"Rocketman", as a music biopic based on "real fantasy", does not pursue the accuracy of time, place and events like general biopics, but uses a large amount of material to boldly reinterpret Elton John. There are many novel and Intriguing performance. Here I try to explain some details that I like, whether you like "Rocket Man" or not, I hope it will give you a deeper understanding of this legendary character.
I Want Love: "A person like him"
I Want Love is the second song that appeared in the movie. After the teenager Reginald Dwight (original name Elton John) was reprimanded by his father at the dinner table and experienced a quarrel between his parents, the family felt sad, and everyone was in I Want Love’s song. The journey conveys or complains, numbness, and tiredness, but after all, the feeling of craving for love. The original song was included in the 2001 album "Songs from the West Coast". The 54-year-old Elton John reviewed his weaknesses in the first person, reviewed the bitterness of his life experience, and still regarded love as what he wanted. What’s particularly interesting is that the teenager Reggie sang a man like him so irresponsible (a man like him so irresponsible) full of resentment towards his father. The lyrics in the original song are not “him” but “me”. Actually It was Elton John himself. The MV for this famous song is played by Robert Downey Jr. as Elton John, which hints at Elton John’s experience of addiction and withdrawal, which also forms an interesting contrast with the movie.
Record company interview: "Ninety-nine percent is rubbish"
In the film, when Elton John was interviewed by Ray Williams and Dick James at the record company, he played/sang clips of four famous songs before and after. The impromptu composition on the piano during the meeting with Ray was the first best-selling single in history, Candle in the Wind commemorating Monroe/Princess Diana. The three songs I sang when I met Dick were Daniel, who was included in the album "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" in 1973, and I Guess Why They Call It in "Too Low For Zero" in 1983. The Blues, Sad Songs in "Breaking Hearts" in 1984, each capital is the top five hits on the British and American charts. These famous songs form a very ironic contrast with Dick James's "Ninety-nine percent is rubbish" evaluation. It is also worth mentioning that although the four songs in the movie appeared much earlier than the actual release time, they are not necessarily purely fictitious. There is a saying that the Elton/Bernie combination had an amazing amount of composition during the golden creative period of the late 1960s and early 1970s (Bernie said that there were hundreds of songs in the movie, which is not a whisper). It’s not uncommon if there were some fragments of later famous songs at that time.
Your Song: Roof
In the movie, the clips of Your Song faithfully restore the creation process of this famous song. Before becoming famous, Bernie did stay in Elton's mother's home for a long time to work together, and Your Song was indeed born on an unremarkable morning, and it has made the two famous ever since. Two of the three sections of Your Song are retained in the movie, and the lyrics of the omitted section are as follows:
I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
I sit on the roof, kicking the moss
Well a few of the verses
Thinking about these rhymes
Well they've got me quite cross
They make me upset and irritable
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
But when I wrote this song, the sun was so gentle
It's for people like you that keep it turned on
It is for you that this is possible
The omitted lyrics correspond to the rooftop scene before Your Song, which is self-evident and tacit, which is undoubtedly the ingenuity of the play.
Amoreena: First visit to the United States and Taoer Records
In the film, Elton traveled to the United States for the first time. While driving on the streets of Los Angeles, the background music was Amoreena sung by Taron Egerton. It was the only song in the film from the 1970 album "Tumbleweed Connection". This is Elton John's most respected concept album besides "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". It is a pure country rock that pays tribute to the United States. It can be said to be the fullest expression of Elton/Bernie's cultural enthusiasm for the United States (especially the American West). The Tower Records (Tower Records) in the movie made Elton and Bernie very excited. In reality, Elton's shopping addiction is indeed reflected in the obsession with buying records, especially to go to Taoer Records. In an era when the record industry is still prosperous, Taoer Records in Los Angeles will receive Elton one hour before the door opens, so that he can scan the goods in large quantities and can buy all the records he wants; he will buy two or three copies of the same album to ensure Every residence has at least one audible, and even threatened that "I am the man who spends the most money on Taoer records on this planet." These are also reflected in the documentary "Everything Will Pass: The Floating and Sinking of Taoer Records".
Honky Cat: Bernie in the background, Watford
In the playful Honky Cat clip in the movie, the protagonists are undoubtedly the extravagant Elton John and John Reid in love, but have you noticed that Bernie also showed his face? In the section where Elton/Reed was sitting at the table and drinking whisky out of a bottle of wine, Bernie and Heather, who were dressed in the background, were also sitting across from another table. Heather threw the napkin to Bernie and left the table angrily. Bernie drank sullenly alone. This happened just after the love between Bernie and Heather in the Tiny Dancer scene, and before Bernie was shown as a playboy in the Rocket Man scene, it also succinctly explained the influence of wealth and fame on Bernie. In reality, Bernie has had four marriage histories, and the images of his previous wives are quite similar to the two girls he brought with him in the movie, and the current wife’s name is Heather.
