Watch Kate Bush’s magnetic cover of Elton John song ‘Rocketman’
In 1991, the great Kate Bush delivered a magnetic cover of the titular Elton John song ‘Rocket Man’.
The song, which was released around the time of the Apollo 16 mission, a historical event which would see humankind visit the moon for the fifth time, is another example of space exploration seeping into contemporary music around this time. Despite the obvious links to the news at the time, however, Bernie Taupin’s lyrics were actually inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story named The Rocket Man.
The track, which was originally released by John on April 17th, 1972, as the lead single to John’s album Honky Château, has been widely reported as Bush’s favourite song of all time, lending her the inspiration to create the self-directed video back in ’91. The recording has an almost tropical, reggae-infused beat backing Bush’s singular vocal, and the video, to put it bluntly, is pure ’90s gold.
Reflecting on her decision to put a spring on Elton’s classic, Bush told the NME: “I remember buying this when it came out as a single by Elton John, I couldn’t stop playing it – I loved it so much. Most artists in the mid-seventies played guitar but Elton played piano and I dreamed of being able to play like him.”
Detailing further, the singer added: “Years later, in 1989, Elton and Bernie Taupin were putting together an album called ‘Two Rooms’, which was a collection of cover versions of their songs, each featuring a different singer. To my delight they asked me to be involved and I chose ‘Rocket Man’. They gave me complete creative control and although it was a bit daunting to be let loose on one of my favourite tracks ever, it was really exciting. I wanted to make it different from the original and thought it could be fun to turn it into a reggae version. It meant a great deal to me that they chose it to be the first single release from the album”.
Bush continued: “That meant I also had the chance to direct the video which I loved doing – making it a performance video, shot on black and white film, featuring all the musicians and… the Moon!”
“Alan Murphy played guitars on the track. He was a truly special musician and a very dear friend. Tragically, he died just before we made the video so he wasn’t able to be there with us but you’ll see his guitar was placed on an empty chair to show he was there in spirit.”
See the clip below.
