This final project will explore the impact of Elton John’s addiction by examining five of his albums through the 1960s and 1970s:

Elton John is a world-famous singer, songwriter, pianist, and producer. He has won five Grammys, sold millions of albums, and toured the world, but he has also had to fight an epic battle with addiction from 1974 to 1990. On stage, John looked like a confident, flamboyant, and successful rock star studded in sequins and extravagant outfits. Off stage, John struggled to feel confident in himself and his ability to fit in. In 1974 John turned to cocaine in an attempt to fit in with the “rock star” society around him. This eventually developed into a deep and nearly lethal battle with a drug and alcohol addiction. John shared in an interview, “This is how bleak it was: I’d stay up, I’d smoke joints, I’d drink a bottle of Johnnie Walker and then I’d stay up for three days and then I’d go to sleep for a day and half, get up, and because I was so hungry, because I hadn’t eaten anything, I’d binge and have like three bacon sandwiches, a pot of ice cream and then I’d throw it up, because I became bulimic and then go and do the whole thing all over again” “And I’m not being flippant when I say that, when I look back I shudder at the behavior and what I was doing to myself.” John came close to losing his battle with addiction in 1975 when he tried to take his own life. One source shared “His cocaine use led to a drinking habit. He attempted suicide when he swallowed 60 Valium pills and jumped into his swimming pool in front of his mother and grandmother saying he was going to die.” (Enlightened Solutions)

In this project, I will be looking at five of Elton John’s albums. Two of the albums are from before his drug use, and three of the albums are from after the start of his addiction. In an interview, John shared, “I wouldn’t have taken as many drugs, Although I continued to work when I took drugs, I didn’t make my best work some of the time. I never really wanted to take drugs, I just joined in for the sake of it and it became an addiction. I became an addict and alcoholic, and I’ve since learned my lesson, but I would, if I could go back to when I first saw a line of cocaine, I would say no now.” (Ladbible TV Interview)

I am going to use Spotify API to examine the albums, “Empty Sky” (1969), “Madman Across the Water” (1971), “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” (1975), “Blue Moves” (1976), and “A Single Man” (1978). These albums cover his music before drug use and after. I will compare the sentiment of all five albums to examine the impact of addiction on John’s work.

Hypothesis:

I hypothesize that Elton John’s 1970’s albums produced after his drug and alcohol addiction began in 1974 will have a more negative sentiment than the two albums that I am examining from before his drug and alcohol use. John’s addiction had a very harsh effect on his mental health, especially the year that the album “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” was produced in 1975, when he attempted to take his own life, and I believe this will be apparent in his musical work.

First, let’s download the necessary packages:

library(tidyverse)
library(tidytext)
library(spotifyr)
library(textdata)
library(ggjoy)
library(ggridges)
library(knitr)
library(genius)
library(jsonlite)
library(wordcloud2)

Now let’s look at the albums:

Load the lyrics:

library(readr)
Lyrics_EmptySky <- read_delim("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_EmptySky.json", 
                              delim = ";", escape_double = FALSE, trim_ws = TRUE)
library(readr)
Lyrics_MadmanAcrosstheWater <- read_delim("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_MadmanAcrosstheWater.json", 
                                          delim = ";", escape_double = FALSE, trim_ws = TRUE)
library(readr)
Lyrics_CaptainFantasticandtheBrownDirtCowboy <- read_delim("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_CaptainFantasticandtheBrownDirtCowboy.json", 
                                                           delim = ";", escape_double = FALSE, trim_ws = TRUE)
library(readr)
Lyrics_BlueMoves <- read_delim("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_BlueMoves.json", 
                               delim = ";", escape_double = FALSE, trim_ws = TRUE)
library(readr)
Lyrics_ASingleMan_1_ <- read_delim("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_ASingleMan (1).json", 
                                   delim = ";", escape_double = FALSE, trim_ws = TRUE)

Now, we have to set up the lyrics and data frame:

