Elton John’s God-given vocals and Bernie Taupin’s songwriting genius shine in the classic hit Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Recorded in 1973, the namesake album sold over 30 million copies and the individual song remains one of the most recognizable tunes ever. However, the lyrics might not be well known including the significance of the line, “hunting the horny back toad”.
A few nights ago my daughter, Emily, sent me an email — “Dad, you gotta listen to this. It’s Sara Bareilles covering Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. She’s one of the only few people I’ve ever heard that can do Elton John properly.”
Note: Before you read any more of this post, click on this link and listen to this beautiful voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozd2ja7mAgM&list=RDOzd2ja7mAgM&start_radio=1
Do it. Click now.
My wife, Rita, and I listened to Sara Bareilles sing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road twice and once more. Then we YouTubed a live concert version from Elton John himself. I had to agree with Emily. Sara Bareilles was just that good in her cover.
Her version earwormed me, and the words, “back to the howling old owl in the woods hunting the horny back toad” kept repeating. So I Googled the lyrics to see if I was hearing that right.
Sure enough, the chorus goes:
So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can’t plant me in your penthouse
I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
I asked Rita, “What do you think the significance of hunting the horny back toad is?”
She said, “Well, it’s figurative language. Most songwriters, probably all, use figurative language to express their idea or deliver the song’s meaning.”
“Figurative language,” I replied. “The more I do this writing thing, the more I realize how much I don’t know about figurative language. Or basic English for that matter. I just want to know what a horny back toad is and why Elton John wants to go back to whatever the howling old owl in the woods is and why the owl wants to hunt the horny back toad and what’s in it for him, the owl. Like, it all has to mean something.”
Rita smiled. She said, “You were an investigator. Figure it out.”
I said, “Yeah, though I wasn’t a very good investigator.” But I took the challenge and dug in. First thing I did was Google Horny Back Toad. I quickly found out there was no such animal. Reptile, that is. The closest creature I could find was a horn back lizard and it wasn’t technically a toad. My suspicion deepened that the horny back toad must be some kind of metaphor or simile or symbol described through figurative language.
So being the detective that I was, I went toad hunting through rabbit hole research. I learned stuff. Figurative language stuff. Stuff writers should know.
I found this quote: “Figurative language is the color we use to amplify our writing. It takes an ordinary statement and dresses it up in an evocative frock. It gently alludes to something without directly stating it. Figurative language is a way to engage your readers, guiding them through your writing with a more creative tone. Any time your writing goes beyond the actual meaning of your words, you’re using figurative language. That allows your reader to gain new insights into your work.”
I read more figurative language stuff. I’m well familiar with the basics such as metaphors, similes, and symbolism. But I wasn’t that familiar with was figurative language sub-categories, and it kept me hunting for the toad in the rabbit hole. I leaned there’s a big world out there in semantic stuff that supports figurative language, such as:
Personification — comparing animals or inanimate objects with people.
Zoomorphism — comparing people with animals, sorry, reptiles like horny back toads.
Synecdoche — exemplifying parts of an object (a subset of metaphors).
Metonymy — substituting a name to shift focus.
Clichés — overused sayings (also called dead metaphors).
Connotations — a feeling a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
Phonology — the sounds produced by language.
Syntax — the structure of words, sentences, paragraphs, and so forth.
Idioms — descriptive word groups like raining cats and dogs.
Ambiguity — words with two or more outward ways of meaning.
Polysemy — several meanings in the same word.
Homonymy — different words with same sound (to, too, two).
Hyperbole — exaggerated words and phrases.
Understatement — presenting something as being smaller, worse, or less important.
Synonyms — alike descriptors.
Antonyms — opposite descriptors.
Proverbs — short pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice.
Onomatopoeia — formation of a word from a sound associated with what is (cuckoo).
Alliteration — same letter/sound beginning or adjacent to or closely connected words.
Oxymoron — figure of speech which contradicts terms (military intelligence).
Paradox — seemingly absurd statement that turns out to be true.
Allusion — expression calling something to mind without explicitly mentioning it .
Pun — the pigs were a squeal (if you’ll forgive the pun).
I found more figurative examples of semantics, and I learned some things about this peculiar language called English. I’m sure this clarity will help improve my writing craft skills which is a good thing. But I came no closer to understanding how the horny back toad fell into any of these figurative speech categories.
I popped outa the rabbit hole, toadless, and thought this out. There has to be something simple here. Probably hiding in plain sight. I’ll take the song apart, bit by bit.
Okay, “yellow brick road” I get. It’s the fast life and Bernie wants Elton to leave it for a simpler life like going back to his “plough” at his “old man’s farm” whose earlier advice he should’ve taken. That’s pretty clear. So is “not signed up with you” and “I’m not a present for your friends to open” which are very powerful statements when you dwell on them.
