Re: Rocket Man, Fairlights, plastic forks ...

[caen!bsbbs!nrc@harvard.harvard.edu (N. Richard Caldwell)]

I'm reposting this since it never appeared on the newsgroup.  Sorry if
you've seen it before.

MTARR@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU writes:
>
> Larry writes:
>  
> > I still don't approve of the reggae beat (though if it wasn't "Rocket Man",
> > I would like the textures she's created better).
> 
> Oh, so I'm not alone!  :)

Nope, you're not at all alone.

> > I went back to the Elton John version last night (on 45rpm record, no less)
> > to see what it was amidst the crack and pop that kept me coming back for
> > more.  It's so stark.  You feel so alone when you listen to it.  Heroism
> > and hermitism blend and become one.  
> 
> That's so true.  You feel what it's like to be alone in space, reflecting on
> your life and what lies ahead of you... all in a situation where, as Robyn
> Hitchcock once described it (and I paraphrase), one and a half inches is a LO
> way, especially when it means life and death!

I agree completely.  Somehow Kate's version seems to miss the entire
point of the song once she gets to the first chorus.  The opening seems to
do a fair job of capturing the mood, the irony of being in such a romantic
position and yet being so desperately lonely and sad.  But once we
hit the chorus you have to wonder whether Kate envisions a rasta-naut
in a capsule loaded with ganja.  

Even the quote in the CD booklet reflects what must be a different view of 
the song.  Kate _wants_ to be a rocket man and the sort of rocket man John 
and Taupin created is not something I can imagine wanting to be.  Evidently,
for Kate the romanticism of the heroic astronaut still wins out over
the desperation and loneliness portrayed by Taupin and John.  Is that
a valid way to interpret the song?  I don't know.  It seems to me to
run completely counter to the intent of the authors and is at the very
least at odds with the song lyrically.

I think it's interesting to note that one of Kate's own songs that
has a rather overt reggae influence has a very similar theme to this.
In _Kite_ Kate seems to be saying, "Isn't it funny that sometimes things
that seem so desireable don't turn out that way once you're there.
Yeah, I'd love to be a kite but it's kind of scary once you're up there."
Is there any sort of link between this sort of irony and reggae music
in general?

The finish of the song seems to me to lack direction but it's interesting
to hear the swirling pipes and hear the influences that would (or perhaps 
had) become _The Sensual World_.  There's also some sort of vocal ad
lib near the end that I can't seem to make out.

> (Incidentally, Angelos, "Ne T'En Fui Pas" is the premiere example of a "Kate-
> Bushy" song! Chills go down my spine just thinking about it... :)

Definately!  This song is a perfect example of the very solid foundation
that makes a great Kate song.  Kate then takes it, adds some brilliantly
intertwined but relatively simple lines and creates a tremendous emotional
impact.

            "I'm Mr. Bad Example, intruder in the dirt
             I like to have a good time and I don't care who get's hurt
             I'm Mr. Bad Example, take a look at me
             I'll live to be a hundred and go down in infamy"

              --Warren Zevon, "Mr. Bad Example" 


"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
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