Song of the Week #99 – “Rocket Man”
Written by admin on March 27, 2012 – 1:13 pm -| Elton John’s “Rocket Man” is Song of the Week on Classic Pop Icons.
“Rocket Man” was released on single in April 1972, backed with “Susie (Dramas)”. Both songs also appeared on Elton’s fifth studio album, “Honky Château,” which was released the following month. |
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The idea for the song and the early lyrics came to Bernie Taupin while driving in the English countryside, as explained by Taupin in an interview with Andy McKaie for the 1990 box set “Elton John – To Be Continued”:
| “I was going back to my parents house when they were in the North of England, and I remember driving down the road and all of a sudden I just – BANG! – came into my head, the whole first verse. ‘She packed my bags last night pre-flight, zero hour, nine a.m./I’m gonna be high as a kite by then.’ It came out just like that, and I remember thinking, ‘God, I’ve got to remember that, I’ve got to remember that,’ then driving like 90 miles per hour around these country roads, rushing into the house. ‘Hi! Hi! Hi!’ And writing it down furiously before I forgot it. It’s one instance that remains vivid in my memory.” |
If interpreting the song literally, it tells us of a lonely astronaut who leaves for home in a mission bound for Mars, knowing that the distance serves to alienate him from his family. Lyrics such as “I’m gonna be high as a kite by then” and “Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone” have led some to suggest that space travel is acting as a metaphor for the emotional isolation that can result from drug addiction. There’s no evidence that Taupin had that in mind, but clearly the exploration of loneliness and dissatisfaction has resonance beyond the future setting and space theme. In short, you don’t need to be an astronaut to empathise with the “Rocket Man”.
The “Rocket Man” title was inspired by the song of the same name by the group Pearls Before Swine, who in turn had taken the title from a Ray Bradbury story that appeared in the 1951 collection “The Innocent Man.” Taupin explains:
| “Everybody used to say that we ripped off David Bowie’s Space Oddity, and I’d say, ‘No, we ripped off Tom Rapp’ (leader Pearls Before Swine). ‘Tom Rap who!’ Well, he wrote a song called ‘Rocket Man’. Now, it wasn’t the same storyline, but I liked the idea of Rocket Man. It was a straight-to-the-point couple of words. You could build so much on it.” |
As noted by Elton John in the same 1990 interview, Bowie’s “Space Oddity” did still have a role to play:
| “There is a connection with ‘Space Oddity,’ though. When we did the ‘Elton John’ album, Steve Brown said, ‘Who would you like to produce it?’ We heard this recording by David Bowie, which Paul Buckmaster arranged and Gus Dudgeon produced. That was where we got our team. If you listen to Space Oddity today, it’s a wonderful record, great song. I said, ‘I want that producer and that arranger.” |
“Rocket Man” became the best known song on the album “Honky Château,” which was well received both critically and commercially. In his review of the album for Rolling Stone (August 17, 1972), Jon Landau said:
| “‘Honky Château’ is a rich, warm, satisfying album that stands head and shoulders above the morass of current releases…Musically more varied, emotionally less contrived, lyrically more lucid than Tumbleweed Connection, Chateau rivals Elton John as his best work to date and evidences growth at every possible level.” |
“Rocket Man” – Elton John
Authorship
“Rocket Man” was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. As has always been the case with their collaborations, Taupin wrote the words and John wrote the music.
Bernie Taupin and Elton John
Recording date/location
“Rocket Man” was recorded in January 1972 at Château d’Hérouville, Hérouville, France. John had decided to record in France to circumvent the punishing British tax laws of the day.
Elton John also recorded the albums “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” at Château d’Hérouville. Other albums recorded there included Pink Floyd’s “Obscured By Clouds,” T. Rex’s “The Slider,” David Bowie’s “Pin Ups” and “Low,” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Mirage.”
Musicians
The following musicians played on “Rocket Man”:
- Elton John – vocals, pianos
- Davey Johnstone – guitars, backing vocals
- Dee Murray – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Nigel Olsson – drums, backing vocals
- David Hentschel – ARP synthesiser.
“Honky Château” was the first album to feature Elton John’s road band. It would be this core group that would play on his most successful and memorable studio material over the next few years. Along with their excellent musicianship, Johnstone, Murray and Olsson’s finely crafted backing vocals would become an important feature of John’s recordings in this period.
Producer Gus Dudgeon wasn’t the only veteran of Bowie’s “Space Oddity” to work on “Rocket Man.” Engineer Ken Scott had also engineered the Bowie hit and was fresh from co-producing Bowie’s album “Hunky Dory”.
Chart performance
“Rocket Man” peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. This was the first of 16 Top 20 hits in a row over the next four years in the US, with only “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” missing the Top Ten. “Rocket Man” reached number two on the UK singles chart.
The album on which “Rocket Man” appeared, “Honky Château”, topped the Billboard album chart in the US and reached number two in the UK. This was the first of seven consecutive number one albums in the US.
Covers
“Rocket Man” – Kate Bush
Kate Bush recorded “Rocket Man” for the tribute album “Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin” in 1991, and also had a hit single with it. Bush’s quirky vocal style is well suited to the material, and it begins in effective, subdued style, before an unexpected reggae arrangement kicks in.
“Rocket Man” – William Shatner
William Shatner’s bizarre spoken-word performance of “Rocket Man” at the 1978 Saturn Awards Ceremony has achieved cult status. In his 2008 autobiography “Up Till Now,” Shatner said of the performance:
| “When I was asked to perform this song I thought I’d try something very unusual. I’d perform the song in its many layers, doing part of it like Sinatra might do it, another part of it emphasising the ‘rock-it’, man, his aspect of the song and, honestly I’ve forgotten the third level…The audience was stunned. People watched in shock and awe and then asked the question, Is he kidding? There is a very thick line between performing a song seriously and doing it in mock seriousness – doing it well enough to confuse the audience about that is the actor’s art. Was I trying to make my performance humorous? Was it intended to be a parody of meaningful singers with cigarettes? Or was I simply out of my mind?” |
There will be a new Song of the Week on April 2.
Elton John’s “Rocket Man” is available on “Honky Château” and several compilations, including the 2-CD collection “Elton John – Greatest Hits 1970-2002”.
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Elton John – Honky Chateau(CD) |
Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
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Elton John – Greatest Hits 1970-2002 (2 CDs) |
Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
Tags: Bernie Taupin, Davey Johnstone, David Hentschel, Dee Murray, Elton John, Gus Dudgeon, Honky Château, Kate Bush, Ken Scott, Nigel Olsson, Rocket Man, William Shatner
Posted in Song of the Week |
