Rod didn't bumble the first line. I don't think I've ever actually heard it done by him, only by Elton himself. (It's on his "Tumbleweed Connection" album) The first line there is "Soon the pines will be falling everywhere. Village children fight each other for a share". I think I probably took it to mean pine cones.

I think he was writing about an imagined US scene. It doesn't sound much like English life to me.

Love Lynne