Rocket Man

Sir Elton John

Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, England, Sir Elton Hercules John is one of the best-selling music artists of all time — with estimated sales of more than 300 million records worldwide over a career spanning six decades. He has released more than 30 studio albums and scored dozens of Top 40 hits across multiple generations of music fans.

Elton John is celebrated for his flamboyant stage presence, elaborate costuming, and virtuosic piano playing. Since 1967, he has collaborated almost exclusively with lyricist Bernie Taupin — one of the longest creative partnerships in popular music history. Among their most beloved songs are “Your Song” (1970), “Tiny Dancer” (1971), “Crocodile Rock” (1972), “Bennie and the Jets” (1973), “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” (1974), “I’m Still Standing” (1983), and, of course, “Rocket Man.”

Queen Elizabeth II knighted Elton John in 1998 for his services to music and his charitable work through the Elton John AIDS Foundation, one of the world’s leading HIV prevention and advocacy organizations.

“Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)”

Released on April 17, 1972 from the album Honky Château, “Rocket Man” features music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. Taupin has said his lyrics were inspired by Ray Bradbury’s 1951 short story “The Rocket Man” from the anthology The Illustrated Man — a haunting tale of an astronaut whose family can never hold him for long before the stars call him back.

The song reimagines the astronaut not as a heroic explorer but as a working professional doing a job that simply happens to be in space. His reflection — “and I think it’s gonna be a long, long time” — captures the loneliness of distance, the monotony of routine, and the gap between how the world sees your work and how it actually feels from the inside. That’s an emotion every programmer knows.

The single reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest space-themed songs in rock history and one of Elton John’s most enduring signature works.

The 2019 biographical musical film Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as Elton John, brought the song to a new generation and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again.”

Why This Song Appears at TNT

At TechNoviceTools, “Rocket Man” is the perfect companion to Griffin’s Rocket — a student-built p5.js animation that brings a rocket launch to life with creative code. The song’s spirit of launching into the unknown mirrors exactly what every beginning programmer feels when they first send a sketch to the canvas and watch something they built come alive on screen. Check out the animation below!