In 1973, Elton John released a song with a missing verse. Over 240,000,000 streams later, it still has questions

Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote ‘Daniel’ in a single day, with John composing the music after Taupin brought him the lyrics. The song’s original final verse was cut for length, leaving its story of two brothers parting more ambiguous; the missing words explicitly linked Daniel’s departure to his return from the Vietnam War.

Taupin said the verse did not add anything essential and described claims that it revealed the song’s “true meaning” as an urban legend. The discarded verse and coda later appeared in material on John’s official website. The article says ‘Daniel’ became a major commercial success despite label reluctance to release it as a single, and has since passed 240 million streams.