Tear-Jerker British Ad Re-Creates Elton John’s Christmas Past

Elton John and his mohawk perform at Universal Amphitheater in Universal City, Calif., in 1986.

Mark Terrill / AP

Every year, the British department store chain John Lewis & Partners releases a hotly anticipated, big-budget Christmas ad. Last year’s had a lovable monster. Previous installments featured four-legged trampolinists, a lonely man on the moon, a lovelorn penguin, an animated woodland duo.

But this year’s advertisement opens with something far less fantastical: A pensive-looking Elton John, sitting at a piano in a quiet living room.

He starts to play the opening notes of “Your Song” and then — well, see for yourself.