"Daniel"

Speaking of song lyrics, Elton John readily admitted that the reason the song “Daniel” didn’t completely make sense when you heard it on the radio is that Bernie gave him too many verses.  So when he created the melody, Elton lopped off the last verse and threw it away.  Unfortunately, that was the verse that explained that Daniel was a Vietnam veteran who had been blinded in action, and now just wanted to return home to some semblance of the life he knew in rural Texas.

Oh!  So that’s what it means when the line in the chorus goes:

“Your eyes have died, but you see more than I.”

And as for why the “red tail lights” of Daniel’s plane are headed for the country of Spain?

Bernie explained, “because it rhymes with plane.”