"Rocket Man" is a song composed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and originally performed by John. The song echoes the theme of David Bowie's 1969 song "Space Oddity" (both recordings were produced by Gus Dudgeon), but according to an account in Elizabeth Rosenthal's book His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, the song was inspired by Taupin's sighting of either a shooting star or a distant airplane. The account goes on to relate that the notion of astronauts no longer being perceived as heroes, but in fact as an "everyday occupation" led him to the song's opening lines, "She packed my bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour: 9 a.m. And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then."
The song first appeared on John's 1972 album Honky Château (under the title "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)") and became a hit single, rising to #2 in the UK and #6 in the U.S.
Song information
The lyrics in the song, inspired by the short story "The Rocket Man" in The Illustrated ManbyRay Bradbury, and written by John's longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, describe a Mars-bound astronaut's mixed feelings at leaving his family in order to do his job. Musically, the song is a highly arranged pop ballad anchored by piano, with atmospheric texture added by synthesizer (played on the recording by engineer Dave Hentschel) and processed slide guitar. It is also known for being the first song in John's catalog to feature what would become the signature backing vocal combination of his band at the time, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone.
Another song called "Rocket Man" (and also based on Bradbury's short story "The Rocket Man")[clarification needed] was released by the musical group Pearls Before Swine on their 1970 album The Use of Ashes. In an interview in Billboard magazine, Taupin acknowledged that the song, written by Tom Rapp, had been a direct inspiration for his own lyrics. Rosenthal's account indicates that Rapp's version was inspired by the writings of noted science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. Due to some similarities in Elton John's "Rocket Man," some presume this song might also be an allusion to David Bowie's character Major Tom. Bowie himself made the connection during live performances of "Space Oddity" in which he called out, "Oh, Rocket Man!"[1]
The first stanza of "Rocket Man" was thought of by Bernie Taupin whilst he was on the motorway heading to his parents' home and had to "repeat it to himself for two hours," which he states was "unfortunate" [2] but then later stated in later interviews that since it gave him a hit, it was all worthwhile.
The song has been a staple of John's concerts. Among numerous other performances, John played "Rocket Man" at the launch site of Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.
The song includes the line, ""And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then". As the website Schmoop commented, "The phrase "high as a kite" is a common idiom almost always used to refer to drug use. There's nothing to suggest that lyricist Bernie Taupin really intended the double entendre, but given that the song came out at the peak of the stoner '70s, what else are we supposed to think?"[3]
Track listing
All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Rocket Man"
4:38
2.
"Suzie (Dramas)"
3:21
In 2003, Universal Records released both a 12-inch vinyl (promotional only) & CD maxi-single with three new remixes of the song:
A. "Rocket Man (KDME Remix)" - 4:20
B1. "Rocket Man 03" - 4:01
B2. "Rocket Man (Royal Garden's Radio Mix)" - 4:19
Of these, "Rocket Man 03" was also included on the Rocket/Island/Mercury EP "Remixed," along with four other remixes of Elton recordings.
Kate Bush released a cover of "Rocket Man" in 1991 as part of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin. Her reggae-inflected version of "Rocket Man" was a commercial success, reaching #12 on the UK singles chart and #2 in Australia (held off the top spot by Julian Lennon's "Saltwater"). In 2007, the track won The Observer readers' award for Greatest Cover of all time.[10] The B-side of the single was Bush's recording of another Elton John classic, "Candle in the Wind."
From the age of 11, Elton John was my biggest hero. I loved his music, had all his albums and I hoped one day I'd play the piano like him (I still do). When I asked to be involved in this project and was given the choice of a track it was like being asked 'would you like to fulfill a dream? would you like to be Rocket Man?'... yes, I would.
