Final Thoughts on _Rocket Man_

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

_Rocket Man_ and _Candle in the Wind_ seem to have already
 fallen by the wayside as a topic of conversation here on
 Love-Hounds.  Since I seem to be chronically behind in
 responses these days I'll sum up my thoughts one final time and
 set these songs aside for the time being.  Maybe someday I'll
 come back to them and hear them in a new light, but I'm not
 going to hold my breath.  

Hopefully this post will get through before the Love-Hounds
 Thought Police make any progress toward squelching the free
 exchange of ideas here in Gaffa.

Responses to my earlier remarks seemed to concentrate on whether
 or not Kate's treatment of _Rocket Man_ captures the
 desperation of the lyric in spite of (or perhaps even as a
 paradox to) the lighthearted feel of much of the instrumental. 
 I have already pointed out my feeling that Kate is completely
 capable of executing this kind of irony successfully.  However,
 whether or not she is successful on any given song is an
 entirely subjective judgment.  

Pointing out that Kate has been successful in the past only
 shows that it is possible.  It is by no means a guarantee of
 success with every effort.  What we have, therefore, is a good
 old fashioned difference of opinion on the success or failure
 of this particular effort.

boris@ocf.berkeley.edu (Boris Chen) wrote:
 
> Like [Richard] said:
>>conventional or traditional.  Careful attention, however, often
>>reveals that Kate has added her own touch of genius to the
>>otherwise conventional effort, lifting it to an entirely new
>>level.
>
>And I think this is true of Rocket Man. Here we have a happy,
>a "fun," tune, yet, if you listen closely to the lyrics,
>they are quite somber, and make some poignant and profound
>statements of the relationship between technology and man.
>I think this serves to provide the listener with a marked
>juxtaposition of thematic qualities, as well as providing
>an interesting twist of irony. 

I'm glad that you got that out of it.  I wish that I could say
 that I had, but for me it doesn't work.  No, it's not that I
 haven't listened closely enough.  I simply don't feel* the
 synergy between contrasting lyric and melody that worked so
 well for _Army Dreamers_.  Rather than playing against one
 another to create an ironic twist, in _Rocket Man_ they clash
 to produce a confused message.

Again, please understand that this difference of opinion is not
 a result of one person listening more closely than the other. 
 We have simply considered the same issue and come to different
 conclusions.  

stevev@greylady.uoregon.EDU (Steve VanDevender) wrote:
S>  Kate's interpretation of the song
S>disappoints those who think it should be sad throughout, but I
S>consider her interpretation more balanced and realistic, as well
S>as artistically more interesting.

I certainly never said that the song had to be sad throughout.
 It seems to me, however, that there are few places where anything 
 but sadness can be expressed without clashing with the lyric that 
 is being sung.  

   She packed my bag last night, pre-flight
   Zero hour, nine AM
   I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
 
   I miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife
   It's lonely out in space
   On such a timeless flight
 
S> The first two verses of the song are accompanied by somber,
S> sparse music, and sung with a corresponding sense of  wistfulness.
S> They frame a period prior to the Rocket Man's flight, a time when
S> he is apparently feeling anxious, and anticipating the unpleasant
S> aspects of his trip.  

I disagree.  It seems to me that only the first verse takes
 place prior to the launch.  That verse is a prelude or a
 flashback.  In the second verse the Rocket Man is already out
 in space, missing the earth and recalling his last moments with
 his wife.

The point of the the first verse isn't to show the excitement or
 grandeur of space flight, but rather to illustrate the irony
 that even the protagonist believed that heroic image of space
 travel before he discovered the truth behind the myth.

S> However, note that he says that he will be
S> "high as a kite" during the actual launch--a phrase usually used
S> to indicate a feeling of intense joy.

As Jon Drukman already pointed out, this is pure irony. He's
 recalling the excitement prior to the launch in view of his
 discovery that being a Rocket Man entails far more loneliness
 and tedium than adventure. 

   [Chorus:]
 
      And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
      Til touchdown 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
 
S> The chorus is introduced with a change of the musical
S> accompaniment--the music becomes more upbeat and has the
S> controversial reggae beat.  Kate's vocals here are also stronger
S> and happier, and they reflect the joy that the Rocket Man feels
S> in his job--a joy tinged by his loneliness, which Kate also
S> expresses deftly.
 
Sorry, but for me there is no hint of the "joy" of being a
 Rocket Man within the lyric of this chorus.  To me this chorus
 is the lament of a person who is wasting his life all alone in
 space.  Kate's treatment fails to turn it into anything but a
 lament that is strangely at odds with its delivery.  

Perhaps if Kate had taken it further she could have achieved the
 feeling of dementia brought on by loneliness and boredom that
 Andy suggested might be Kate's aim but as it stands she's
 fallen short of that.

