"The King Must Die": Elton John's lyrics inspired by Shakespearian kings

Hello, classmates!

As usual, I'm posting a song inspired in a Shakespearian play or character. This time, we've got Elton John's The King Must Die. I did not know that this great song was inspired by both Shakespeare's Hamlet and King Lear until I found some info in a webpage called "The Shakespeare Standard" in an article written by Steven Van Overbeke.

In this website, Van Overbeke asserts that through his lyrics, Sir Elton John "paints a picture about the danger of absolute power, and how it can be taken away from you in an instance of madness or bad luck" ("My Top 10 Shakespearean Inspired/Based Songs").

Personally, I totally agree with him. Moreover, I add the following: it talks about how your power can be taken away by the people you trust the most.

Let's take a close look at the section of the song which deals with this:

And sooner or later
Everybody's kingdom must end
And I'm so afraid your courtiers
Cannot be called best friends

                                         (John)

Take the case of King Hamlet, for example, whose power is taken away by Claudius, a person whose ambition is bigger than anything; it's even bigger than his family. Something similar happens to King Lear, whose own daughters drove him into madness. In the end, it's just like the song says: "and I'm so afraid your courtiers cannot be called best friends". So, if you are a king or someone who has a lot of power, trust no one. Why? Because even your family can betray--or even kill--you just to get a bit of what you have. If you have any doubts about this, ask King Hamlet or King Lear.

What do you think about this classmates? Do you agree with me or not?

I hope you enjoy this post =)

See you around!


Francisca


Webliography

BennieAndThoseJets. “Elton John & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - The King Must Die.” Online audio clip. YouTube. YouTube, 7 Feb 2009. Web. 20 Nov 2014.

John, Elton. "The King Must Die". Elton John. DJM, 1970. CD.

Van Overbeke, Steven. "My Top 10 Shakespearean Inspired/Based Songs". The Shakespeare Standard, 21 Jul. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.