Candle In the Wind

            Norma Jean, more popularly known as Marilyn Monroe, life tragically ended in 1962 after a successful acting career throughout the fifties. As a respectful tribute to the late Marilyn Monroe in A Candle in the Wind, Elton John and Bernie Taupin utilize second person narration, characterized allusions, and conceptual imagery in order to represent the objectification of women in the media, urging listeners to see them as "more than sexual."

            Bernie Taupin wrote the song in the second person, directing the message to Marilyn Monroe, but also to the audience. The audience is placed in the role of Marilyn, as though the message is for them. Taupin takes advantage of emotional appeals to the audience. Marilyn's struggles become their own struggles; it is not just she that had to face these hardships. Taupin ignores the glories and wonders of having fame and fortune; he focuses on the "pain" and "loneliness" she had to face. The general mood of sorrow throughout the song adds to the emotional appeal to the audience who is directly spoken to through the use of the second person. The audience is made aware of the struggles that women face in the media by being set in Marilyn's place for a fleeting four minutes.

            Marilyn was not just seen by the public as a beautiful actress. She was viewed as a major sex symbol in the fifties and still today.  Women throughout the decades revere her as a role model and an idol; She represents famous women in the media and is still respected and honored today. Taupin and John did not create a song about a random woman who blended into the Hollywood scene. They chose to write a tribute for the woman who is the icon for famed women. Marilyn is used as a representation for all women involved in the media. Taupin writes about all the struggles that most beautiful women face in the media. Most women are viewed as nothing "more than sexual." They are forced onto "the treadmill" to have the perfect bodies and beautiful faces that people want to see on television. Taupin writes how such expectations and standards for women are unfair and cruel. He shows that women recieve no respect from society and even when they are gone the press still disrespects and publishes harsh judgments against them.

            Taupin and John use a sorrowful mood to create the image that Marilyn was just a fragile being caught up in harsh situations. Taupin uses the concept of a "candle in the wind" to create the image of a delicate flame in the brutal wind that is show business, a delicate flame that was doomed to be extinguished.  His use of conceptual imagery creates the illusion that is was Hollywood and fame that led to her untimely demise. Taupin also illustrates that Marilyn was one of the few that "had the grace to hold" herself, while others simply "crawled." "Crawled out of the woodwork" like termites, devouring the sturdy being that was Marilyn Monroe. Taupin shows that if a strong and independent woman like Marilyn Monroe could not withstand the pressure and abuse of the media, how could another woman?

            Elton John and Bernie Taupin use an idolized woman to represent all women in the media. They craft second person narration, characterized allusion, and conceptual imagery to serve the overall purpose of creating a tribute to a woman whose "candle burned out long before her legend ever did." Marilyn Monroe and other women and the media should be viewed "as more than sexual." Taupin illustrates the cruel treatments and struggles of a woman who never was.