Rocket Man
by Elton John
- 136
- BPM
- Bb major
- Key
- 6B
- Camelot
- 61
- Danceability
- 39
- Acousticness
Elton John had put his band together only two years before "Rocket Man" came out. He formed it in 1970 as a trio with drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray, and guitarist Davey Johnstone joined soon after. This was the first song in his catalogue to carry the backing vocal blend of Murray, Olsson and Johnstone.
It was released in the US on March 31, 1972 as the lead single from Honky Château. It reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bernie Taupin took the idea from Ray Bradbury's short story "The Rocket Man", about an astronaut whose job keeps him away from his family for months. He thought of the first stanza while on the motorway heading to his parents' home and had to repeat it to himself for two hours. Later he said that since it gave him a hit, it was all worthwhile. Engineer Dave Hentschel played the synthesizer on the recording.
On the cover of the UK 7-inch single, John wears a suit made by Nudie Cohn. It had been made for John Christopher Ethridge of the Flying Burrito Brothers and stolen years earlier. Almost 50 years later Ethridge's family got it back. It went on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Rocket Man runs at 136 BPM, the tempo of techno, trance and big-room dance. In classical terms it sits in allegro territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.76 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 441 ms. It is in Bb major, Camelot 6B, which shares its notes with G minor and mixes cleanly with Eb major and F major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.