Rocket Man (song)
| Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time) | |
|---|---|
| Elton John | |
| publication | April 17, 1972 |
| length | 4:41 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| text | Bernie Taupin |
| music | Elton John |
| album | Honky Château |
Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time) is a song by British singer and composer Elton John , the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin written.
The British Gus Dudgeon took over the production of the song Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time) . In 1969 Dudgeon worked with David Bowie when the latter brought in his hit track Space Oddity . Since both songs had similar content, it was rumored for a long time that John and Taupin had copied Bowie, which both of them always denied.
background
In the early 1970s, space conquest was a popular topic and astronauts landed on the moon in the American Apollo program . However, the inspiration for the lyrics of this song was Taupin from Ray Bradbury's short story The Rocket Man (dt .: The spaceman ). The science fiction writer's narrative is from the perspective of a child whose father, an astronaut, leaves his family with mixed feelings to go about his work. The publication took place in 1951 as part of the collection The Illustrated Man (German: The illustrated man ).
The folk group Pearls Before Swine , led by Tom Rapp , released a piece of music with the same title back in 1970. Taupin later said that this song gave him the impetus for his own lyrics: “It's common knowledge that songwriters are great thieves, and this is a perfect example.” (German: “It is common knowledge that songwriters are big thieves, and this is a perfect example. ")
Taupin was driving his car near his childhood home in Lincolnshire , England, when he came up with the lyrics for the song. He knew he wouldn't be able to remember the words, so he drove back to his parents as quickly as possible, where he could write his thoughts down.
One of the lines of text in the song reads “And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then” (Eng .: And I'll be high as a kite) to match the image of the flight with the rocket. In English there is the phrase "high as a kite", which is used in connection with the use of drugs, is supposed to denote a certain level of alcohol or drug intoxication and became common in the hippie scene during the 1960s . Taupin never gave any indication that this double sense was intended by him.
In a slightly changed spelling, the song title 2019 gave its name to Dexter Fletcher's biography Rocketman about Elton John.
There is no connection to the Spotnicks song of the same name from 1962.
occupation
- Elton John - vocals, piano
- Davey Johnstone - guitar, backing vocals
- Dee Murray - bass guitar, backing vocals
- Nigel Olsson - drums, backing vocals
- David Hentschel - ARP synthesizer
production
- Gus Dudgeon - producer
Charts
| Year | single | Chart | position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "Rocket Man" | UK Singles Chart | 2 |
| 1972 | "Rocket Man" | German single charts | 18th |
| 1972 | "Rocket Man" | USA Billboard Pop Singles | 6th |
| 2019 | "Rocket Man" | USA Billboard Hot Rock Songs | 4th |
Awards
Rocket Man was awarded 3 times platinum in the United States.
References from music, film and television
In the television series Nip / Tuck - Beauty has its price , the song is used in the tenth episode of the first season ( Adelle Coffin ) as background music for a poignant scene, in Eureka - The Secret City is the song at the end of the last (20. ) Episode ( A Giant Step ) of the fourth season in a cover version.
In the television series Californication , a cover version of the play of My Morning Jacket is played in the pilot episode in a retrospective scene, as well as the 2003 version Rocket Man 03 at the end of the third season. The same title will be performed in full at the end of the series in episode twelve of the seventh season.
In the film Astronaut Farmer , the song is used at the end of the film. In the television series Numbers - The Logic of Crime , the song is used in the eleventh episode of the third season ( Dangerous Chat ) as background music when saying goodbye to Larry Fleinhardt, who is flying into space.
In the series My Name is Earl (season 4, episode 20), a cover version of the band Puscifer is used when Earl's list leads him to the Nasa Space Academy.
In the series The Big Bang Theory (season 5, episode 15) Howard Wolowitz tries to get the astronaut nickname Rocket Man . So he plays this song as a ringtone on his cell phone while holding a video conference with Michael James Massimino . When he returns from the ISS , he later sits in a café and sings the song himself (season 6, episode 4).
A spoken word interpretation of the song by William Shatner during the award ceremony for the Science Fiction Film Prize Saturn Award 1978 was subsequently satirized many times, including by the TV cartoon series Family Guy , Freakazoid! and Futurama, as well as an episode of the late night show Late Night with David Letterman . In the film The Rock , the protagonist (played by Nicolas Cage ) holds a soldier talking about the song until he stands in front of a rocket launcher and says "You are the rocketman!" From the rocket is thrown out of the window.
In 2012, Volkswagen used the often misunderstood passage “burning out his fuse up here alone” in a TV commercial for the Passat to draw attention to the sound system built into it.
The Irish rock group U2 used the song as an outro on their U2 360 ° tour .
In September 2017 , US President Donald Trump referred to North Korean President Kim Jong Un as Rocket Man, first in a tweet and later in a speech to the UN General Assembly .
In the fifth episode of the Netflix series Everything Sucks , the protagonist Kate sings the song on the piano in a key scene.
At the end of season 2 of the Netflix series "Blacklist", the song is played when Raymond "Red" Reddington and his protégé FBI agent Elizabeth Keen are on the run together.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2892
- ↑ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2892
- ↑ https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/as-high-as-a-kite.html
- ↑ Elton John / Discography # Chart placements
- ↑ Gold & Platinum. Retrieved February 27, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Man of Enterprise , The Times , Jan. 26, 2008.
- ↑ The Rocket Man is burning out something, I'm just not sure what , mlive , October 23, 2011.
- ↑ Donald J. Trump on Twitter , Twitter , September 17, 2017.
- ↑ Trump threatens “Rocketman” with total annihilation , 20 minutes , September 19, 2017.