![]() ![]() How was the meaning of ‘Rocket Man’ interpreted?Įlton John - Rocket Man (Official Music Video)Įven though 'Rocket Man' was inspired by a science-fiction story, the meanings of the lyrics have been interpreted in many ways over the year, namely in line with the 'rock star isolation' theory. It was only recently however that Elton found out about the song's inspiration, who said in an interview discussing the song's beginnings that "you learn something new every day". This encouraged Bernie to write his own idea who later said: "It's common knowledge that songwriters are great thieves, and this is a perfect example." The short story is written from the perspective of a child whose father is an astronaut that expresses mixed feelings about having to leave his family to go to work in outer space.īradbury's story also inspired another song called 'Rocket Man' by folk group Pearls Before Swine in 1970, about a child who can no longer look at the stars after his father perishes whilst doing his day job. What in fact inspired 'Rocket Man' was the short story The Rocket Man, written by Ray Bradbury which was published as part of his 1951 anthology The Illustrated Man. That's often why 'Rocket Man' was considered a rip-off of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' initially - because of the shared themes of space and isolation, both being sung by budding British artists, as well as them being produced by the same person, Gus Dudgeon - which both Elton and Bernie strongly deny. Here, John and Dudgeon show a subtle understanding of textures, with the arrival of the chiming acoustic guitar adding a huge boost to the chorus.A post shared by Elton John idea of space exploration was enormously popular throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, so was present in most pop culture at the time. It was produced by Gus Dudgeon, who collaborated with John many times and also produced David Bowie’s Space Oddity a few years earlier. For all the galactic space travel, there’s a sense of drudgery to his time in space, especially when John sings: “It’s just my job, five days a week.” The lyrics, perhaps Taupin’s best, mix profundity with the mundane so perfectly. John’s protagonist misses his family greatly, thousands of miles away from his loved ones back on earth, and his heartache is palpable. The song was inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story Rocket Man, and focuses on a lonely astronaut living in an age where space travel is run of the mill, 9-5 work. Rocket Man – arguably the most enduring and instantly recognisable hit of John’s career – was the song that marked him out as light years ahead of many of his contemporaries back in 1973. However, the original remains as timeless, as cinematic and as perfectly written as ever. It’s been butchered in various cover versions and been sampled more than once – not least by rapper Ironik in his own woeful take on the song back in 2009. The song was written about Bernie Taupin’s first trip to America, and there’s more that a touch of sun-drenched LA coast about the track. There’s beautiful slide guitar, John’s typically percussive piano, propulsive bass and tasteful strings – it marked a move to a lusher sound for John at the time. The production once again is elegant and incredibly effective. ![]() The track is well over six minutes long, but the cinematic quality of the music, the strength of the melody and the built–up suspense before each euphoric chorus means it doesn’t drag for a second. It’s the sound of a master knowing exactly what chord and intonation works where – a perfectly structured piece of music that never feels mechanical. No other song shows off John’s incredible songwriting craft quite like Tiny Dancer. That kind of intimacy is impossible to resist. In many ways though, the original is music in one of its most effective forms – it’s a singer, sat at a piano, opening their heart to the listener. ![]() The less spoken about the version performed by Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge! the better, too. The track’s understated strings and simple production stops its sentiment from becoming too overbearing – something which became evident after Ellie Goulding upped the shmaltz stakes for her cover, used in the John Lewis advert back in 2010. It arguably features some of Bernie Taupin’s clunkiest lyrics – they were written hastily over breakfast one morning – but in the hands of John it sounds like a song he was born to sing. The seven singles he released previously failed to chart, while Your Song reached number seven in the UK, and eight in the US. The simplest and most direct of his early ballads, Your Song gave Elton John his first hit and set him on his way to becoming one of the world’s most loved singer-songwriters. New West End Company BRANDPOST | PAID CONTENT. ![]()
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