EmptySky <- fromJSON("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_EmptySky.json")

as.data.frame(EmptySky) -> EmptySky_DF

EmptySky_DF$tracks.song -> empty_sky_lyrics
MadMan <- fromJSON("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_MadmanAcrosstheWater.json")

as.data.frame(MadMan) -> MadMan_DF

MadMan_DF$tracks.song -> mad_man_lyrics
CapFas <- fromJSON("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_CaptainFantasticandtheBrownDirtCowboy.json")

as.data.frame(CapFas) -> CapFas_DF

CapFas_DF$tracks.song -> cap_fas_lyrics
BlueMoves <- fromJSON("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_BlueMoves.json")

as.data.frame(BlueMoves) -> BlueMoves_DF

BlueMoves_DF$tracks.song -> blue_moves_lyrics
SingleMan <- fromJSON("~/Desktop/mea final project /Lyrics_ASingleMan (1).json")

as.data.frame(SingleMan) -> SingleMan_DF

SingleMan_DF$tracks.song -> single_man_lyrics

Word Popularity in the Five Albums:

Let’s unnest the tokens:

empty_sky_lyrics %>% 
  unnest_tokens(word, lyrics) -> empty_sky_words1
mad_man_lyrics %>% 
  unnest_tokens(word, lyrics) -> mad_man_words
cap_fas_lyrics %>% 
  unnest_tokens(word, lyrics) -> cap_fas_words
blue_moves_lyrics %>% 
  unnest_tokens(word, lyrics) -> blue_moves_words
single_man_lyrics %>% 
  unnest_tokens(word, lyrics) -> single_man_words

Pre-Addiction:

Empty Sky 1969:

empty_sky_words1 %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  filter(!word %in% c("chorus", "lyric","lyrics", "verse", "1", "2", "x2")) %>% 
  arrange(desc(n)) %>% 
  head(15) ->emptyskytop15
emptyskytop15 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word, n), n)) + geom_col() +
  coord_flip() +
  theme_light() +
  labs(x = 'Most Popular Words', 
       y = 'Frequency of Words',
       title = 'Empty Sky Popular Words',
       subtitle = 'Elton John 1969')

The most popular 15 words for the album Empty Sky are interesting. They don’t necessarily provoke a feeling of sentiment but there is a theme of “sky related words”, like sky, fly, rain, light, which relates to the title of the album.

Madman Across The Water 1971:

mad_man_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  filter(!word %in% c("chorus", "lyric","lyrics", "verse", "1", "2", "x2")) %>% 
  arrange(desc(n)) %>% 
  head(15) ->madmantop15
madmantop15 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word, n), n)) + geom_col() +
  coord_flip() +
  theme_light() +
  labs(x = 'Most Popular Words', 
       y = 'Frequency of Words',
       title = 'Madman Across the Water Popular Words',
       subtitle = 'Elton John 1971')

The top 15 words for the album Madman Across The Water actually do provoke a feeling of sentiment when you read them. This album is from before Elton John’s drug use began, but the words are quite negative, for example, razor, rotten, rotting, blooded.

Transition to Addiction:

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 1975:

cap_fas_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  filter(!word %in% c("chorus", "lyric","lyrics", "verse", "1", "2", "x2", "ay","la")) %>% 
  arrange(desc(n)) %>% 
  head(15) ->capfastop15
capfastop15 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word, n), n)) + geom_col() +
  coord_flip() +
  theme_light() +
  labs(x = 'Most Popular Words', 
       y = 'Frequency of Words',
       title = 'Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy',
       subtitle = 'Elton John 1975')

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy was written a year after Elton John’s addiction began, it was also written the same year that Elton John tried to take his own life after taking 60 Valium pills. With an initial look at the 15 most popular words, there actually is somewhat of a feeling of hope, with words like, “saved”, “life”, “sky”, “shine”, “light”.

