Then again, maybe the fact that he could get the lyrics to
"Your Song" in the mail, and write a nice melody to it, and
then sing it convincingly proves that Sir Elton really is a
damned good tune-writer and performer.

I mean, if you listen to what he does with that material---
he does really make it work. He delivers musically what Hugh
Grant does to dialog.

These guys didn't, if I recall correctly, ever sit in the
same room with a piano and build a song. Taupin wrote lyrics,
and Elton finished it off with a melody and performance.