“This boy’s too young to be singing the blues”? I think I understand that figurative reference. Same with “the dogs of society howl.” And “can’t plant me in your penthouse” really adds to the story – greatly helps to paint the big picture.
“Shoot down the plane”, “couple of vodka and tonics”, and “set you on your feet again” make things clearer yet as to what Bernie Taupin was saying through Elton John’s voice. ‘Get a replacement”, “plenty like me to be found”, “mongrels who ain’t got a penny sniffing for tidbits on the ground” — I get it all.
But what I still didn’t get was, “back to the howling old owl in the woods hunting the horny back toad.” What am I missing? Let me dissect this some more.
To start with, owls hoot. They don’t howl. And Bernie broke a main writing rule where he used the same two strong descriptors close together on two different subjects—dogs of society howling and the old owl in the woods howling. If I tried that, I’d get 1-Starred on Amazon. But he’s Bernie F’n Taupin so he can do whatever he wants with figurative speech. Sorta like what Stephen King gets away with.
Okay, we got this old owl howling and hunting in the woods. I’ll take that at face value, but it circles to the horny back toad issue. Maybe I’m reading this wrong, like there’s a punctuation error. A missing comma, maybe. It might be a horny, back toad—not a toad with protective protuberances permeating on its back at all. Maybe it’s a back toad that’s just plain horny—as in sexually excited. If the horny, back toad is a male, like most males in any species that get into the rut or swept away in breeding season or liquored-up on a road trip in an out-of-town bar, then it has only one thing on its mind which would cause it to drop its guard. The wise old owl would know this and that the horny, back toad was—in that state—an easy target to glean as a food source thereby assuring the ongoing survival of this owl’s sub-species vis-à-vis the toad’s sexually-indulgent and self-destructing demise.
I ran this by Rita. She said, “No. That’s silly. It makes no sense whatsoever within the context and elements of the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road story. What’s that thing you always preach from your detective days? Occam’s razor? Where the simplest answer is usually the correct answer? Go back to basics and think it through.”
I did.
So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can’t plant me in your penthouse
I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
Then it hit me. What if there was absolutely no meaning to a howling old owl out there in the woods bent on murdering some poor, defenseless, and aroused toad schmuck? What if Bernie Taupin simply had writer’s block and struggled with something to rhyme with “road” and the word “toad” suddenly popped into his mind? Then Bernie grabbed a random owl to go along with it, added some adjective and adverb figurative descriptors that had to work with the phonology of his lyrics and made Elton John’s voice flow?
Kill Zoners? Can things sometimes be simply this simple? What’s your figurative language interpretation of “hunting the horny back toad”?
Good morning, Garry. I was unfamiliar with Sara Bareilles until your fine post of this morning. She should hire you as her publicist. Thanks for the referral.
I would call Bernie Taupin’s lyrical whimsy in this case poetic license, and nothing more or less. It’s fun to speculate, however.
Thanks for a wonderful post, as always. I will be spending at least part of the day listening to covers of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” while I alternate with my favorite Elton song, “Come Down in Time.”
Oh…one more thing…I am afraid that your line “…google Horny Back Toad” is now an earworm (mindworm) for me. I’ll be singing along with Elton but changing the words to “So google the horny back toad/dah dah dahdahdah dah dah…” all day today. My bad.
Have a great one, Garry!
Now I got “So google the horny back toad/dah dah dahdahdah dah dah…” in my ear. Thanks, buddy…
Thanks for the memories, Garry. I was a big Elton/Bernie fan in college and grabbed this album the day it hit the local record store. That teaming was legendary.
Now, here I am to help! There really is such a thing as a horny toad (horned toad, horned lizard):
Horned toad, also called horned lizard, (genus Phrynosoma), any of about 14 species of lizards belonging to the family Iguanidae that are usually characterized by daggerlike head spines, or horns. – Britannica
We have them here in SoCal. As kids we called them horny toads, maybe because that’s what the Warner Bros. cartoon character Yosemite Sam used in moments of excitement: “Great horny toads!”
Adding the word “back” obviously helped Bernie with the scan, but it’s also where horny toad horns can be found. The toads themselves live in the wild. Thus, to me, the song refers to going back to the country, the simple life…going home (the same thing Dorothy learned beyond Oz’s yellow brick road, etc.)
If you want obscurity, try interpreting some Steely Dan.
Oh yes, and then the most famous nonce word in rock history (a “nonce word” is a word that is made up out of the blue for one use): The “pompatus” of love (via Steve Miller). It doesn’t exist except in his song “The Joker”…but by gosh, I’m sure I’ve experienced it!