Blue Moves 1976:

blue_moves_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  filter(!word %in% c("chorus", "lyric","lyrics", "verse", "1", "2", "x2","outro","ooh", "shoorah")) %>% 
  arrange(desc(n)) %>% 
  head(15) -> bluemovestop15
bluemovestop15 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word, n), n)) + geom_col() +
  coord_flip() +
  theme_light() +
  labs(x = 'Most Popular Words', 
       y = 'Frequency of Words',
       title = 'Blue Moves',
       subtitle = 'Elton John 1976')

The top 15 words in the album Blue Moves feel a bit more scattered and do not provoke an initial feeling of sentiment. This is the longest of the albums that I am comparing so there are more lyrics to be compared. The top word in the album is “sad”, which does lead me to believe there is a more negative sentiment in this album.

A Single Man:

single_man_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  filter(!word %in% c("chorus", "lyric","lyrics", "verse", "1", "2", "x2")) %>% 
  arrange(desc(n)) %>% 
  head(15) -> singlemantop15
singlemantop15 %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word, n), n)) + geom_col() +
  coord_flip() +
  theme_light() +
  labs(x = 'Most Popular Words', 
       y = 'Frequency of Words',
       title = 'A Single Man',
       subtitle = 'Elton John 1978')

The top 15 words of A Single Man are also interesting. Some of the words that stand out to me from the top words are, “love”, “time”, “life”, “madness”, and “ego”.

Sentiment Analysis:

‘Bing’ and ‘Afinn’ Sentiment:

Pre-Addiction:

Empty Sky 1969:

ES_sentiment <- empty_sky_words1 %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  inner_join(get_sentiments("bing"))

ES_sentiment %>% 
  head(15) %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word,n), n, fill=sentiment)) + geom_col() + coord_flip() +
  labs(x = 'Popular Words',
       y = 'Frequency',
       title = 'Empty Sky Top 15 Bing Sentiment',
       subtitle = 'Elton 1969')

empty_sky_words1 %>%
  filter(!word %in% c('chorus', 'verse', 'ooh', 'yeah')) %>%
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>%
  inner_join(get_sentiments('afinn')) -> es_sentiment_afinn
mean(es_sentiment_afinn$value)
## [1] -0.07575758

According to the “afinn” sentiment score for Empty Sky, it received a -0.07575758, this means that this album was on the negative side. This is an album is from before Elton John’s addiction began, but it is important to note that Elton John had a difficult childhood, so he might not be the first to be writing extremely positive songs, even before his addiction took place.

Madman Across The Water 1971:

MM_sentiment <- mad_man_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  inner_join(get_sentiments("bing"))

MM_sentiment %>% 
  head(15) %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word,n), n, fill=sentiment)) + geom_col() + coord_flip() +
  labs(x = 'Popular Words',
       y = 'Frequency',
       title = 'Madman Across The Water Top 15 Bing Sentiment',
       subtitle = 'Elton 1971')

mad_man_words %>%
  filter(!word %in% c('chorus', 'verse', 'ooh', 'yeah')) %>%
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>%
  inner_join(get_sentiments('afinn')) -> mm_sentiment_afinn
mean(mm_sentiment_afinn$value)
## [1] 0.1730769

Madman Across The Water was also written before Elton John’s addiction. This album recieved the most positive “afinn” sentiment score of all of the albums I examined, even though initially the most popular words looked to be negative. The sentiment score for this album was 0.1730769.

Transition to Addiction:

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 1975:

CF_sentiment <- cap_fas_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  inner_join(get_sentiments("bing"))

CF_sentiment %>% 
  head(15) %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word,n), n, fill=sentiment)) + geom_col() + coord_flip() +
  labs(x = 'Popular Words',
       y = 'Frequency',
       title = 'Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy Top 15 Bing Sentiment',
       subtitle = 'Elton 1975')

cap_fas_words %>%
  filter(!word %in% c('chorus', 'verse', 'ooh', 'yeah')) %>%
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>%
  inner_join(get_sentiments('afinn')) -> cfcb_sentiment_afinn
mean(cfcb_sentiment_afinn$value)
## [1] -0.04464286

I had initially hypothesized that this album would be the most negative in sentiment as it is from the year that Elton John attempted to take his own life. This album was written one year after Elton John’s addiction began. This received a -0.04464286 “afinn” sentiment score. It is interesting to note that Elton John’s 1969 album, Empty Sky, is more negative in sentiment.

