This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Boston at last, and the plane's touching down
Our hostess is handing the hot towels around
From a terminal gate to a black limousine
It's a ten minute ride to the Holiday Inn
Boredom's a pastime that one soon acquired
Where you get to the stage, where you're not even tired
Kicking your heels 'til the time comes around
To pick up your bags and head out of town
Slow down, Joe, I'm a rock-and-roll man
I've twiddled my thumbs in a dozen odd bands
And you ain't seen nothing 'til you've been
In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn
Slow down, Joe, I'm a rock-and-roll man
I've twiddled my thumbs in a dozen odd bands
Oh and you ain't seen nothing 'til you've been
In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn
Our hostess is handing the hot towels around
From a terminal gate to a black limousine
It's a ten minute ride to the Holiday Inn
Boredom's a pastime that one soon acquired
Where you get to the stage, where you're not even tired
Kicking your heels 'til the time comes around
To pick up your bags and head out of town
Slow down, Joe, I'm a rock-and-roll man
I've twiddled my thumbs in a dozen odd bands
And you ain't seen nothing 'til you've been
In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn
Slow down, Joe, I'm a rock-and-roll man
I've twiddled my thumbs in a dozen odd bands
Oh and you ain't seen nothing 'til you've been
In a motel, baby, like the Holiday Inn
Lyrics submitted by Cyberghost
Holiday Inn Lyrics as written by Elton John Bernie Taupin
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Its about the tumultuous lifestyle of being in a rock and roll band. You go from one city to the next so fast that everything soon looks like a Holiday Inn. You're either bored in anticipation for the shows or just running along from band to band. Hence the song being called that
The reissue of the album includes a verse of the song that was left off of the recorded version.
Well I don’t even know if it’s Cleveland or Maine. The building’s as big, and the room’s just the same. And the TV don’t work, and the french fires are cold. And room service closed ’bout an hour ago.
To me, this is really interesting, because that single verse changes the tenor of the song. As recored on "Madman," the song comes off as a charming — albeit naive — take by an up-and-coming singer who's beginning to enjoy the trappings of stardom. He's impressed by everything — even a mediocre hotel chain — because it's a big step up from where he's been. But once the quoted verse is included, the song changes from being charming to being a predictable put-down, which isn't nearly as interesting. In fact, I can imagine someone — if not Elton or Bernie themselves — recommending that the verse be removed for that very reason. Does that make sense?
@tbuckley226 On the recent reissue of Madman, Bernie talks about the hotel chain threatening to sue them because of the lyrics. One lyric said “in a motel hell”