Mr. Bell, you are up even earlier than I am, and beat me to the punch…
In non-scansioned plain English:
I’m goin’ home, back to the plow, back to the old howlin’ owl in the woods, back to hunting the horned toad…
I’d add that the interior rhyme of “howl” and “owl” is what let BT get away with the repeated word in the chorus…
Now, if I can just quit thinking of Yosemite Sam… and, being a (what’s left of the), Big XII fan, the rassa-frassin’ sassafrasin’ TCU Purple Horned Frogs (Go Bears – Sic ‘Em…)
I grew up in SoCal, minored in biology at UCLA, and went on field trips to the desert where we encountered horned lizards (being in a biology class, horned/horny toad wasn’t permitted). Another trivia fact: At least eight species are able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of the eyes for a distance up to 5 ft (1.5 m)
Has nothing to do with this post, though. I will say that even with no formal training in writing, I recognized all but 2 of the semantics terms. Not saying which 2, though. I will say that except for metaphors, similes, and idioms, I’ve never consciously used any of them.
‘Mornin’, Jim. The main difference between toads and lizards is the taste. I grew up in the countryside and we were told from an early age that if you had to lick something, use a lizard – not a toad.
While I was rabbit holing this piece, I was pondering other songs with wild figurative language and up popped The Beatles “Come Together” with joo joo eyeball, toe jam football, bag production, walrus gumboot, and got to be a joker he just do what he please.
Now I got this Joker thing in my head.
I just thought of another one, Garry. Hoyt Axton came to Three Dog Night with a song called “Joy To The World”. The first line was “Jeremiah was a prophet.” Nobody liked it. Axton said, “Wait, wait…” and tried the first thing that flashed into his head: “Jeremiah was a bullfrog…” Axton reportedly wanted to rewrite it again, but Three Dog Night kept the gibberish and got a monster hit out of it.
Top song of the decade by Billboard, Jim. Gets people up to dance every time.
Garry, thanks for a very interesting post, and the link to a very beautiful rendition by Sara Bareilles.
As to the figurative language interpretation of “hunting the horny back toad”: My interpretation is that the phrase “Hunting the horny back toad” refers back to “I’m.” In other words “I’m going back to hunting the horny back toad.” And that horny back toad is something that doesn’t exist. Good old Bernie Taupin knew he would be setting rabbit holers (like you) on an unending search, something that country folk love to do. In my neck of the woods, we call the process (taking the uninitiated out in the dark, holding a sack, and waiting to capture the bird) a “snipe hunt.”
Great post, Garry. If you’re ever in Ohio, we have Great Horned owls in our woods, and snipes. Let me know and we’ll arrange a snipe hunt.
Have a great day!
“that horny back toad is something that doesn’t exist.” Nailed it, Steve! I’d love to visit you in Ohio but I ain’t holdin’ no bag on no snipe hunt. 😉
Thanks for a great way to start Thursday, Garry. I love lists, I love the English language, and I love definitions. You made my day. I’m definitely going to use metonymy in my next book.
Running to catch a plane now, so will have to listen to Sara Bareilles this evening.
(I also vote for the “horned toad” interpretation. Charming creatures.)
Running to catch a plane, Kay? You flying it or riding it, my old pilot friend? I confess I had to scroll up to remember what metonymy is. Safe trip and don’t miss Sara’s cover.
Garry, what a fun post.
Another SoCal kid. I remember horny toads and my brother going frog-gigging.
Also a big Elton fan but I confess in 1960s and 70s rock music, I heard a lot of Mondegreens (see this post about mis-heard lyrics: https://killzoneblog.com/2020/07/word-play.html). Between stoned musicians and stoned listeners, it was hard to determine what the real lyrics were.
This a.m. is the first time I heard the actual words “hunting the horny back toad.”
I vote for Jim’s interpretation.
Thanks for expanding my knowledge!
Isn’t expanding knowledge what life’s all about, Debbie? Not a day goes by when I don’t learn something new, especially learning how much I don’t know about life – a lot of which is messed up by mis-heard lyrics.
Very informative post, Garry, especially for someone like me who also isn’t that adept at using figurative language, being more of a literalist. This will definitely help level up my figurative writing skills.
Thanks also for the link to the Sara Bareilles cover of “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road,” a favorite song of mine. I’d never heard her incredible cover, really captures the essence of the song.
As for what “hunting the horny-backed toad means,” I’m going with Jim’s interpretation 🙂
Thank you for another fantastic post!
Nice to hear this piece resonated, Dale. I’d never heard of Sara Bareilles until Emily sent me the link. I’ll never forget this lady, I’ll tell ya. What a voice! I wish I could write like she sings 🙂
After watching her cover, I picked up her live album. Indeed, what a voice.