Blue Moves 1976:

BM_sentiment <- blue_moves_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  inner_join(get_sentiments("bing"))

BM_sentiment %>% 
  head(15) %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word,n), n, fill=sentiment)) + geom_col() + coord_flip() +
  labs(x = 'Popular Words',
       y = 'Frequency',
       title = 'Blue Moves Top 15 Bing Sentiment',
       subtitle = 'Elton 1976')

blue_moves_words %>%
  filter(!word %in% c('chorus', 'verse', 'ooh', 'yeah')) %>%
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>%
  inner_join(get_sentiments('afinn')) -> bm_sentiment_afinn
mean(bm_sentiment_afinn$value)
## [1] -0.4352941

The album Blue Moves was written two years after Elton John’s addiction began. This is a very long album, featuring 18 songs. This album received an “afinn” sentiment score of -0.4352941.

A Single Man:

SM_sentiment <- single_man_words %>% 
  anti_join(stop_words) %>% 
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>% 
  inner_join(get_sentiments("bing"))

SM_sentiment %>% 
  head(15) %>% 
  ggplot(aes(reorder(word,n), n, fill=sentiment)) + geom_col() + coord_flip() +
  labs(x = 'Popular Words',
       y = 'Frequency',
       title = 'Single Man Top 15 Bing Sentiment',
       subtitle = 'Elton 1976')

single_man_words %>%
  filter(!word %in% c('chorus', 'verse', 'ooh', 'yeah')) %>%
  count(word, sort = TRUE) %>%
  inner_join(get_sentiments('afinn')) -> sm_sentiment_afinn
mean(sm_sentiment_afinn$value)
## [1] -0.4810127

The last album I explored from Elton John is A Single Man. This album was produced in 1979, about five years after Elton John’s addiction began. This album received an “afinn” sentiment score of -0.4810127.

For every album that I examined after the start of Elton John’s addiction, they became more and more negative in sentiment. Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy was a -0.04464286, Blue Moves was a -0.4352941, and A Single Man was -0.4810127. This shows the impact of addiction on the musical works of Elton John.

Spotify API: Danceability & Valence

Let’s load our access token:

Sys.setenv(SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID = '15b5307f0b924f809b2b4450c09f416a')
Sys.setenv(SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET = 'af56066d655a43cfb47178ddbd7ac4b7')

access_token <- get_spotify_access_token()

Now, let’s get the artist audio features:

Elton_John <- get_artist_audio_features('elton john')

Then, the specific albums:

Elton_John %>%
  filter(album_name %in% "Empty Sky")-> ESAlbum
Elton_John %>%
  filter(album_name %in% "Madman Across The Water")-> MMAlbum
Elton_John %>%
  filter(album_name %in% "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy")-> CFCBAlbum
Elton_John %>%
  filter(album_name %in% "Blue Moves")-> BMAlbum
Elton_John %>%
  filter(album_name %in% "A Single Man")-> SMAlbum

Pre-Addiction:

Empty Sky 1969:

Danceability:

Elton_John %>% 
  filter(album_name %in% "Empty Sky") %>% 
  select(danceability, album_name, energy, track_name) %>% 
  kable()
danceability album_name energy track_name
0.588 Empty Sky 0.723 Empty Sky
0.560 Empty Sky 0.547 Val-Hala
0.339 Empty Sky 0.788 Western Ford Gateway
0.390 Empty Sky 0.608 Hymn 2000
0.639 Empty Sky 0.599 Lady What’s Tomorrow
0.599 Empty Sky 0.711 Sails
0.581 Empty Sky 0.380 The Scaffold
0.357 Empty Sky 0.371 Skyline Pigeon
0.331 Empty Sky 0.514 Gulliver/It’s Hay Chewed - Reprise Version
0.394 Empty Sky 0.691 Lady Samantha
0.539 Empty Sky 0.552 All Across The Havens
0.349 Empty Sky 0.467 It’s Me That You Need
0.429 Empty Sky 0.654 Just Like Strange Rain 
ESAlbum %>%
  arrange(desc(danceability))%>%
  ggplot(aes(track_name, danceability, fill= track_name)) + geom_col() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, vjust = 0.5, hjust=1)) +
labs (x = 'Track Name',
      y = "Danceability",
      title = 'Empty Sky Danceability',
      subtitle = 'Elton John 1969')

On average the danceability for Empty Sky is about 0.5 to 0.6. This means that the songs were somewht upbeat and danceable but they tended to be on the slower side.

