The Sea Has No Mercy Bernie Taupin

• 1 Fisherman 05:11
• 2 Old Church Road 05:09
• 3 The Sea Has No Mercy 03:57
• 4 Elephant Boy 05:11
• 5 Ghosts of Greater Men 04:24
• 6 Joker 05:51
• 7 Come On California 04:59
• 8 The Favor 05:46
• 9 Old Dog 06:17
• 10 One Hundred Ways 02:41
• Total Runtime 49:26

Info for The Sea Has No Mercy

Bernie Taupin presents The Sea Has No Mercy, his first ever entirely self-written album and most personal work to date. Across 10 reflective, atmospheric folk songs, Taupin distills 76 years of life experience into stories that are intimate, vivid and deeply revealing. Inspired by his acclaimed memoir Scattershot, the album was recorded in Nashville with producer Frank Liddell and features guest appearances from Brandi Carlile, Lee Ann Womack and Georgey Taupin. Warm, thoughtful and richly cinematic, The Sea Has No Mercy stands as a late-career masterpiece from one of music’s greatest storytellers.

“I couldn’t have made this album as a younger man. I couldn’t have written any of these songs. They’re all completely indicative of Bernie Taupin at 76-years-old. They need the life behind them. Everything on this record is hugely personal. Every single line, every word, means something to me, whether from a past, present or storytelling perspective.” (Bernie Taupin)

The title track and first single introduces an album which stands as Bernie Taupin’scrowning glory. It’s a meditative, almost hymnal reflection in which Bernie’s gritty, lived-in baritone faces up to the incidents in his life’s journey that he’d prefer to forget. But it’s the pain of personal truth that gives this song its heart.

He adds, “The sea is the most intimidating, frightening element on earth. Fires, earthquakes and tornadoes are all destructive, but nothing is more terrifying than the loneliness of the open sea. But it fascinates me, and things that fascinate me are subjects I want to write about. In the song, I use the sea as a metaphor for too many past experiences that weren’t particularly positive. I align that with the intimidation of the sea. There’s a wonderful interplay there.”

Having enjoyed phenomenal success in an enduring career that spans almost sixty years,The Sea Has No Mercy proves that Bernie Taupin’s life-long creativity is as strong as ever - and there’s much more to come soon, too. He has continued to collaborate on new songs for Elton John, while his eagerly anticipated documentary project continues to take shape, and his bestselling, critically acclaimed Scattershot memoir has been optioned for development.

Bernie Taupin, guitar, vocals
Adam Wright, guitar
Glen Worf, e-bass, double bass
Michael Rojas, Wurlitzer, keyboards, Mellotron
Michelle McClary, French Horn
Guests:
Brandi Carlile, vocals on the track "Come On California"
Lee Ann Womack, vocals
Georgey Devon Taupin, vocals on the track "One Hundred Ways"

Bernie Taupin
CBE, has written the soundtrack to millions of lives over the last 60 years. His legendary partnership with Elton John, in addition to his work with everyone from Willie Nelson to Courtney Love, has sealed his standing as one of the most successful lyricists of the modern era, garnering multiple accolades and awards, including an Oscar, two Golden Globes, the Gershwin Prize, induction into the Songwriter’s and Rock And Roll Halls Of Fame, and most recently, the Grammys Trustee Award.

But with his new album, The Sea Has No Mercy, this iconic storyteller has created the soundtrack to his own life. His first solo record in almost four decades, as well as his first album ever without a co-writer, it presents a master craftsman at his most personal, distilling 75 years of lived experience into 10 songs that are reflective and revealing, vivid and thoughtful, sometimes hushed, sometimes joyful, sometimes elegiac.

“This is the most intimate record I’ve ever made,” says Taupin of The Sea Has No Mercy. “I don’t want to sound bleak, but I regard this as a late-life manifesto. I’m not sure if any lightning bolt hit me: ‘You need to do this now.’ But it definitely felt necessary.”

In addition to his collaborations with Elton John, Taupin has also completed his first book, the autobiographical, A Cradle of Halos, and a first collection of poetry, Devil at High Noon.

This album contains no booklet.