Madness

On A Single Man. Lyricist Gary Osborne captured Elton's sentiments about the strife in Northern Ireland. Elton contributed the title and a few lines.

Lyrics:
The fuse is set and checked once more Then left beside a back street door And in the cold grey light Someone sees a shadow run through the night and out of sight They hide inside a smoke filled room To hear at last the blast of doom And so the deed is done They listen to the final countdown begun, three, two, one

Madness, it's a kind of madness That turns good men bad And we're helpless caught up in the madness Of a world gone mad

The roar of fire rings out on high And flames light up the black night sky A child screams out in fear A hopeless cry for help but no one is near enough to hear

As walls collapse and timbers flare The smell of death hangs in the air When help at last arrives They try to fight the flame but nothing survives of all those lives

And it's madness, every time a victim dies There is madness, burning in a blind man's eyes And it's madness, hidden in the hate and pain There is madness, burning in a wild man's brain And it's madness, every time the bullets start There is madness, burning in a poor man's heart

And it's madness, something that we can't control There is madness, burning in a madman's soul Madness