Madman Across The Water 1971:

Dancebility:

Elton_John %>% 
  filter(album_name %in% "Madman Across The Water") %>% 
  select(danceability, album_name, energy, track_name) %>% 
  kable()
danceability album_name energy track_name
0.414 Madman Across The Water 0.428 Tiny Dancer
0.305 Madman Across The Water 0.594 Levon
0.405 Madman Across The Water 0.562 Razor Face
0.449 Madman Across The Water 0.455 Madman Across The Water
0.403 Madman Across The Water 0.282 Indian Sunset
0.518 Madman Across The Water 0.695 Holiday Inn
0.352 Madman Across The Water 0.650 Rotten Peaches
0.356 Madman Across The Water 0.441 All The Nasties
0.361 Madman Across The Water 0.118 Goodbye 
MMAlbum %>%
  arrange(desc(danceability))%>%
  ggplot(aes(track_name, danceability, fill= track_name)) + geom_col() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, vjust = 0.5, hjust=1)) +
  labs (x = 'Track Name',
        y = "Danceability",
        title = 'Madman Across The Water Track Danceability',
        subtitle = 'Elton John 1971')

The danceability for Madman Across The Water was on average 0.3 to 0.4. This is the slowest danceability of the five albums that I examined.

Transition to Addiction:

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 1975:

Elton_John %>% 
  filter(album_name %in% "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy") %>% 
  select(danceability, album_name, energy, track_name) %>% 
  kable()
danceability album_name energy track_name
0.539 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.480 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
0.531 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.487 Tower Of Babel
0.521 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.474 Bitter Fingers
0.563 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.497 Tell Me When The Whistle Blows
0.457 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.428 Someone Saved My Life Tonight
0.670 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.840 (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket
0.635 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.440 Better Off Dead
0.754 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.590 Writing
0.516 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.157 We All Fall In Love Sometimes
0.367 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.461 Curtains
0.392 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.566 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
0.471 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.360 One Day At A Time
0.712 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.681 Philadelphia Freedom 
CFCBAlbum %>%
  arrange(desc(danceability))%>%
  ggplot(aes(track_name, danceability, fill= track_name)) + geom_col() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, vjust = 0.5, hjust=1)) +
  labs (x = 'Track Name',
        y = "Danceability",
        title = 'Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy Danceability',
        subtitle = 'Elton John 1975')

On average, the danceability for the album Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy was a 0.5 to 0.6. This is similar to Empty Sky.

Blue Moves 1976:

