Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)

Album: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
Charted: 7 12
Play Video
  • It's getting late, have you seen my mates?
    Ma, tell me when the boys get here
    It's seven o'clock and I wanna rock
    I wanna get a belly full of beer
    My old man's drunker than a barrel full of monkeys
    And my old lady, she don't care
    My sister looks cute in her braces and boots
    A handful of grease in her hair

    Don't give us none of your aggravation
    We had it with your discipline
    Oh, Saturday night's alright for fighting
    Get a little action in
    Get about as oiled as a diesel train
    Gonna set the dance alight
    'Cause Saturday night's the night I like
    Saturday night's alright, alright, alright, ooh

    They're packed pretty tight in here tonight
    And I'm looking for dolly to see me right
    I may use a little muscle to get what I need
    I may sink a little drink and shout out, "She's with me"
    A couple of the sounds that I really like
    Are the sounds of a switchblade and a motorbike
    I'm a juvenile product of the working class
    Whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass

    Oh, don't give us none of your aggravation
    Had it with your discipline
    Saturday night's alright for fighting
    Get a little action in
    Get about as oiled as a diesel train
    Gonna set this dance alight
    'Cause Saturday night's the night I like
    Saturday night's alright, alright, alright, ooh

    Don't give us none of your aggravation
    We had it with your discipline
    Saturday night's alright for fighting
    Get a little action in
    Get about as oiled as a diesel train
    Gonna set this dance alight
    'Cause Saturday night's the night I like
    Saturday night's alright, alright, alright (alright), ooh

    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday
    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday
    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday night's alright (yeah, yeah)
    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday
    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday
    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday night's alright
    (Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah)

    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday
    Saturday night's alright, alright, alright, alright
    Saturday, Saturday, Saturday
    Sip me, little darling (feelin' right)
    It's alright, alright Writer/s: Bernard Taupin, Elton John
    Publisher: Anthem Entertainment, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 34

  • Blackcanamgoldenboybrady from Windsor,ont.,can."Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" captures the typical British working-class yob "culture" of boozing, brawling and even sexual assault, to which a verse alludes. I'm a working-class black Canadian lad, but one with cover boy good looks and a 160+ IQ, so I never dreamt of participating in my blue-collar city's (Windsor, Ont., Can., a mile SOUTH of Detroit, Mich.) version of such inanity.
  • 1561 from Hull; Englandre Craig Busick's question. bernie lived in a small village in Lincolnshire; England. It is a rural area and the song relates to how all the young lads and lass's would congregate in the nearest small town for the local saturday night dances. The town was called Horncastle. With it being rural, everybody rode motor cycles hence the the line that he likes the sound of switch blades and motor bikes. Your correct about the skinheads, the song is in no way racist. Skinheads wore thin checked button down collar shirts or Fred Perry shirts, 1 inch (2.5cm) wide braces (susbenders ), straight leg Levi 501's which were shrunk to fit by laying in a bath of freezing water. A harrington jacket, all of this was topped of with the infamous Doctor Martins air cushioned souled boots (docs.), preferably brown. Agh those were the day's.
  • Jim Black from London, CanadaIs the ending of this song a tip of the hat to the Bay City Rollers?
  • Craig Busick from Tumwater Washington "My sister looks cute in her braces and boots" Braces are suspenders in Britain. And boots hmm... is Bernie Taupin alluding to his sister being a Skinhead? I know the original Skinhead movement had nothing to do with racism. Just curious
  • Pcl from Boston, MaI don't know if these are the published lyrics or someone's approximation of how they sound, but "whose best friend flows from the bottom of a glass" makes a lot more sense than "whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass", unless, of course, his "best friend" is an olive.
  • Seventhmist from 7th HeavenI lived in an apartment complex in the late 80s and it seemed like domestic disputes would break out every Saturday night at multiple locations in the complex. It got so bad that the police department began stationing a car just outside the complex for fast response. I always thought of this song when I saw the blue and red lights flashing outside my window.
  • Tony Melchiore from Mount Laurel, Nj United StatesThe one song that described my youth!
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn September 7th 1973, Elton John appeared in concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California...
    He performed a sixteen song set, the fourteenth song was "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting)"...
    At the time the song was at position #16 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; two days later on September 9th, 1973 it would peak at #12 {for 2 weeks} and also spent 12 weeks on the Top 100...
    His next eight releases would all reached the Top 10 with half of them peaking at #1; "Bennie & the Jets" for 1 week, "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" for 2 weeks, "Philadelphia Freedom" for 2 weeks, and "Island Girl" for 3 weeks...
    But he just missed having six of the eight reach #1 when "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" both peaked at #2...
    At the concert that night he was introduced by Linda Lovelace, the star of the X-rated 'Deep Throat' movie.
  • Kat from Adelaide, AustraliaI agree with Colin from New Egypt - The Who did do an absolutely cracking version of this song! Better than the original? I think so, but I guess there'd be a lot of Elton fans that would disagree with that! Interestingly, Elton did a version of The Who's Pinball Wizard, for the Tommy movie which is also a cracking version of that song, and a lot of would say was better than the original, too.
  • Crystal from Hartselle, AlAww I liked the nickleback version too!
  • Dan from Kingston, CanadaI'm truly sorry and I apologize to everyone on behalf of all us embarassed Canadians that Nickelback recorded and butchered this song. It was a travesty by possibly one of the worst bands of all time - and to do it to an Elton John song - even worse !!
  • Joe from Grants Pass, OrDavie Johnstone is the BEST
  • Bill from Lodi, CaI challenge anyone to sing this song with the same intensity as Elton John without jumping around! It takes an incredible amount of vigor to perform at this pace and it requires a good amount of lung capacity, this is one intense ass song! (of course I'm talking about the original, not this live YouTube clip)

