Original Sin (Elton John song)

"Original Sin" is a song by British musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin from John's twenty-sixth studio album Songs from the West Coast, released in 2002 as the album's final single.

"Original Sin" is a slow song with a sweet and melancholy melody focused on Elton's piano playing and featuring Rusty Anderson on guitars and producer Patrick Leonard on keyboards. The orchestral arrangement is by Paul Buckmaster.

The song is believed to have been written about the failed marriage between John and his ex-wife Renate Blauel, and is the second song about their marriage after "Blue Avenue" on his 1989 album Sleeping with the Past. The singer implies the relationship as an original sin because even though he loved his wife very much, he wasn't being true to himself and his attractions. As John stated on his marriage to Blauel, "She was the classiest woman I’ve ever met, but it wasn’t meant to be. I was living a lie."