‘Rocket Man’ by Elton John is a fictional account of an every day astronaut that perishes in space, based on a sci-fi short story.
Space Flight? It’s Just a Job
“Rocket Man” is a rock ballad by Elton John, released in 1972, coinciding with the end of the Apollo moon program. The whole world was interested in space during the 1960s and the early 1970s because of the Space Race and the moon landings. Three years prior to the release of “Rocket Man,” David Bowie had had great success with “Space Oddity.”
Bowie’s and John’s songs are similar in theme, but the core ideas of the two songs are different and John spoke in an interview about how they often get confused for being related. Bowie’s song is about an astronaut encountering either an anomaly in space or an alien ship. John’s song, however, is about a “regular Joe” who goes to work in space.
The Rocket Man Never Comes Home
The song itself derives its inspiration from Ray Bradbury’s short-story collection called “The Illustrated Man” according to John’s autobiography. In that collection, the story “The Rocket Man” concerns itself with an astronaut who has a work life similar to that of an Earthbound long-haul truck driver. His family is afraid that one day, he just won’t come home again. Although he reassures them, eventually he does suffer a lethal accident in space. Something goes awry with his ship, and he winds up flying directly into the sun. After that, the man’s family never goes out during the day because seeing the sun reminds them of his death.
John and his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, collaborated on the song. Their usual dynamic was for Taupin to give John the lyrics to a song before John even composed a single note. The famous singer says that when he receives the lyrics from Tapuin, he sits at the piano and plays a single chord. It’s not quite Sir Arthur Sullivan’s “The Lost Chord,” but it occupies the same place in John’s psyche as Sullivan’s song does in his. From that single chord, John creates the song, often revising it after the fact.
Additional Information
It’s interesting to note that John removed his business manager and former lover, John Reid, from his life in 1998, 26 years after the release of “Rocket Man.” After many years of emotional mistreatment from Reid, John felt betrayed and abandoned in much the same way as the protagonist’s son from Bradbury’s story abandons him and his mother by dying a fiery death. Speaking about the song in 2016, John remarked that it was an easy song to compose because the lyrics spoke about space, a vast environment. He said that he made the song spacious to match the lyrics’ theme.
Lyrics
She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour 9:00 a.m.
And I’m gonna be high
As a kite by then
I miss the Earth so much I miss my wife
It’s lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no
I’m a rocket man
Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no
I’m a rocket man
Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone
Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it’s cold as hell
And there’s no one there to raise them
If you did
And all this science
I don’t understand
It’s just my job five days a week
A rocket man
A rocket man
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no
I’m a rocket man
Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no
I’m a rocket man
Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
And I think it’s gonna be a-
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: קריבושי דוד / John,elton / Taupin,bernard J P
Rocket Man lyrics © Dick James Music Ltd.
Elton John fans will also be interested in:
Digging Deeper Into the Lyrics of Elton John – “Tiny Dancer”
Exploring the Meaning in Elton John & Dua Lipa’s ‘Cold Heart’: A Lyrical Interpretation
The Message Behind the Music: Understanding the Lyrics of Bennie and the Jets by Elton John
Listeners of Pop music, might also appreciate the song TV by Billie Eilish.
