Songfacts®:

• This was the first song Elton wrote with his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin. It was included in a bundle of lyric sheets John was given back in 1967, and he composed the music before he'd actually met Taupin.
• The song's image of a scarecrow likely came from Bernie Taupin's childhood, as he grew up on a farm.
• "Scarecrow" wasn't released commercially, although there is an obscure reference to it in the song "Curtains" on the Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy album:
  
  I used to know this old scarecrow
  He was my song
  My joy and sorrow
  
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  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander - London, England
• John's label made the track available to the public for the first time on March 25, 2021 when they included it on the rarities collection Jewel Box. They released the record to mark the pop legend's 74th birthday.
• Looking back at the song in 2021, John said: "'Scarecrow' goes right to the heart of that... naive compositions of a time and place that went on to become something very special, indeed."