1972 was thoroughly eventful by any measure, not least musically. Elton John’s Honky Château came out that year and included the hit song “Rocket Man”
The song was apparently based on the Ray Bradbury short story “The Rocket Man”, from his Illustrated Man
collection.
Whatever the origin, it is one of several Lonely Guy in Space songs from the period (e.g. “Space Oddity”). There’s probably a dissertation waiting to be written on what this niche signifies as a cultural reaction to the Space Age’s failure to solve all of society’s problems. ;) No matter what academic value the song has, though, it’s a horribly effective earworm, particularly when the chorus kicks in:
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
Ever wonder what happened next? A selection from McSweeney’s gives the full story in “A Letter to Elton John from the Office of the NASA Administrator”:
Dear Mr. John,
This letter is to inform you of your termination from the NASA astronaut program. Our decision comes after a great deal of deliberation, and while we take no pleasure in terminating you, we felt it was the only choice we had….
