Songfacts®:

• Unlike the lyrically fatuous 1981 Rolling Stones song of the same name, Elton John's "Slave" is written from the perspective of a man who has been taken into slavery and is dealing with the horrors. It takes all his will to keep from fighting back as he awaits the "war that's yet to come," most likely a reference to the American Civil War.
  
  The lyric was written by Elton's songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, who read up on history and often infused those stories into the songs. Taupin penned lyrics with a similar theme for Elton's 2013 song "The Ballad Of Blind Tom," inspired by Thomas Wiggins, a blind American composer who was born into slavery.
• "Slave" was released on the Honky Chateau album and used as the B-side of the "Honky Cat" single. The album was Elton's first to hit #1 in America, starting a run of six consecutive albums that reached the top spot.
• Davey Johnstone did double duty on this one, playing both guitar and banjo. Johnstone also played the banjo on "Honky Cat."
• In 1972, around the same time "Slave" appeared on the Honky Chateau album, Long John Baldry, an early mentor to Elton John, released his album Everything Stops For Tea, with a very similar sounding song called "Come Back Again" that was produced by Elton with backing by his band, complete with the distinctive guitar and piano by Davey Johnstone.