    It's too bad Sir Elton didn't do more hard rock stuff, he actually has a great type of voice for it.
  • Elaine from La Plata, MdThe title of my favorite episode of "Gilmore Girls" is based on this song--called "Friday Night's Alright for Fighting'.
  • Drew from B\'ham, AlThe first time I ever heard this one, I thought it was by either the Rolling Stones or the Clash. I hadn't any idea that Elton John rocked out like this. Keep it up, Elton!
  • Mark from Austin, TxOn the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album, this song is preceded by "Your Sister Can't Dance (But She Can Rock And Roll)." To me, that song always sounded like a sped up trial run of this song.
  • Shiznit from Portland,nickelback also did a cover of this song
  • Liquid Len from Ottawa, Canada"Yes elton was leaping about while laying the vocals down but only to push the band to play faster."

    Doubtful. The music would have been all recorded by the time he did the vocals. In a studio, after a 'guide track' is recorded, everything is usually re-recorded one instrument at a time, for instance to minimize microphone bleeding (the snare drum's mike picks up the guitar, if they're both going at once.) And the band plays at the same tempo from the start to the end of the song, if they start playing faster (1) they have to start over again, and (2) they will likely fire the drummer. Unless you're like, the Tragically Hip, and it doesn't really matter if your tempo goes up and down, because you're not expected to be talented if you're playing grunge rock.
  • Nunzio from Darwin, AustraliaThis & Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies bleeding are his best 2 Rockers...
  • John from Jasper, CanadaYes elton was leaping about while laying the vocals down but only to push the band to play faster.
  • John from Jasper, CanadaElton went to Bernie and asked him to write a song about about what goes on in the english pubs(on a sat night?).This was the result.
  • N.i. from Baltimore, MdThis is one of Elton's hardest rockin' songs, and it's great. (I like his ballads, too, for the record.)
  • Craig from Melbourne, AustraliaElton trying to do a Stones type song.
  • Jonothan from Adelaide, AustraliaI agree with Colin from New Egypt, The Who's cover of this song is an absolute cracker! good song, even better by the Who.
  • Guy from Wellington, New ZealandHey, Frank -- the lines "I'm a juvenile product of the working class/Whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass" aren't that hard to understand. The "best friend" he's referring to is alcohol. It's called a metaphor ;-7 Cheers
  • Pytlak from Bakersfield, CaHey Mike, this is very similar to the Who's style. It is much more of a hard rock song than Elton John's previous songs such as Daniel, Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer ect.
  • Alex from Naples, FlThe Who covered this for an Elton John tribute album. In 1972, Elton John opened for them at shows, and Townshend liked him and his music so much he dedicated a song that night to the entire band.
  • Daniel from Springfield, MaOne time I listened to this song blitzed and it was the most amazing song I'd ever heard. When the first verse kicked in it was like "WWWOOOWWW!!!" I was never the same. This to me is the greatest song ever made. Bernie Taupin and Mr. John are simply brilliant. GREAT SONG! GREAT!!!! And by the way Colin, the Who can kiss my @$$, no one could top THIS original!
  • Guy from Woodinville, WaThis came out when I was in high school and would go out drinking beer with my guy friends. It was a great feel-good rock-out kinda song! We didn't really take the English working class lyrics too seriously--it's a nice portrait of that life, but mostly it's just a wonderful rockin' song.
  • Frank from Westminster, ScI'm always surprised when I see lyrics from EJs songs written out. Half of the time, I have no clue what he's singing. BTW: How do you float at the bottom of a glass?
  • Colin from New Egypt, NjThe Who did a much better version
  • Mike from Germantown, MdI can't see a band like the Who covering this.
  • Joshua from Twin Cities, MnThis song was covered by The Who in 1991 and appears as the last track on the last CD in their Thirty Years of Maximum R&B boxed set. In The Who's version, the lyrics are sung much more clearly by Roger Daltrey than in Elton's original, and the final chorus is followed by Pete Townshend singing the chorus of another Elton John song, "Take Me To The Pilot".
  • Matt from Los Angeles, CaGreat song. Should've been the basis for the sequel to "Saturday Night Fever".
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Trucking Songs That Were #1 Hits

Trucking Songs That Were #1 HitsSong Writing

The stories behind the biggest hit songs about trucking.

Rupert Hine

Rupert HineSongwriter Interviews

Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.