Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy Singles chart), is a semi-autobiographical story about John's disastrous engagement to Linda Woodrow, and his related 1968 suicide attempt. The "Someone" refers to Long John Baldry, who convinced him to break off the engagement rather than ruin his music career for an unhappy marriage. It was viewed by "Rolling Stone" writer Jon Landau as the best track on the album: "As long as Elton John can bring forth one performance per album on the order of 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight', the chance remains that he will become something more than the great entertainer he already is and go on
Someone Saved My Life Tonight metaphor of a creature flying free towards the sky to signify escape from marriage, with the creature in this case being a butterfly. Some radio stations altered the song or refused to play it due to the use of the phrase "Damn it" in the second verse. In the liner notes to the Deluxe Edition of "Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy," writer Paul Gambaccini related a recollection from producer Gus Dudgeon. During the recording of the song's lead vocal, Dudgeon said he was pushing John for more in terms of his delivery of the vocal, not paying attention