA News Agency.”

   John visited the set of Good Morning America Nov. 25 and said it had “been a while since I’ve done anything” because of his vision loss.

   “There’s hope and encouragement that it will be OK, but I’m kind of stuck at the moment… going into the studio and recording, I don’t know,” he told GMA,, explaining that he could not read lyrics or watch anything.

   I’m happy to say, his quotes sound more upbeat these days. John says he is an optimist, permanently.

   “I’ve got bad eyesight at the moment. There have been days where I’ve been miserable, but then I think about how lucky I am,” he told the PA News Agency.

   “I’ve got a new respect for sight-impaired people and people who are totally blind, some of whom I’m in touch with.”

   “But to hell with it, I’ve got a great life, and hopefully my sight will improve. This is not going to beat me. I’ve beaten addiction, I’ve beaten health issues, and I can pick myself up and dust myself off.”

   In this short-form blog format, I’ll not try to tackle his comparing partial blindness to addiction or health issues.

   But what I thought of that I would tell Sir Elton is “Sir, you’re not stuck.”

   That’s my attitude about blindness. We are not stuck.  But as a practical matter, is that true?

   In the real “good-morning-get-up-and-charge into-your-day” world, are blind people effectively stuck?

   To answer that, let’s imagine John had had vision problems at the beginning of his career and not near the end.  Let’s say he had the same level of talent and ambition.

    Everywhere he went, auditions, open mic events, jamming with other musicians, now he’s the “blind musician.” He’s pretty good, but….He might need accommodations. People feel awkward talking to him. 

   Probably their poor understanding of blindness heaps on him stereotypes which are equally false and damning.

   Promoters, agents, talent scouts, people trying to fill their music venues, how do they treat him?  How many calls does he not get?

   That’s the outside part. What about the inside?  How many doubts does he have before setting out? How many doubts thrust upon him by others does he reject, how many does he absorb?

   Does he ever get to the point of needing a stage name? Does he stay as Reginald Dwight, talented but remaining in the shadows? Does he ever even meet lyricist Bernie Taupin?

   These are questions, not assumptions. I mean blindness never stopped Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles or many others.

    But in life’s great board game, blind people are just not permitted to stand on square one with everybody else. That’s a fact.

   My wife Jeannette and I on Feb. 8 went to “Remember When Rock was Young, The Elton John Experience,” a night with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra.

   I thought we would be getting a classical treatment of some of John’s hits. What we got was an evening with Elton impersonator Craig Meyer, singing John’s hits with his band and some pieces from the symphony.

   Either way it was a good evening. I was transferred briefly from 2025 to the days when  “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” “Philadelphia Freedom” and “Crocodile Rock” were in heavy rotation on radio stations all over the world.

   I can’t afford to linger in those days, but I can’t afford to forget them either.

   Life would be different if I had never heard “Rocket Man,” because I essentially am Rocket Man. Thanks to John and Taupin, I have a way to express that.

   Here’s something else I could say to Sir Elton, something he might agree with.

   If you can’t see through to the essential heart of a person, a musician, a writer, a vendor, an accountant, an athlete, a customer service agent, if you can’t connect with them on a human level just because of their lack of eyesight, then who is it, really, who is blind?