The Elton John song that Bernie Taupin had “nowhere to put”
‘Rocket Man’ isn’t just a central part of the legacy of Elton John. When all else is stripped away, ‘Rocket Man’ could very well be the entire legacy. It is a top ten hit, a classic rock staple, and has a biographical movie named after it gives the song quite a bit of importance within Elton John’s nearly-six decades in music.
The track is also an essential part of Bernie Taupin’s legacy. Nearly all of John’s classic songs contain lyrics written by Taupin. Even though ‘Rocket Man’ doesn’t have the most personal or poetic stanzas, it does contain the story that most listeners readily associate with John and, by extension, Taupin.
The creation of ‘Rocket Man’ found Taupin at a crossroads, literally. “I was on a trip to England, driving to my parents’ place in Lincolnshire, when the whole first verse came into my head at once,” Taupin shared with Esquire in 2011. “‘She packed my bags last night preflight, / Zero hour, nine A.M. / And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then’. The whole stanza. I’m going, ‘Oh, my God, that’s great'”.
There was just a slight problem: Taupin didn’t have anything to write the lyrics on and had an hour left in his drive. “But I didn’t have a pen, paper. Nothing. This was before microcassettes and those sorts of things. And I’m on the road and I have nowhere to put it. So I had to keep it in my head for about an hour. I’m driving along going, ‘She packed my bags… ‘over and over again. I pulled into the driveway, ran inside — ‘Nobody say anything to me!’ — and wrote it down”.
From there, most of ‘Rocket Man’ came pouring out quickly. When Taupin brought the finished lyrics to John, it was right before John was set to fly to France to record Honky Château. ‘Rocket Man’ became the album’s emotional crux, sequenced at the end of side one for maximum impact. Featuring heavenly harmonies and one of John’s most experimental arrangements, ‘Rocket Man’ was an instant hit and quickly became one of John’s signature songs.
Listen to ‘Rocket Man’ down below.
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