The Portuguese singer David Fonseca released his version of the song as a single in Portugal reaching #12 in the Portuguese Top 20. The song, full title『Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time)』 also appears on David Fonseca's third album Dreams in Colour released in 2007 and on the Dreams in Colour: Tour Edition released in 2008. The music video was directed by David Fonseca himself.[19] Fonseca also regularly performs the single live in his concerts.[20]
At the 1977 Saturn Awards Ceremony, which aired as the Science Fiction Film Awards in January 1978, Taupin introduced William Shatner's spoken word[21] interpretation of the song. It utilized chroma key video techniques to simultaneously portray three different images of Shatner, representing the different facets of the Rocket Man's character. The performance built up a cult following, and was parodied on the U.S. animated series Animaniacs, Family Guy, Freakazoid!, Futurama, The Simpsons, the Canadian CGI series ReBoot, and in the video for "Where It's At" by Beck. On a 1992 episode of Late Night with David Letterman, Chris Elliott parodied Shatner's performance, complete with chroma key effects. Shatner re-recorded the song for his 2011 album, Seeking Major Tom.
Hank Marvin did an instrumental of the song on his 1993 album Heartbeat.
The Nixons performed the song regularly at concerts and included a studio-recorded version on their 1999 EP Scrapbook.
Post hardcore act Boysetsfire covered the track for their 2001 EP, Suckerpunch Training. It was also listed on the track listing to their rarities album, Before the Eulogy but did not actually appear on the recording.
On the radio show This American Life episode "Classifieds" (2002), a group of amateur musicians who had been found through their classified ads were brought together for one day to rehearse and record "Rocket Man" in a studio. The free MP3 is available online.[23]
Steven DrozdofThe Flaming Lips and Maynard James KeenanofPuscifer released a cover of the track "Rocket Man" for the soundtrack of the 2009 documentary "The Heart is a Drum Machine." The song was released for digital download from the iTunes Store on 15 October 2010. The track can also be heard on Puscifer's website with the title "Rocket Mantastic."[24]
Notable uses in cinema include the 1996 action film The Rock, the 1997 comedy movie also titled RocketMan, the 1998 biography film Without Limits, the science fiction film K-PAX (2001), and the closing credits of The Astronaut Farmer (2007).
The song has been used in several television series, including episodes of the FX show Nip/Tuck, Life on Mars, episode 3-3 of Six Feet Under, episode 3-08 of Cold Case, episode 3-11 of Numb3rs ("Killer Chat"), the Eurovision episode of the Greek comedy series Ellinophreneia and as the theme song for the 2005 BBC drama Rocket Man. In the pilot episode of Showtime's Californication, a cover version performed by My Morning Jacket is used as the credits song, and a remix of Elton John's original is featured in the season three finale, as well as in the closing credits of the series finale. In an episode of the animated comedy Family Guy (Season 3, episode 5), Stewie Griffin sings the song (in the style of William Shatner). In the pilot episode of The Greatest American Hero from the early 80's, the song is sung by Joey Scarbury. The song was also used as background music for Channel Four comedy programme Trigger Happy TV.
In the CBSsitcomThe Big Bang Theory, in episode "The Friendship Contraction" (season 5, episode 15), Howard Wolowitz uses the song for his ring tone in an attempt to get the other astronaut giving him nickname "Rocket Man" but finally fails. And in the episode "The Re-Entry Minimization" (season 6, episode 4), Howard sings the song when he is alone after his return from space.
The Norwegian company Statoil also used the song for one of their commercials, part of the song being covered by Silje Gulbrandsen Hagen and the latter part sung by Elton John.[27]
In the song "Home Life" by John Mayer, he sings "I am not a rocket man," a reference to the song.
When Sir Elton John and fellow singer-pianist Billy Joel tour together, their concerts are often billed as "Rocket Man Meets Piano Man," the latter being a reference to one of Joel's well-known hits.
A television commercial for the 2012 Volkswagen Passat features the song, with people mistaking the chorus lyric "burning out his fuse up here alone" for other similar sounding words such as "burning out this useless telephone." The mondegreen is meant to highlight the clarity of the speakers in the automobile.[28]
In the computer game World of Warcraft, a large rocket is under construction at the town of Area 52 (an obvious pun on Area 51). Occasionally, a non-player character called "Experimental Pilot" walks up to one of the workers and a conversation starts between the two, the dialogue being based on the lyrics to the song Rocket Man.[29]
The 2003 version of "Rocket Man" was featured in the series finale of Californication.