Another interesting part of the Honky Cat clip is the football. Elton used a football on his head surrounded by many players and signed a contract with a brush. This refers to Elton's acquisition of football club Watford FC in 1976. He has supported the team since he was a child and invested heavily as the club chairman, leading the team to upgrade from Group D to the top class at the time. Group leagues. Although the team has changed hands for a long time, Elton is still the permanent honorary president of the team. On the eve of "Rocket Man" in the UK in April this year, the Watford team led fans to sing Rocket Man in the midfield of the game to cheer for the honorary president's biographical film.
Pinball Wizard: Pinball Wizard
In the scene where John Reid and Dick James have a showdown and become Elton’s exclusive manager, Elton John is turning his back and playing a pinball table with Magic City, which is echoing the next song in the movie, Pinball Wizard ( Marble Magician). In the movie, Elton wears "the world's largest headgear" and sings Pinball Wizard with a rotating lens. It was originally a song from The Who's 1969 album "Tommy". "Tommy" was made into the musical film "Break through the Dark Valley" of the same name in 1975. "Rocketman" was obviously influenced by this surrealist musical film in the arrangement of the musical. In "Break Through the Dark Valley", the "magician" who sang Pinball Wizard and played marbles on stilts and piano keyboard was Elton John. In the same year, the cover version of Elton was also released as a hit single. It is also worth mentioning that Pinball Wizard is the only major song in the soundtrack of the "Rocketman" movie that was not composed by Elton/Bernie. Although the lyrics of Pete Townshend perfectly match the situation that Elton fell into in "Rocket Man", when the film was released in non-English speaking countries, the scene of Pinball Wizard did not have lyrics translation subtitles like other songs. It may be part of the reason.
Rocket Man: Reality and fantasy are equally absurd
The Rocket Man scene is the most iconic scene in the movie. Elton was picked up from the bottom of the pool, sent to an ambulance, dressed in disguise and sent directly to the stage of the Dodger Stadium, and launched from the stage. This series of seemingly absurd fantasy scenes actually reflected basically the same reality. In 1975, Elton John's two performances with more than 100,000 spectators at the Dodger Stadium were undoubtedly the most brilliant page of his music career. The sequined baseball costume has also become a classic. And just two days ago, he could not bear the pressure of long-term heavy work, took 85 Valium tablets, fell into the swimming pool in front of his family and friends, attempted suicide, and was sent to the hospital for forced gastric lavage for rescue. Despite this, he still completed these two high-intensity performances in excellent condition, each with a total of 31 songs in three quarters, which lasted more than three hours. In fact, until today's tour, Elton John, who is over seventy years old, has basically maintained a similar performance length.
The Rocket Man song itself is inspired by science fiction, and its spaceman theme is easily reminiscent of David Bowie’s 1969 famous song Space Oddity. In fact, the two songs are indeed performed by the same producer Gus Dudgeon. Music production. Rocket Man itself is also one of Elton John's most iconic tracks, and his music company and film company are named after Rocket.
Victim of Love: The lowest point of a music career
Around the 1980s, the trend of popular music turned, and many musicians who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s fell into a low level of creation (notable examples include Bob Dylan and David Bowie), and Elton John is no exception. . In the movie, after Elton and Reid quarreled about low record sales, there was a scene where Elton and Renate Blauel, a music producer who was married for a short time, co-produced the disco Victim of Love. The disco album "Victim of Love" released in 1979 is not the worst in Elton's career in terms of sales, but the only one that completely abandoned the original music team, gave up the creation of lyrics and music, and only caught up with the fashionable sloppy product. Elton only provided singing and albums. The length is only 36 minutes. It can be said to be the most direct manifestation of the lost self. Elton John has never performed any of the songs on this album live, and his attitude can also be seen. This song will be used in the movie. Although it is only a few seconds, it can be seen that there is no fear of expressing Elton's unglamorous side and pursuing the "real" attitude.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Wizard of Oz
The scene of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) is a key turning point in the movie. The lyrics of this famous song in the movie are cleverly disassembled into Bernie/Elton's pursuit of returning to the original. This single, released in 1973, is one of Elton’s most admired works. Its lyrics are from the American fairy tale "The Wizard of Oz". The protagonist of the story, Dorothy, takes three partners Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion to an unknown country to find The wizard Oz asked for help and walked on a road paved with yellow bricks. The costume Elton wears in this scene in the movie is designed based on this fairy tale: the straw hat represents the scarecrow, the silver-gray shirt represents the tin man, the fur represents the lion, the blue jacket and the ruby shoes are from the "Wizard of Oz" movie version of Dorothy's clothing. . At the same time, it can also be compared to the picture book-style cover of the album of the same name in 1973, Elton wearing the same pair of ruby shoes stepping on a yellow brick road.
Outside of this scene, the melody and variation of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road appear many times in the movie, and it is closely connected with the concept of going home. The timeline of the movie stopped at the moment when Elton bid farewell to the yellow brick road and successfully regained his addiction. The real story is much longer, especially considering the sales miracle that Elton achieved again in the 1990s, the millennium. After the gay marriage and the birth of the child, it is not an exaggeration to have a few more films. Now in reality, Elton John also wants to leave the yellow brick road, bid farewell to his touring career, return to his family, and make up for an incomplete dream in his youth. A new life stage is about to unfold. In the "Rocket Man" set, Elton wrote: It's been a wild ride for sure. I wonder what's next?
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