Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (sometimes written "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)") is a song by the British musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, performed by John. It was released as the first single from John's best-selling album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973). It has been covered by many artists and featured on motion picture, video game, and television soundtracks.

Billboard found the song to be a cross between John's earlier single "Crocodile Rock" and the Rolling Stones' single "Street Fighting Man", suggesting that it may be a parody of the Rolling Stones but regardless is a "great fun record".

"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is a lively throwback to early rock and roll with a glam edge. The lyrics refer among other things to a night out in town in which the narrator plans to "get about as oiled as a diesel train". Taupin has said that the song was meant to be an American rock and roll song set in Britain. It was inspired by his raucous teenage days and in particular, the fistfights in his local pub, the Aston Arms in Market Rasen.

The song, which showcases the guitar playing of Davey Johnstone, with lyrics by Bernie Taupin and music by John, is written in the key of G mixolydian alternating with C mixolydian on the chorus. It is one of John's harder-rocking songs (similar to "Grow Some Funk of Your Own" and "The Bitch Is Back"), with a sound echoing bands such as the Who and the Rolling Stones.

It was the only song that John and his band recorded in Jamaica, where they had initially planned to record the album, but was never used due to the poor quality of the recording equipment. John described it as sounding like "it had been recorded on the worst transistor radio." The experience prompted the band to return to France to finish the album.

"Saturday" is one of the most aggressive and lively rock inspired tracks ever recorded by John. It features energetic, rapid-fire piano playing reminiscent of Jerry Lee Lewis. The song was one of the few John-Taupin songs that Elton said was not a "typical piano number". According to John's recollection in Elizabeth Rosenthal's His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, it may have been written on the piano at first, but the song ended up being recorded somewhat in reverse to the normal way he records, with the band putting their tracks down, and Elton overdubbing his piano afterward. (John's typical process was to either record the piano first or play along with the band.) Elton called the song "hard to record".

Apart from his lyrical contributions, in the Eagle Vision documentary, Classic Albums: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Taupin said that a lot of the power of the song comes from the chords, adding it also features what he called one of the greatest "strident, blistering guitar chords ever created" in rock and roll.

The song was released in 1973 as the album's first single. Cash Box called the song an "infectious rocker that carries 'Crocodile Rock' just one step further". Record World called it a "rip-snortin' rocker that is reminiscent of the Stones and Bowie" with "lotsa high-powered energy".