"Rocket Man"
Music: Elton John Lyics: Bernie Taupin
Chord formations (EADGBe):
Gm 355333
C 335553
Eb 668886
Bb 688766
F 133211
Gm C
She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Gm C
Zero hour, nine a.m.
Eb Bb quick Eb F
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
Gm C
I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife
Gm C
It's so lonely out in space
Eb Bb quick Eb F
On such a timeless flight
Chorus: [x2]
Bb Eb
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Bb
'Till touch down brings me round again to find
Eb
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Bb C
Oh no, no, no, I'm a rocket man
Eb Bb
Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone
(+Eb between choruses)
Gm C
Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
Gm C
In fact it's cold as hell
Eb Bb quick Eb F
And there's no one there to raise them, if you did
Gm C
And all this science I don't understand
Gm C
It's just my job, five days a week
Eb Bb quick Eb F
A rocket man, a rocket man
Chorus [x2 again]
Bb Eb
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time [x4 sounds pretty good, end w/ Eb]
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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Maggot Man Wanna Be |
#1 by Maggot Man at Sep 26, 2007 at 3:58 AM EST |
| After reading all of these posts I still think this song is about being a rockstar who is constantly touring. The first verse explains how hes preparing to go on tour. In the chorus he talks about how it will take him a long time to realize that he's become someone different than who he was at home and how his family and friends envisioned him. The title rocket man is interesting too because when I think of an astronaut I don't initially think "rocket man", I think spaceman or something along those lines so I think its possible he intentionally used the word rocket to imply that he would burn up. Actually Neil Young once said that it's better to "burn out" than to fade away. The part about kids alludes to various children of famous musicians who never really had full-time parents like the case of Julian Lennon. I think this is one of those most significant pieces of evidence to the rockstar theory because if he lived on Mars why would there be no one there to raise his children if they were there too? The science part in my opinion is about either the technicalities of music like music theory or its about how the press follows him around incessantly involving the world with his business because it's just his job. Just my two cents. | |
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Tiwi Average |
#2 by Tiwi F. Keeler ;) at Sep 26, 2007 at 9:41 AM EST |
| i always thought it was an allegory, i never thought it was about drugs...i just thought it was about not being the person you could be, but only realizing it yourself...even if it based on the story of an astronaut, i think it has a deeper meaning...it's not meant to symbolize anything as specific as drugs(although you could relate it to drugs), but there's something ur supposed to get out of it about doing what is right and being the best person(in the case of the song, father/husband) you can be...kinda like the book/movie The Natural...yes, the story is ABOUT baseball, but the lessons learned by the characters in the book can be applied to anyone's life... yea, stewie's version kicks ass | |
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Patrick Wanna Be |
#3 by Patrick at Sep 26, 2007 at 2:16 PM EST |
| Never read the story by Ray Badbury, but it sounds interesting, I should look for it. Has anyone heard the Kate Bush cover? Awesome cover, in my opinion. | |
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E Average |
#4 by E F at Sep 28, 2007 at 5:29 AM EST |
| Try comparing this song to the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name...it has quite a lot in common...great story too. :) | |
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nikki Average |
#5 by nikki at Sep 28, 2007 at 8:15 AM EST |
| excellent opinions on the meaning of this song, both the idea of drug addiction, and the whole, "being in the closet" thing. It is deffinately about hiding some form of secret from the rest of the world, which made my man Elton feel like an outcast. I poersonally think it is about drug abuse and how it made him feel like he didn't belong in everyday society. | |
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Adam Wanna Be |
#6 by Adam Clarke at Sep 28, 2007 at 10:00 PM EST |
| According to the new greatest hits double CD, it was about an astronaut. Bernie wrote it on his way home and sent the lyrics to Elton for the melody. | |
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billy Professional |
#7 by billy purkiss at Sep 29, 2007 at 7:07 PM EST |
| The songs true meaning is about elton coming out of the closet.When he says Mars is no place to raise a kid, he is talking about raising a boy in an over masculated world and making that child to feel abnormal if he turns out to be gay. Thats also why he says he misses his child and his wife. He was married at one point to a really hot chick but he divorced her and came out of the closet. | |
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hamadi Wanna Be |
#8 by hamadi alameddine at Sep 30, 2007 at 2:25 AM EST |
| the song's about being gay. just look at the lines... "i'm not the MAN they think I am at all" "I'm a rocket-man" rocket is phallic symbol it's about how lonely it is to be a closet homosexual. 1 2 3 4 Next | |
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Selim Average |
#9 by Selim Fen at Sep 30, 2007 at 12:39 PM EST |
| Zinbobdan probably came the closest to understanding taupins ideas, out of all the 20 somethin people who wrote that it had to do with drugs and being gay and whatever. The truth is Bernie told what made him write the damn thing in some mag, I think the Rolling Stone, anyway he said he wanted to write a song about outerspace and astronauts for a while after listening to some old blues song called Rocket or Spaceman or something like that. Anyway he said he was drivin home won day when it was raining, and the words just popped into his head "She packed my bags last night, pre-flight, zero hour, nine am" etc., but he couldnt write them down while he was driving so he just kept saying it over and over in his head until he arived home, so he could run in the house and scribble it all down on to a piece of paper that would one day stick into all of our minds | |
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GRIM Professional |
#10 by GRIM at Sep 30, 2007 at 6:45 PM EST |