S> To me, Kate's version of "Rocket Man" is not intended to be
S> purely a song of sadness--it instead tries to communicate the
S> entire emotional experience of this rocket pilot.  He is anxious
S> in preparing for a launch, exhilarated by the launch and the
S> beauty of space, depressed by the tedium and isolation of the
S> journey.  When in space, he misses his home and family--and after
S> touchdown, he misses the grandeur of space flight.

While that might be an interesting idea for an original song I
 don't feel* that the lyric of _Rocket Man_ can be seen to
 express that notion.  The lyric works very hard to contradict
 glamorous image of space travel.  It will take more than a mock
 reggae beat and an inconsistent delivery to overcome that. 

S> Richard Caldwell, in particular, considers the song completely
S> unsuccessful and feels that it violates the original intent of
S> its authors.  I would say that he is disappointed with the song
S> because it violates his preconceptions.  

My preconceptions do weigh upon my opinion of _Rocket Man_ but
 my preconceptions include the fact that I enjoy the music of
 Kate Bush far more than any other music I've ever heard and the
 knowledge that Kate is capable of expressing ideas and
 feelings in unexpected and unique ways.  

Ultimately, I try to set these kinds of preconceptions aside
 when I'm listening to music for the first time.  I just want to
 enjoy the music.  Outstanding music is hard enough to come by,
 and so special when I do, that I'd just as soon not muck up the
 works with a lot of preconceptions.

Still, my preconceptions do play some part in my reactions to
 music.  I don't know if anyone could honestly say that they
 don't.  I do try to be aware of that fact and make an effort
 not to be overly influenced by preconceptions.  I think Steve
 is presuming a lot if he's suggesting that his own opinion of
 _Rocket Man_ is any less effected by preconceptions than mine.

katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris n Vickie) {Vickie} wrote:
 
V> Richard Caldwell writes about IED (even though he says "Andy")
V> and the song "Rocket Man":
 
V>>  Of course, among the many things that there are to admire in
V>> Andy's personalities you will not find objectivity on matters
V>> related to Kate Bush.  Since Andy does not acknowledge
V>> imperfections in Kate's work, does he have any choice but to say
V>> that the song does indeed conjure feelings compatible with those
V>> expressed by the lyrics?  Admitting otherwise would be
V>> acknowledging that Kate's performance is inconsistent with the
V>> lyric and might hint at something less than perfection.
 
V> Pooh! Yet another example of "If I don't like it and you do then
V> you're obviously a Kate-Can-Do-No-Wrongoid" thinking. I don't understand 
V> this highly strange attitude. <Lots more writings that would get me 
V> into a flame war deleted after counting to 10> 

A wise decision since that's not what I was saying to begin
 with.  I was saying that Andy is so dedicated to the
 proposition that all of Kate's works are perfect that we can
 only wonder whether it is even possible that he could find
 _Rocket Man_ to be any less than perfect.

In the terms of Steve's point above it could be said that Andy's
 preconception that Kate's work is and will be perfect overrules
 any possibility of him coming to any other conclusion.  One
 might say that I am being presumptuous in such a statement just
 as I have said of Steve's remark about my preconceptions.  I
 think, however, that I have considerably more experience with
 Andy's attitudes about Kate's work than Steve has with my
 attitudes about _Rocket Man_.

I have never suggested that anyone is a Kate-can-do-no-wrongoid
 solely on the basis of whether or not they liked a particular
 song.  Vickie is simply being argumentative.

Several people have held up _Army Dreamers_ as an example of the
 kind of irony that they see in _Rocket Man_.  While they may
 see that kind of genius in this effort it is not at all certain
 that Kate's vision of _Rocket Man_ was at all focused on that
 sort of treatment.  

When Kate wrote _Army Dreamers_ her intent of playing the music
 against the lyric was clearly focused.  That approach carried
 through to her visualizations of the song and was explained
 when she was asked about it.

In the case of _Rocket Man_, however, Kate's visualization (as
 described by those fortunate enough to have seen it) does not
 seem to reflect this sort of approach.  Further, when asked
 specifically about the "reggae" treatment, Kate said nothing
 about such an approach and instead said that it was simply a
 result of playing around with the chords.

In the final analysis _Rocket Man_ strikes me as a song that was
 done for the sake of creating a cover tune.  The result is not
 an alternative view of the song, but a song with no clear
 vision at all.


* Note that I've mentioned a *feeling* in this post.  It is
 therefore not permitted that anyone should disagree with the
 views expressed herein upon pain of being called rude,
 insensitive, scornful toward Kate, hateful toward Del and an
 all around doody bird.

              "Yes, but you know that we're in a conservative
               town.  And that is another reason to not want to
               live in Chicago, aside from the fact that Oprah
               Winfrey lives here."

                         - Madonna, "Truth or Dare"

"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
                                  {n8emr|nstar}!bluemoon!bsbbs!nrc
                                  nrc@bsbbs.UUCP