Rocket Man (Elton John)
This song was covered a million times over the five decades since its release. A notable one I'm familiar with is by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. I like punk or ska versions of songs because they really tighten up the slack and make more compact songs. When a song has a lot of covers, it shows the strength of the original. A good song can withstand a lot of reinterpretation. Elton John somehow remains relevant, also, probably because of his gay lifestyle (very much promoted these days) and legendary rock/disco past lifestyle (drug abuse, etc.). He's a relic from a bygone era, but that hasn't stopped him from remixing songs such as Cold Heart with Dua Lipa. We all know he's gay. Pretty flamboyant, too, though not as much as another legendary ivory tickler, Liberace. Given his past, it's amazing he's still alive. But, what does that have to do with anything, Joshua?
Rocket Man is about a gay man. He lives two lives. He has a wife and kids. He also has a drug addiction (high as a kite, the song says) and goes out looking for gay sex (called cruising then). "I'm not the man they think I am at home," the song says. And to further the imagery, he calls himself a rocket man. He's into rockets. A certain part of the male anatomy looks like a rocket. You say, "Hey, man, this song is just about drugs. He takes drugs and goes up like a rocket." I get that, and drugs and sex have long been used as metaphors for one another. My interpretation of this song is what it is; feel free to have your own. I think of Chris Watts, the man who lived a double life (actually, more of a triple life) who killed his family. He had a mistress as well as gay lovers. I also think of the Bad Religion song that says, “You create your own reality and leave mine to me.” People create their own reality and find it doesn’t satisfy, so they create another. And another, if necessary.
Men sometimes use their jobs as an excuse to live another lifestyle. Lots of guys have double lives. Hopefully not as extreme as Chris Watts. Men seem more able to compartmentalize their lives than women. I wonder why that is. It involves pretty severe dissociation. The song talks about leaving the kids behind. Still, he is driven to be a rocket man. That's the thing about men who live double/triple lives: they strive to fill their lives with more but end up with less. They are incredibly lonely. It's like the story of the missionary who told about how he was in the jungle and someone in his party shot a monkey from a tree. The monkey instinctively knew it was dying and tried cramming leaves into its gaping wound. The missionary said we are all like that monkey when we live without God. We try to cram as many things as we can into that gaping, God-shaped hole. It’s no use. It can be filled only by God. Those who seek to fill the hole themselves look a lot of Elton John (look up his past, if you care) or Chris Watts or any other man who lived a double life. I hate to think of them suffering without God's love.
You say, "No, this song is about a man who works away from home five days a week." That's possible, but it doesn't fit the tone of the song. That's sad, too. But, that doesn't explain the duality. A man who wants to be a part of his family's life will find a different job. This man relishes his duality. He calls himself rocket man because that's what he wants more than that other life. Read the lyrics if you want. It won't offer much guidance. I'm firm in believing this song is about a man who lives a double life as a straight family man and gay drug addict. I knew someone like this. One of my past jobs my boss was an older gay man. He had a secret love affair with a younger, married man. Never could understand that. His poor wife, I felt sorry for her. Hopefully, she never knew. Ignorance is bliss. But, her husband was out having very risky gay sex with *shudder* my very gross gay boss. So, it's not like things like this are unheard of. Probably more common than anyone thinks. People cover their tracks pretty well. Even Superman lived a double life. All he needed was a change of clothes and a pair of glasses.
The question arises if I have a dual life. I don't think so. I don’t even have much of one life, much less two. Who has the energy for that? I came to this place to heal and have worked toward that goal with God. God unifies and strengthens. The devil breaks down and demoralizes. There is a lot to wonder at in this song. It's a strange sentiment. Unrepentant is a word that comes to mind. And that's what I think of when I ponder the likes of Chris Watts. I think he was so dissociated and compartmentalized over years and the strength of his lies was so great he doesn't even believe he did those things like kill his daughters and wife. That's an extreme example of what happens to a man who lives a double life. One of those lives becomes stronger than the rest and seeks to obliterate the others. And he will do anything to avoid discovery of his secrets and lies, even to the point of brutalizing or killing those who threaten to expose him. Men caught in a lie will do one of two things 1) admit fault or 2) seek to destroy the one who exposed them. Ultimately, it is God who exposes our lies. Good luck destroying Him. In this case, the messenger is punished, though.
This is a severe take on an old pop song. I went on a bit of a tangent. And that's probably the value of what I'm doing. Going off on tangents to escape my boredom. Haha. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Mars is indeed a cold place. If you prefer your interpretation of this classic song, have at it, but leave mine to me.
***
So, I had a short conversation with Cindy, the girl I've written about perhaps hundreds of times here. She stopped to say hello while I was working. It was, as always, good to see her. She's just a bombshell. (That's a good thing, if you're not used to U.S. lingo.) That was my main thought as I walked away. She's everything I want. Since my thoughts ever since then were taken over by that conversation, it deserves its own post. Expect that next. Unless I get a wild hair and write about ABBA. I might.
Thank you for reading. And God bless.
My Tumblr. In case you need more.
Comments
Post a Comment