Elton John & Dua Lipa – Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) | Lyrics Meaning Explained

It’s a pretty sensational feeling to see two generations of musicians collide together to create symphonies that bind the two generations. Sir Elton John is a living treasure for music and we can still appreciate his hunger to release more music at the age of 74. Dua Lipa, on the other hand, is one of the younger artists out there at the age of 26. When these two artists collided to remix one of the greatest songs ever written, “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” was born. And we couldn’t be happier.

“Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” is born out of a collection of Elton John songs. The verse, the pre-chorus, and the beat for the entire song are from Elton John’s legendary song “Sacrifice” from 1989. The chorus contains parts from three other Elton John songs. The song made it into Elton John’s 2021 collaborative album ‘The Lockdown Session.’

Elton John talked about the success of the song in an interview with Billboard magazine; “You can imagine how I feel. A lot of it is, of course, due to Dua Lipa’s popularity and the brilliant Pnau remix, but I feel very very content and happy that I’m relevant. I’ve always tried to be relevant. I think a lot of that is due to the fact that I do my own radio show. My object when I do that is to play new music by new artists. I’ve come into contact with them, promote them and become friends.”

The remix climbed to #11 spot on Billboard Hot 100 chart and has been on the chart for 13 weeks as of this article.

Listen to “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” by Elton John & Dua Lipa

Elton John “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review

Verse / Pre-chorus

The only verse on the song and the pre-chorus are extracts from Elton John’s 1989 song “Sacrifice.” This is a song about love and marriage and the work or effort that goes into one. The singer sees this as a sacrifice because we are all sick by our ‘human’ condition.

It’s a human sign
When things go wrong
When the scent of her lingers
And temptation’s strong

Elton John talks about how when the bed of roses starts pricking through the flowers, people tend to wake up. When things go wrong in a relationship, it is almost instinctive to look elsewhere. The temptation to be ‘free’ is strong and it’s a fight to stay faithful.

Cold, cold heart
Hard done by you (Oh)

The singer’s heart has been turned to ice by her cold heart. The singer has been beaten down and pressured into becoming a heartless man himself. This is when the first verse starts to make sense. The warmth he looks for in a relationship cannot be found within his own. So he looks elsewhere.

Chorus

The chorus of the song is performed by Dua Lipa and contains lines from three different Elton John songs.

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh no, no, no

These four lines are from Elton John’s infamous song “Rocket Man” from 1972. The song talks about the journey of an astronaut and his mixed feelings about leaving everything he knows and loves behind into the unknown. An astronaut is still considered an exemplary job considering the skills and courage required to do the job. This specific rocketman probably does not get much of it at home, so this space mission becomes much more than just a routine job.

And this is what I should have said
Well, I thought it, but I kept it hid

Both these lines are from Elton John’s 1983 single “Kiss the Bride.”

The pre-chorus and the chorus go into a repeat in a beautiful symphony that we did not know was possible. It is a welcome surprise that Sir Elton John’s and Dua Lipa’s vocals go so smoothly together.

Let us hear what you think about this remix in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.