We are immediately struck by Elton John’s hunger for melody in Rocketman which looks back at the Englishman’s smash hits released in the 1970s. From a very young age, even before he joined the Royal Academy of Music in London in the early 1960s, it is said that Reginald Dwight (his real name) had the almost magical power to reproduce any tune on the piano immediately after hearing it. Indeed, at several points throughout his career he would rely more on his talents as a highly gifted musician, neglecting the entertaining and eccentric but sometimes unnecessary persona he had crafted – closer to the kitsch look of Liberace than the more intellectual personas of David Bowie. And indeed, the musical direction of his albums is sometimes questionable (although less so in the decade that we are to discuss than the one that followed it). But the history of pop music has not only been built by artists that look profoundly and discerningly at their own art and image. More simply, great pop music can also arise from a generous artist that creates moving, comforting and invigorating songs upon harmonies that are both conventional and clever with lyrics that speak from the heart. And in the case of the duo Elton John (music and vocals) and Bernie Taupin (lyrics), the term “generous” can be taken literally as the seventies saw them produce 13 albums!
The “Elton John phenomenon” of the seventies is characterized by a heartfelt double-narrative. It is above all the tale of an awkward and seemingly unremarkable young middle-class Englishman and his transformation into an exuberant superstar. But it is also the story of a rapid social climb combined, paradoxically, with John and his entourage’s descent into a chaotic hell – notably one of alcohol and cocaine addiction. And it is this last issue that Fletcher’s film concentrates itself on with very effective dramaturgy. Although, the story of John’s musical creation is somewhat overlooked – and it is this that we would like to address in this article.
Released the 6th of June 1969, Elton John’s first album was (like many first albums) the product of a multitude of influences starting with The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), in which the singer follows in its tracks somewhat. It is necessary to state that this ambitious and daring work by the Fab Four was likely a primary source of inspiration for a great number of pop artists at the end of the decade. Empty Sky includes notably the song Skyline Pigeon, probably the best-known song on the album. On this hymn-like romantic ballad, Elton John plays all the parts, the harpsichord and organ. Lyrically, the song parallels the recently restored freedom of a bird with a man’s desire for freedom. The image is nothing profoundly original, but the song succeeds to describe Elton John’s own desire to break away from his restrictive family in which there was a clear lack of love. The song was re-recorded three years later in Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, with strings and piano replacing the two original instruments in a more conventional (but more effective?) manner.
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