[5] Taupin has denied that the Bowie song was an inspiration, but has acknowledged borrowing from Pearls Before Swine's 1970 "Rocket Man", written by Tom Rapp,[6] which was also influenced by the Bradbury story.

Rosenthal's account goes on to relate that the notion of astronauts no longer being perceived as heroes, but in fact as an "everyday occupation", led Taupin to the song's opening lines: "She packed my bags last night, pre-flight.

"[7] Musically, the song is a highly arranged classical rock ballad anchored by piano, with atmospheric texture added by synthesizer (played on the recording by engineer Dave Hentschel) and slide guitar.

It is also known for being the first song in John's catalogue to feature what would become the signature backing vocal combination of his band at the time, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone.

[8] The first stanza of "Rocket Man" was thought of by Bernie Taupin while he was on the motorway heading to his parents' home; he had to "repeat it to himself for two hours," which was "unfortunate",[9] but in later interviews he said that since it gave him a hit, it was all worthwhile.

After passing through several owners, almost 50 years after the single release the suit was recovered by Ethridge's family and placed on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.

[10] Record World said, "Elton John explores the outer limits of the possibilities of pop music" and that the song "should be a huge hit; it's one of his best.

"Rocket Man" was designated for the animation category, and was co-directed by Iranian refugee Majid Adin and Irish animation director Stephen McNally;[14][15] the video was inspired by Adin's own migration to England, portraying a character envisioning himself as an astronaut to draw parallels between the song's lyrics and the experiences of a refugee.

... yes, I would.Upon its release, Ian Gittins of Melody Maker described it as a "real curio" as Bush's "ickle-girl quaver is applied as liberally as Elt's cod space-epic is unexpectedly white-reggaed up behind her".

[46] Stephen Dalton of NME was negative in his review, noting Bush's "ill-advised decision" to "croon breathily over an abysmal 'reggae' arrangement".

It used chroma key video techniques to simultaneously portray three different images of Shatner, representing the different facets of the Rocket Man's character.

The performance gained notoriety as the most well-known example of Shatner's interpretive spoken word cover versions, and it has often been used for mockery or as an unintentionally funny novelty.

On a 1992 episode of Late Night with David Letterman, Chris Elliott parodied Shatner's performance, complete with chroma key effects.