Elton_John %>% 
  filter(album_name %in% "Blue Moves") %>% 
  select(danceability, album_name, energy, track_name) %>% 
  kable()
danceability album_name energy track_name
0.642 Blue Moves 0.603 Your Starter For…
0.314 Blue Moves 0.181 Tonight
0.400 Blue Moves 0.770 One Horse Town
0.533 Blue Moves 0.455 Chameleon
0.703 Blue Moves 0.653 Boogie Pilgrim
0.516 Blue Moves 0.233 Cage The Songbird
0.629 Blue Moves 0.639 Crazy Water
0.742 Blue Moves 0.676 Shoulder Holster
0.433 Blue Moves 0.221 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
0.426 Blue Moves 0.865 Out Of The Blue
0.703 Blue Moves 0.669 Between Seventeen And Twenty
0.523 Blue Moves 0.229 The Wide-Eyed And Laughing
0.332 Blue Moves 0.130 Someone’s Final Song
0.498 Blue Moves 0.253 Where’s The Shoorah?
0.574 Blue Moves 0.744 If There’s A God In Heaven (What’s He Waiting For?)
0.533 Blue Moves 0.294 Idol
0.673 Blue Moves 0.883 Theme From A Non-Existent TV Series
0.567 Blue Moves 0.956 Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance!)
0.635 Blue Moves 0.609 Your Starter For…
0.299 Blue Moves 0.180 Tonight
0.404 Blue Moves 0.779 One Horse Town
0.532 Blue Moves 0.459 Chameleon
0.708 Blue Moves 0.652 Boogie Pilgrim
0.505 Blue Moves 0.237 Cage The Songbird
0.636 Blue Moves 0.639 Crazy Water
0.741 Blue Moves 0.666 Shoulder Holster
0.371 Blue Moves 0.220 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
0.419 Blue Moves 0.853 Out Of The Blue
0.703 Blue Moves 0.659 Between Seventeen And Twenty
0.515 Blue Moves 0.213 The Wide-Eyed And Laughing
0.336 Blue Moves 0.133 Someone’s Final Song
0.497 Blue Moves 0.259 Where’s The Shoorah?
0.573 Blue Moves 0.745 If There’s A God In Heaven (What’s He Waiting For?)
0.545 Blue Moves 0.286 Idol
0.676 Blue Moves 0.862 Theme From A Non-Existent TV Series
0.564 Blue Moves 0.958 Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance!) 
BMAlbum %>%
  arrange(desc(danceability))%>%
  ggplot(aes(track_name, danceability, fill= track_name)) + geom_col() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, vjust = 0.5, hjust=1)) +
  labs (x = 'Track Name',
        y = "Danceability",
        title = 'Blue Moves Danceability',
        subtitle = 'Elton John 1976')

Out of the five albums that I explored, the danceability peaked in Elton John’s album Blue Moves. On average, the danceability for this album was 1.0-1.5. This is really high, and is not what I was expecting. I suppose it makes some sense as Elton John was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, both substances he took to be more social and fit in more, maybe this had the effect of making his music more upbeat and “danceable”.

A Single Man 1979:

Elton_John %>% 
  filter(album_name %in% "A Single Man") %>% 
  select(danceability, album_name, energy, track_name) %>% 
  kable()
danceability album_name energy track_name
0.470 A Single Man 0.1930 Shine On Through
0.622 A Single Man 0.4080 Return To Paradise
0.768 A Single Man 0.8130 I Don’t Care
0.815 A Single Man 0.5120 Big Dipper
0.617 A Single Man 0.4550 It Ain’t Gonna Be Easy
0.718 A Single Man 0.6830 Part Time Love
0.509 A Single Man 0.3140 Georgia
0.658 A Single Man 0.2730 Shooting Star
0.582 A Single Man 0.6920 Madness
0.286 A Single Man 0.0016 Reverie
0.459 A Single Man 0.1650 Song For Guy
0.555 A Single Man 0.5780 Ego
0.772 A Single Man 0.3610 Flinstone Boy
0.430 A Single Man 0.2360 I Cry At Night
0.655 A Single Man 0.7380 Lovesick
0.661 A Single Man 0.2840 Strangers 
SMAlbum %>%
  arrange(desc(danceability))%>%
  ggplot(aes(track_name, danceability, fill= track_name)) + geom_col() +
  theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, vjust = 0.5, hjust=1)) +
  labs (x = 'Track Name',
        y = "Danceability",
        title = 'A Single Man Dancebility',
        subtitle = 'Elton John 1978')

Similar to Blue Moves, the danceability of A Single Man is quite high compared to the other albums that I examined. This can be related to the explanation I gave above.

Valence:

Elton_John %>% 
  group_by(album_name) %>% 
  filter(album_name %in% c("Empty Sky", "Blue Moves", "Madman Across The Water", "A Single Man", "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy")) %>% 
  ggplot(aes(valence, album_name, fill = ..x..)) +
  geom_density_ridges_gradient()+
  labs (x = 'Valence',
        y = 'Album',
        title = "Elton John 1960s & 1970s Albums' Valence")

The three albums written post addiction, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, Blue Moves, and A Single Man all have peaks with low valence. This means that they are “more sad” albums. The valence also shifts a bit, for example, in Captain fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy there are two peaks, one on the more sad side and one on the happier side. The breakdown of the valence scores of each song are listed below:

