Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Encyclopedia
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" is a song from the Elton John
album Honky Château
. It reflects Bernie Taupin
's take on New York City
after hearing a gun go off near his hotel window during his first visit to the city. The song's lyrics were partly inspired by Ben E. King's
"Spanish Harlem
", in which he sings "There is a rose in Spanish Harlem." In response to this, Taupin writes, "Now I know Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say / I thought I knew, but now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City." A more upbeat sequel
to the song called "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)
" was recorded about 15 years later for Elton's later album Reg Strikes Back
.
Genre: Ballad
Rolling Stone
magazine's Jon Landau
praised the song when it was released, writing:
Elton himself has called the song "one of my all-time favourites," upon introducing it at his 60th-birthday concert in New York's Madison Square Garden
. John also delivered a heartfelt rendition at "The Concert for New York City
" at Madison Square Garden
on October 20, 2001. The concert was meant primarily as a tribute for family members and fellow workers of New York's Fire and Police Departments, as well as EMT workers, who had been participating in the ongoing recovery efforts at the demolished World Trade Center
complex following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. John dedicated the song to the emergency workers and their families, as well as to New York City
.
The song was also used in the film Almost Famous
, in a scene in New York City, highlighting the loneliness of Kate Hudson
's character, who overdoses on quaaludes and champagne.
The song was used in the finale of the American version of Life on Mars
. It was also used for the bridal dance in the final episode of the TV series Brothers and Sisters entitled "Walker Down the Aisle".
The song also inspired a line in the Rob Thomas
-penned Santana
hit, "Smooth
," in which the singer refers to "my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa."
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
album Honky Château
Honky Château
Honky Château is the fifth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1972. In 2003, the album was ranked number 357 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was certified Gold on 7/24/1972 and Platinum on 10/11/1995 by the R.I.A.A...
. It reflects Bernie Taupin
Bernie Taupin
Bernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...
's take on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
after hearing a gun go off near his hotel window during his first visit to the city. The song's lyrics were partly inspired by Ben E. King's
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
"Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem (song)
"Spanish Harlem" is a song released by Ben E. King in 1960 on Atco Records, written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
", in which he sings "There is a rose in Spanish Harlem." In response to this, Taupin writes, "Now I know Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say / I thought I knew, but now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City." A more upbeat sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to the song called "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters " is a song by Elton John and Bernie Taupin for the album Reg Strikes Back.The song is about New York City and is a continuation of the song "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" from the 1972 album Honky Château....
" was recorded about 15 years later for Elton's later album Reg Strikes Back
Reg Strikes Back
Reg Strikes Back is the twenty-first studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1988. It was his self-proclaimed comeback album, and his own way of fighting back against bad press. The "Reg" in Reg Strikes Back refers to Elton John's birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight. This...
.
Genre: Ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's Jon Landau
Jon Landau
Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen.He is currently the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
praised the song when it was released, writing:
Elton himself has called the song "one of my all-time favourites," upon introducing it at his 60th-birthday concert in New York's Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. John also delivered a heartfelt rendition at "The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City was a benefit concert, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
" at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
on October 20, 2001. The concert was meant primarily as a tribute for family members and fellow workers of New York's Fire and Police Departments, as well as EMT workers, who had been participating in the ongoing recovery efforts at the demolished World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
complex following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. John dedicated the song to the emergency workers and their families, as well as to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The song was also used in the film Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
, in a scene in New York City, highlighting the loneliness of Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
's character, who overdoses on quaaludes and champagne.
The song was used in the finale of the American version of Life on Mars
Life on Mars (U.S. TV series)
Life on Mars was a science fiction crime drama television series which originally aired on ABC from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009. It is an adaptation of the BAFTA-winning original UK series of the same name produced by the BBC...
. It was also used for the bridal dance in the final episode of the TV series Brothers and Sisters entitled "Walker Down the Aisle".
Cover versions
- Sherie Rene ScottSherie Rene ScottSherie Rene Scott is an American actress, singer and writer. She is a co-founder of Grammy winning Sh-K-Boom Records and Ghostlight Records and has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway musicals and plays appears on numerous solo and original cast recordings.-Life and career:Scott was...
on her album Men I've Had. - Indigo GirlsIndigo GirlsThe Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
on the Rarities album - Mandy MooreMandy MooreAmanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore is an American singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer. Moore became famous as a teenager in the late 1990s, after the release of her teen pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. In 2007, she took an adult pop-folk direction with the release of...
on her CoverageCoverage (album)Coverage is the fourth album released by pop singer Mandy Moore, composed exclusively of covers of songs from the 1970s and 1980s. The album was released by Epic Records.-History:...
album. Mandy Moore reported being pleasantly surprised to learn that Elton John "heard my version ... and he liked it!" - Buckshot LeFonqueBuckshot LeFonqueBuckshot LeFonque was a musical group project of Branford Marsalis. The name Buckshot LeFonque was a pseudonym used by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley for contractual reasons on the album Here Comes Louis Smith...
on their 1994 album Buckshot LeFonque - HeartHeart (band)Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
on the 2003 album Alive in SeattleAlive in SeattleAlive in Seattle is an album released in 2003 by Heart. It is a double-CD package of their greatest hits recorded live in concert. The concert featured on this live album is their final concert in Seattle, during Heart's "Summer Of Love Tour", which was put on during the Summer of 2002.- Disc one... - Ryan AdamsRyan AdamsDavid Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...
(duet with Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
) in 2002 on the television show CMT Crossroads - Jason Hart on the 2005 album If I Were You
- Dear Abbeys on the album "Abbeys Road"
- Matthew MorrisonMatthew MorrisonMatthew James "Matt" Morrison is an American actor, director, musician, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for starring in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray on Broadway, and most notably for his Emmy and Golden Globe nominated...
sings this song in duet with Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
himself On his album "Matthew Morrison" in 2011
The song also inspired a line in the Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (musician)
Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist...
-penned Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
hit, "Smooth
Smooth (song)
"Smooth" is a collaboration between latin rock band Santana and Rob Thomas of the rock group Matchbox Twenty. The song was written by Thomas and Itaal Shur, sung by Thomas, and won three Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.-Concept...
," in which the singer refers to "my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa."