A Day On Wikipedia

{{Infobox Song <!– See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs –> |
| Name = Big Dipper
| Type = [[Song]]
| Artist = [[Elton John]]
| Album = [[A Single Man]]
| Cover = Elton John – A Single Man.jpg
| track_no = 4
| Released = [[October 16]], [[1978 in music|1978]]
| Recorded = January-September 1978
| Genre = [[Dance hall]], [[Pop music|Pop]]
| Length = 4:04
| Label = [[MCA Records|MCA]] (US/Canada)<br> [[Rocket Records]]
| Writer = [[Elton John]], [[Gary Osborne]]
| Producer = Clive Franks, Elton John
| prev = ‘[[I Don’t Care (Elton John song)|I Don’t Care]]’
| prev_no = 3
| next = ‘[[It Ain’t Gonna Be Easy]]’
| next_no = 5
}}
”’Big Dipper”’ is a song by [[Elton John]] with lyrics by [[Gary Osborne]]. It is the fourth track off his 1978 album, ‘[[A Single Man]]’. It gained notice for not being included on the Russian release of the album due to the meaning of the song.

==Musical structure==
The music is not reminiscent of anything else that John has ever done. The main part of the song is a jaunting piano joined by a [[New Orleans jazz|New Orleans]]-inspired jazz horn section. The drum and pass pattern also follows this, making it sound like something that could easily be [[ragtime]]. The backing vocals on this song is John’s then-owned football team, [[Watford F.C.]]. This is one out of their two appearances on this album.

==Lyrical meaning==
It was banned when released in the [[Soviet Union]] along with another song, [[Part-Time Love]]. The song could tell about a man looking for love with a sailor, using ‘Big Dipper’ (Which in the British slang is a [[rollercoaster]], and an [[asterism]] in the American language) as a substitute for a [[penis]]. The sailor says he can’t handle anymore, so the man ”’filled him up with all kinds of stuff to relax him”’. This could symbolize that a [[drug rape]] was taking action. The third verse opens with ”’He hadn’t been to keen at the start – now he seems to have a change of heart”’, indicating that the sailor finds out about his homosexuality, and therefore continues his relationship. The song ends fading out with the line: ”’Another ride, another tune, another crazy afternoon, another reason for squeezin’ your big dipper”’.

It is highly a controversial issue to put in a song at that time, but since the album nor the song gained any notice, it didn’t gain controversy.

==Personnel==

*Elton John – [[piano]], vocals
*Tim Renwick – [[Electric guitar|guitars]]
*Clive Franks – [[Bass guitar|bass]]
*Steve Holly – [[Drum kit|drums]], motor horn
*[[Ray Cooper]] – [[tambourine]]
*Pat Halcox – [[trumpet]]
*John Crocker – [[clarinet]]
*Jim Shepherd – [[trombone]]
*Watford Football Team – backing vocals
*The South Audley Street Girl’s Choir – backing vocals

[[Category:1978 songs]]
[[Category:Elton John songs]]