Rocket Man (song)

"Rocket Man" (officially titled "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)") is a song composed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and originally performed by Elton John. The song first appeared on 17 April 1972 in the US as the lead single to John's album "Honky Château". The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.
On 30 August 2019, the song was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of 600,000 digital downloads and streaming equivalent sales. With sales of 3 million in the US the song was certified 3 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. 
"Rolling Stone" lists it at No. 245 of its 500 greatest songs of all time.
Song information.
The song was inspired by the short story "The Rocket Man" in "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury, and 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 aeroplane.
The song describes a Mars-bound astronaut's mixed feelings at leaving his family in order to do his job. Rosenthal's account goes on to relate that the notion of astronauts no longer being perceived as heroes, but in fact as an "everyday occupation", led Taupin 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."
Musically, the song is a highly arranged classical rock 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 catalogue to feature what would become the signature backing vocal combination of his band at the time, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone.
The first stanza of "Rocket Man" was thought of by Bernie Taupin while he was on the motorway heading to his parents' home; he had to "repeat it to himself for two hours," which was "unfortunate", but in later interviews he said that since it gave him a hit, it was all worthwhile.
Legacy.
"Rocket Man" was ranked No. 242 in the 2004 list of "Rolling Stone's" 500 Greatest Songs of All Time; it was ranked No. 245 in the list's 2010 revision. 
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. In tribute to David Bowie after his death in January 2016, John performed a piano rendition that combined "Rocket Man" with Bowie’s "Space Oddity".
Music video.
In May 2017, an official music video for "Rocket Man" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as a winner of "Elton John: The Cut", a competition organised in partnership with AKQA, Pulse Films, and YouTube in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of his songwriting relationship with Bernie Taupin. The competition called upon independent filmmakers to submit treatments for music videos for one of three Elton John songs from the 1970s, with each song falling within a specific concept category. "Rocket Man" was designated for the animation category, and was co-directed by Iranian refugee Majid Adin and Irish animation director Stephen McNally; the video was inspired by Adin's own migration to England, portraying a character envisioning himself as an astronaut to draw parallels between the song's lyrics and the experiences of a refugee.
Track listings.
All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
In 2003, Universal Records released both a 12-inch vinyl (promotional only) & CD maxi-single with three new remixes of the song:
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 version.
Kate Bush released a cover of "Rocket Man" in 1991 as part of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album "". Her reggae-inflected version of "Rocket Man" was a commercial success, reaching No. 12 on the UK singles chart and No. 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. The B-side of the single was Bush's recording of another Elton John classic, "Candle in the Wind."
Track listings.
All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
7-inch vinyl / cassette single
12-inch vinyl / CD single
Personnel.
All titles:
Additional musicians on "Rocket Man":
David Fonseca version.
Portuguese singer David Fonseca released his version of the song as a single in Portugal, reaching No. 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. Fonseca also regularly performs the single live in his concerts.
William Shatner version.
At the 5th Saturn Awards Ceremony, which aired as the "Science Fiction Film Awards" in January 1978, Taupin introduced William Shatner's spoken word interpretation of the song. It used chroma key video techniques to simultaneously portray three different images of Shatner, representing the different facets of the Rocket Man's character.
The performance 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". In his book "What Were They Thinking? The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History", author David Hofstede ranked Shatner's performance at No. 17 on the list.