The song was released on April 17, 1972, and it was not only his first big hit but also cemented a career that continues to this day.
The definitive test: last Friday, August 26, 2022, his new song was released amid the expectation of fans and onlookers. Half a century separates Rocket Man and Hold Me Closer, two themes that are formally very different but inextricably linked by their author and performer, Elton John.
Not many professional colleagues can say the same thing and, above all, demonstrate the same thing. His validity, his adaptation to changing vital, social and artistic times, and the permanence of his work make the British composer, pianist and singer an absolute benchmark.
And in the same way that with that Rocket man he convulsed the rock scene of those years, with his theme, lyrics and melody on piano and voice, now he has once again attracted attention for his duet with Britney Spears –in his first appearance in the musical thing after the last chapters of his hectic private life– with a sonorous dress of the current times.
And not only that, but with a graphic nod to Rocket man, as can be seen in the video clip that accompanied the launch of Hold me closer, starring an animated rocket that spreads petals on its journey through space.
It may also have been a coincidence but in some way it shows the iconic weight of that song in that half century of career. It was both as a single when it was released in April 1972 –it had been preceded by the excellent reception of its intense ballad Your song– and when it was included on the Honky Château album released a month later. A formidable album (in addition to the space theme, it included wonders such as Honky cat, Salvation, Amy or Mona Lisas and mad hatters), which became a success on the hit parades, beginning in the United States, where it was crowned at the top.
The merit, in any case, is shared, because if something has also characterized the musical journey of the British artist (Pinner, 1947) especially in those glorious first decades, it was his star complicity with Bernie Taupin, responsible for the lyrics of the songs and for therefore a key piece of the Elton John concept.
And his role in Rocket man is capital. The lyrics of the song in a literal reading explain the future of an astronaut (rocket man) who undertakes a space trip which implies leaving his wife and family behind; Although he misses them a lot, he has seen his dream come true, which is to do and work on what he likes the most.
Taupin has repeatedly explained the sources and the process of making this little gem. In a 2016 video, he recalled being inspired by science fiction author Ray Bradbury's short story The Rocket Man, included in his The Illustrated Man collection. Taupin said the story focused on "how astronauts in the future would become a kind of everyday job. So I took that idea and stuck with it."
To this we must add another essential element, which is that in 1971 the American psychedelic rock group Pearls Before Swine, inspired by a time when the world was immersed in the space race (especially NASA's Apollo projects).
Nor should we forget that in 1971 the American psychedelic rock group Pearls Before Swine had published a song with the same title, also inspired by Bradbury's text. But while Pearls' song... is written from the perspective of the boy waiting at home for his astronaut father, Taupin's turns the original narrative on its head and puts himself in the shoes of the astronaut who must go far away, to thousands of kilometers from his home and his family. Thus, a year after the North American band published it, Taupin wrote his own version for John, whose full title is Rocket man (I think it's going to be a long, long time). While the song by Pearls... is written from the perspective of the child who waits at home for his astronaut father –as in Bradbury's story–, Taupin's turns the original narration on its head and puts himself in the shoes of the astronaut who must go far away, thousands of kilometers away from his home and his family.
In an interview with a British newspaper, Taupin said that “I remember driving down a back road in England and I started writing a song in my head about the monotony of being an astronaut. When I thought about how to start the song, the first verse came to me immediately. I was on my way to my parents' house and had nowhere to write, so I drove like crazy to get there before I forgot everything that had occurred to me."
Once he had it written along with a few others, Taupin traveled to the Château d'Hérouville in France where Elton John and his band were preparing the new album. The song was shaped by John's vocals and piano, Davey Johnstone's guitars, Dee Murray's bass and Nigel Olson's drums, and with the essential presence of producer Gus Dudgeon, responsible for the magnificent piano arrangements. and the creation of a space atmosphere that suited Rocket man like a glove. Don't forget that Dudgeon already knew where he was moving because he had previously produced Bowie's legendary Space oddity.
In his autobiography Yo, Elton John explains that the genesis of Rocket man was as usual and everyday as almost all the other collaborations that the two had. "Bernie writes the words, he gives them to me, I read them, I strike a chord, and something else appears, something passes through my fingers," he writes. On the first morning at the château, John had turned three sets of Taupin's lyrics into songs before the rest of the musicians woke up. Among them was Rocket man.
