I must admit to a bit of thievery in today’s music post.  I have been lax in doing music posts for a few days, mainly because I just haven’t had a song in my heart or my head.  But then yesterday, my friend Michael Seidel posted Rocket Man by Elton John and … I immediately knew I had my song for today!  Thank you, Michael … I owe you one!

Released in 1972, around the time of the Apollo 16 mission, which sent men to the moon for the fifth time, it might be assumed that was the motivation behind the song, but according to the songwriter, Bernie Taupin, the inspiration was the short story The Rocket Man, written by Ray Bradbury. The sci-fi author’s tale is told from the perspective of a child, whose astronaut father has mixed feelings about leaving his family in order to do his job.

According to SongFacts …

Bradbury’s story was the basis for another song called “Rocket Man,” which was released by the folk group Pearls Before Swine (fronted by Tom Rapp) in 1970. Taupin says that song gave him the idea for his own “Rocket Man” (“It’s common knowledge that songwriters are great thieves, and this is a perfect example,” he said). In the Pearls Before Swine song, a child can no longer look at the stars after his astronaut father perishes in space.

The opening lyrics came to Bernie Taupin while he was driving near his parents’ house in Lincolnshire, England. Taupin has said that he has to write his ideas down as soon as they show up in his head, or they could disappear, so he drove though some back roads as fast as he could to get to the house where he could write down his thought: “She packed my bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour, 9 a.m., and I’m gonna be high as a kite by then.”

From there he came up with the song about a man who is sent to live in space as part of a scientific experiment.

The most commonly misheard lyric in this song is “Rocket Man, burning out his fuse up here alone.” This was the centerpiece of a 2011 commercial for the Volkswagen Passat, where folks came up with all kinds of interpretations of the last few words: telephone, cheap cologne, motor home, provolone. A couple in a Passat can correctly interpret the words thanks to the car’s premium sound system, and all is well. This wasn’t the first time the song was used in a commercial; it was also featured in ads for AT&T.

The song charted at #2 in the UK, #6 in the U.S., and #8 in Canada.

Rocket Man

Elton John

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.