Empty Sky 1969:

ESAlbum %>% 
  arrange(valence) %>% 
  select(track_name, valence) %>% 
  head(10) %>% 
  knitr::kable()
track_name valence
Gulliver/It’s Hay Chewed - Reprise Version 0.289
Skyline Pigeon 0.353
It’s Me That You Need 0.353
All Across The Havens 0.488
Western Ford Gateway 0.534
Val-Hala 0.540
Lady What’s Tomorrow 0.550
Hymn 2000 0.590
The Scaffold 0.608
Lady Samantha 0.657

Madman Across The Water 1971:

MMAlbum %>% 
  arrange(valence) %>% 
  select(track_name, valence) %>% 
  head(10) %>% 
  knitr::kable()
track_name valence
All The Nasties 0.221
Goodbye 0.244
Tiny Dancer 0.282
Indian Sunset 0.315
Madman Across The Water 0.388
Levon 0.426
Razor Face 0.504
Rotten Peaches 0.639
Holiday Inn 0.666

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 1975:

CFCBAlbum %>% 
  arrange(valence) %>% 
  select(track_name, valence) %>% 
  head(10) %>% 
  knitr::kable()
track_name valence
Someone Saved My Life Tonight 0.151
We All Fall In Love Sometimes 0.172
Tower Of Babel 0.310
One Day At A Time 0.343
Bitter Fingers 0.413
Curtains 0.452
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 0.538
Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy 0.645
Better Off Dead 0.752
(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket 0.769

Blue Moves 1976:

BMAlbum %>% 
  arrange(valence) %>% 
  select(track_name, valence) %>% 
  head(10) %>% 
  knitr::kable()
track_name valence
Tonight 0.0883
Tonight 0.0938
Someone’s Final Song 0.0941
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word 0.1120
Someone’s Final Song 0.1160
Where’s The Shoorah? 0.1290
Where’s The Shoorah? 0.1320
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word 0.1330
Idol 0.1600
Idol 0.1630

A Single Man 1979:

SMAlbum %>% 
  arrange(valence) %>% 
  select(track_name, valence) %>% 
  head(10) %>% 
  knitr::kable()
track_name valence
I Cry At Night 0.109
Song For Guy 0.123
Shine On Through 0.176
Reverie 0.192
Strangers 0.206
Shooting Star 0.232
Georgia 0.233
It Ain’t Gonna Be Easy 0.254
Ego 0.463
Flinstone Boy 0.517

Findings:

From this analysis, I believe that Elton John’s addiction did impact his music in several different ways. I originally hypothesized that the albums written after Elton John’s addiction began in 1974 would be more negative in sentiment than the albums produced before his addiction. This was, somewhat, true. The album that was actually the most negative in sentiment was Empty Sky, which was the first album I explored that was produced in 1969. My hypothesis was true in the sense that all of the albums that I examined that were produced after Elton John’s addiction began were negative in sentiment and progressively got more negative as the years went on. I also hypothesized that Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy would be the most negative in sentiment as this was the year Elton John attempted to take his own life, this was not the case, but it was still negative in sentiment.

Something that I did not initially think about, but is very interesting is the impact Elton John’s addiction had on the “danceability” of his albums. His albums actually became “more danceable” during his addiction, which I thought possibly they would get slower and less danceable. The increase in danceability makes sense when you note that Elton John was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, as substances that made him, more outgoing, more comfortable, and made him fit in more with the rock star crowd. It is interesting to think if this was somewhat of a cover for all of the negative things he was dealing with, like his bulimia, addiction, and mental heath stuggles.

Conclusion:

After nearly losing his own life to addiction, and watching many of his friends lose their lives to addiction. Elton John was able to start his path to recovery in 1990. He is now an advocate for addiction recovery after being 30 years sober. He shared in an interview with Variety, “Make recovery your absolute priority over everything else. Don’t go back to work too soon. Take the time you need to learn and heal. I don’t think I would still be sober today if I hadn’t taken that whole year off and thrown myself into my program of recovery.”