Love this post, discussion, and intro to Sara Bareilles. My first instinct is to think “British,” in the way Ted Lasso finds himself laughing at one culture using similar verbiage of another’s culture. For instance: putting your boot in the boot.
But here, for me, with:
So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can’t plant me in your penthouse
I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road.
Certain we all agree it’s metaphorical. The association of the “howl” belonging to the dogs of the highly successful life vs the “howl” of the owl. Plural vs singular. The message sent is that it’s quieter in the solo-ness of woods (of the soul) than in the constant struggle and expectations of a city (the stresses of success).
For “hunting the horny back toad,” which highly unlikely exists, it represents the “elusiveness” of the hunt (for that peace of mind or quest or very difficult elusive emotion/satisfaction/understanding of oneself that put this person on the yellow brick road [another fantasy] in the first place). It also places the hunted back in control as the hunter. All very brilliant in a metaphorical sense and a delight to ponder here. Mahalo!
Nice comment, Elaine. I’ve read it three times. Metaphorical. That’s the simplest and most straightforward description of Mr. Taupin’s figuration of the horny back toad. Brilliant is right. Just brilliant writing!
Garry, I’ve been a die-hard Elton John fan forever. In fact, when I married the first time I requested Funeral for a Friend to be played in the limo on the way to the church. Make of that what you will. 😉 She did well with the cover, but no one compares to the original in my eyes. Same goes for Freddy Mercury from Queen.
Love the banter between you and Rita!
Just FYI: Owls can indeed howl (it’s more of a cry). They can also bark.
Hi BFF & OLW! Yes, OLW not OWL (private thing going on here, Kill Zoners) Wow, playing Funeral For A Friend on the way to a first marriage that almost killed you? Now that’s figurative! Prophetic, actually.
Radio Ga Ga just popped into my head and it’s stuck. Radio Ga Ga, Radio Goo Goo, Radio Bah Bah, All we hear is Radio Ga Ga… You’re welcome, BFF & OLW 🙂
As someone who lives surrounded by natural woods, I went literal. There’s no owl anywhere that howls. So, it’s a sound and visual word play. There’s also no horny back toad. There’s a horny lizard, though. I am not going there as to the probable image from a gay guy.
So, Taupin is two for two in lack of knowledge about those farm days he wants to return to. I hope he’s a better rocketman, or he’s going to die.
Wow. I’d have to smoke weed to give this much thought to a song lyric, and I don’t smoke anything. Congratulations. Never heard an owl bark, but I have had one nearly crash into me and then follow me around.
I think Sue probably was smoking weed when she heard the owl bark 🙂
Great post!
I loved winding down that rabbit hole with you. I’ve done the same with that song, and especially American Pie. Explaining that one’ll take up most of the afternoon.
I agree with James Bell. Here in Texas, we have Horney Toads. That’s what we’ve always called them, and we don’t care if they’re toads or not. Such is the way of regional throughs and descriptions that become part of the accepted norm.
As far as howling owls are concerned. This country boy’s heard a lot of them hoot through the years, but this same descriptor popped up in Michael Martin Murphy’s Wildfire back in 1975, and he’s been called on it many times.
By the dark of the moon, I planted
But there came an early snow
Been a hoot-owl howling outside my window now
‘Bout six nights in a row
She’s coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we’re gonna go.
So here Murph is describing the same thing in the same way. But you can’t write, “a coyote howling outside my window now,” because it doesn’t evoke the same reaction.
Let’s enjoy the songs and thank those lyricists for their craft. Now, where was that Yellow Brick Road album….
“Let’s enjoy the songs and thank those lyricists for their craft.” True dat, Rev. Now, down south do you pronounce coyote as a ky-yo-tee, a ky-yute, or a coy-yote?
American Pie – I spent half of my later teen years listening to this masterpiece and memorizing the lyrics which I can still recite. “Good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye.” How many KZers know what rye is?
I love this tribe of people. As a writer I think about this stuff also. But when you try to talk to a non- writer they dismiss you! Thanks for waking me up and getting the brain juices boiling.
The writing community is so inclusive, Warren. At the Kill Zone, we have a great cross-section of contributors, commenters, and lurkers. It’s all about sharing and helping others to help themselves!
Hi Garry, you’ve probably heard this a few times in these replies, but here’s my take on the “horny backed toad” issue. I got the album in my teens. I grew up in the southern deserts of Arizona, and hunting horny toads was something we did as kids. All my friends did it. They weren’t common, so actually finding one was considered quite a feat. Taken in the totality of the lyrics, he was going back to an easier pace of life, a simpler time, when owls hooted or howled, and chasing horny toads was something kids did. I loved the clip by Sara B.
“Going back to an easier pace of life, a simpler time.” I think you have this bang-on, Joe. Thanks for commenting and following TKZ!