| there's this story by ray bradbusry called rocket man. its about and astronaut and his family and about how much he wants to stay home with his family but he can't pull himself away from space but he promises it will be his last time going up but his ship crashes into the sun. "I miss the earth so much I miss my wife " the relationship he has with his wife...very distant she know she coudl die so she pretends he's already dead. "I'm not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I'm a rocket man " family thinks highly of him but he's not a good father or husband because he keeps leaving. "Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone " dies by flying into the sun..burning up alone. "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids" he tells his son never to be like him because of how the life is and how he can't tear himself away. "And I think it's gonna be a long long time" he dies out there so he's never coming back. maybe there's a corelation aside from coinsidence | |
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daniel Wanna Be |
#11 by daniel seaward at Oct 1, 2007 at 4:36 AM EST |
| honestly, you people sound like you've never heard of Taupin, Elton Johns lyricist! In reality, this section should be called Bernie Taupin instead of Elton John. Therefore, you really can't read that much about Elton from his lyrics considering they aren't his. | |
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Samuele Wanna Be |
#12 by Samuele at Oct 1, 2007 at 6:21 PM EST |
| I think that this song is about a man's life that he has forgotten about because of the drugs that he does. It talks about a life he lives that is different from what everyone around him thinks, true drug abuser. | |
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Jerad Wanna Be |
#13 by Jerad at Oct 1, 2007 at 6:35 PM EST |
| A woman sung Rocket man? Shouldn't it be rocket woman? | |
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Drew Wanna Be |
#14 by Drew Hanson at Oct 1, 2007 at 9:09 PM EST |
| Stewie is the reason I came upon these lyrics. Will Shatner's version is catchy as well. I perfer Elton johns version tho. It's obviously about an astronaut. Is he refering to Touchdown Station? brings me around, perhaps a space station, I dont recall a ship being called the Touchdown. Wow, just imagine what it must be like up there... | |
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JUSTIN Lead Player |
#15 by JUSTIN LOCKHART at Oct 2, 2007 at 3:26 AM EST |
| I never realized there even COULD be a debate about what this song means. It's NOT about astronauts - and no, the Apollo program had nothing to do with it other than giving us more vivid images. It IS about drugs, and the fact that Bernie wrote it doesn't make that any less so. He and Elton did everything together (including each other). "High as a kite" means exactly that. Being an addict is lonely, it's often a hidden shame, and it's no way to raise your kids. ("And there's noone there to raise them if you're dead", for that matter.) It's about the cold distance between an addict and the other parts of his life - his job, his wife, his kids, and Earth itself. The Apollo astronauts were NOT gone "a long, long time", they were not alone, and they had nothing to do with Mars. "Rocket Man" isn't about astronauts any more than David Bowie's 1969 "Space Oddity". | |
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Patrick Average |
#16 by Patrick Ryan at Oct 3, 2007 at 6:16 AM EST |
| I hate Elton John, but I love this song. ___________________________________ http://www.freewebs.com/thejakesite | |
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Mistress Cheyen Rhythm Player |
#17 by Mistress Cheyenne at Oct 3, 2007 at 8:36 PM EST |
| i think this song is about getting high....i'd like to know what other's think | |
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Guitar Man Lead Player |
#18 by Guitar Man at Oct 4, 2007 at 6:14 PM EST |
| It is clear that whoever wrote this song, wether it be Elton or his lyricist, used the life of an astronaut to symbolize whatever theme they were trying to get across to the listener. That theme, it seems is either the seperation from reality due to drugs or a lifestyle that they are forced to live, or the seperation of themselves and someone they love. It is definately not just about an astronaut although the words are that doesn't mean Jack when you are talking about songs, books, and poems. If you took everything at face value then the stories of Oliver Twist and Guliver's Travelers were about a young poor boy and a guy with a bunch of tiny poeple, and they would have not caused the drastic reforms that they caused in England. So, in conclusion, the song about the effects of drug abuse or personal detatchment through the sybolism of the life of an astronaut. | |
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Greg Badass |
#19 by Greg at Oct 4, 2007 at 7:31 PM EST |
| I like the Stewie version from Family Guy. | |
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Fieldy Average |
#20 by Fieldy at Oct 5, 2007 at 5:44 AM EST |
| William Shattner's version is rather funny, which is what Stewie is making fun of in Family Guy. If you can find it, check it out | |
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Atreyufan4ever Average |
#21 by Atreyufan4ever at Oct 5, 2007 at 12:19 PM EST |
| I don't think this song was overlly about drugs, i think it was about Elton moving off to be with a new partner and the issues he would face when he told the people at home "I'm not the man they think i am at home" | |
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tane Wanna Be |
#22 by tane at Oct 5, 2007 at 10:10 PM EST |
| BoySetsFire did a great rendition of this... | |
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Rhys Average |
#23 by Rhys at Oct 6, 2007 at 4:48 AM EST |
| I think he's just talking about being a rock star. He has to be away from the real world (earth) and he really misses it. He's lonely being away and touring all the time (it's lonely out in space) And you always hear rock stars talking about how they're different people when they're on stage than they are any other time (I'm not the man they think I am at home) Or maybe it's what he felt before he came out of the closet. | |
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hturtle99 Wanna Be |
#24 by hturtle99 at Oct 6, 2007 at 9:59 AM EST |
| I think in this song hes trying to tell people about bein in the closet. Wasnt this written before he "came out"??? But I also believe its about the rock star life as well.. | |
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Neil Average |
#25 by Neil Carson at Oct 6, 2007 at 11:23 AM EST |
| Don't we all wish we all feel like this sometime? This song is special to me because I live away from my family and ones I love and feel exactly like this!!! I really believe this song is about drugs, Bernie Taupin is a great lyricist and poet, It was written during the 70's when drug use was at is highest so the possibility of it referring to that is very high (no pun intended) | |
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