I’m not the man they think I am at home/
Oh no no no I’m a rocket man.
There is a lot of confusion over the meaning of Elton John’s “Rocket man”. I think a lot of the clue can be found in the above lyric. Rocket man is literally about an astronaut talking about how he is a different man at work than he is at home. But this could be anyone who does a job. Weren’t all our fathers rocketmen? Who knows what they went out and did, but their work life was probably different than their home life just like ours is.
A “rocketman” is a great symbol of this, a sort of rockstar at work. He takes his family and raises them wherever the job demands, even unforgiving places like South Dakota or Mars. We are all Rocketmen and Rocketwomen.
John uses a full band, with backup singers and overdubbing to achieve the “Rocket Man” sound. Of course, the featured instrument is the piano—and it sounds great, but it is featured less than in other classics of his. There is a lot of experimentation in the production. Check out the simulated blast off sounds coming from the various instruments. A synthesizer and slide guitar help to add that outer-space-like vibe to the sound.
Rocket Man Lyrics
She packed my bags last night pre-flight.
Zero hour nine AM.
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,
‘Till touch down 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,
‘Till touch down 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,
‘Till touch down 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,
‘Till touch down 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.
written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin