Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
She packed my bags last night, pre-flight
Zero hour, nine AM
And 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
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Till touch down 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
Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact, it's cold as Hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Zero hour, nine AM
And 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
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Till touch down 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
Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact, it's cold as Hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Lyrics submitted by kevin, edited by irenecarpi
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I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.
Rocket Man is actually about comparing the life of an astronaut to that of an everyday shlub working stiff, whether he be a traveling salesman, a factory worker, a field engineer, an oil rig dude, a trucker, an accountant, a construction worker, a doctor, or whatever. It expresses the lonliness, hopelessness, boredom, repetitiveness, routine, and drudgery of working life on the road, in the field, in an office, on a job site, in a lab, in a truck, week in, week out. Anyone who has worked for a "long, long time", and is beyond the phase of disilusionment that accompanies the enthusiasm and excitement of youth, understands this. No matter what we do for a living, whether it is something as high-tech and sophisticated as being an astronaut, as complex as being a physician, or as simple as being a street sweeper, we're just minor cogs in a massive preprogrammed economic machine, just "doing our jobs" 5 days a week, not truly understanding the "science" behind the mechanical tasks that we repetitiously perform day in, day out. These "jobs" consume our lives, envelop our being, and suck out our souls, as we make sacrifices like being away from our homes "five days a week", or relocating to horrible places to find work (like Oklahoma, or Detroit, or Indiana, or North Dakota, or "Mars"), none of which are the kind of place you would want to "raise your kids", but we still do, because we don't really have a choice, as we toil away to make our livings, burning out our fuses, all alone. That's it. It's all an analogy.
That is an excellent analysis of the song and one of the best paragraphs on alienation that I've ever read. Good job dude.
Seconded! Great work.
@boredman <br /> <br /> While I agree with the comparison to a blue collar job, I have a different take on a few things.<br /> <br /> I don't think he is so much disillusioned with his job, after all he does say "I'm a Rocket Man" with some pride.<br /> Rather than burning out his fuse referring to being burnt out with the way he feels about his job, I think it is more a "spacey" reference to burning your candle at both ends.<br /> <br /> I think the song is about how he is doing everything he can to make life better for his family, by working at a job that takes him away from them for extended periods.<br /> This is the case with many blue collar workers, especially truck drivers and oil field personnel.<br /> <br /> They could relocate their family to be closer to where they work, but the place is inhospitable and not really something they want their kids around. There are a lot of people who commute long distances because they would rather their kids grew up in the suburbs or the country rather than in the city, which many people feel is cold and impersonal.<br /> <br /> Rather than sucking out his soul, I think he takes pride in his work.<br /> "I'm not the man they think I am at home". I think home isn't his house, his family, but rather his hometown and the people he grew up with.<br /> Many people refer to the place and people they knew in school as "home". <br /> A lot of people view most blue collar workers as not being smart or skilled enough to get a better job. They don't see how someone could possibly enjoy that work.<br /> <br /> Their perception is that he is stuck in a menial job, and that he is a bad father/husband because he is gone so much from home.<br /> However he is pointing out that he isn't the man they think he is. He LOVES his job and takes pride in the fact that even though he is gone from his family so much, that he is building a better life for them. He is sacrificing the time he could be spending with them so that they can grow up in a better place.<br /> <br /> There's no one there to raise them, I think, refers to the fact that during this period many families stayed in the same area, with the grandparents and relatives taking an active role in helping to "raise" the kids. If they were to move closer to where he worked, where they could be together all the time, then they would be away from that influence.<br /> He would rather they were around those who could help raise them into good people, rather than be isolated in a place that was cold and unwelcoming.<br /> <br /> I also think that he realizes that it will be a long, long time, if ever, before he is able to convince the people "at home" (from his hometown) that he isn't just someone stuck in a menial job that leaves his family, but that he is much better than that.<br /> But he hopes with each "touchdown", or return back, that they will finally "get it".<br /> <br /> Also I think the fact that his wife packed his backs before he left shows how close they are.<br /> Remember that during the time this was written, it was pretty common for the wife to pack her husband a lunch for work, or to pack his suitcase before he left for an extended period of time.<br /> <br /> She is being supportive and understanding, knowing that he is doing what he feels he needs to in order to support the family.<br /> <br /> <br /> I think this song is really less about him being burnt out and more about his frustration that he can't get others to see that he really is a good person, husband and provider. And that he really enjoys what he is doing. Just like some truck drivers/oil workers/garbage men really do enjoy their jobs.<br /> It is more upbeat than a lot of people give it credit for.
@boredman Keep guessing. Tommy Veesenmeyer.
It's a routine seperation and his loving caring wife prepares his suitcase. He will miss his family so much he will get high on drugs. His family thinks he has a good high skilled job, but he is a rocket man. Still proud like a trucker. Those 5 days will be a long time and it's going to be a long long time before they know he's got a simple job working all alone.
Bernie Taupin is using an extended metaphor, and his ideas of rocket man, space, and Mars should not be taken literally. "She packed my bags last night preflight" indicates a separation between the "rocket man" and his wife, with the wife initiating the separation (otherwise he could have packed his own bags). Being "high as a kite" probably refers to drug or alcohol abuse in response to the depression caused by this separation. In the words "I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife," the earth is a metaphor for home, and the rocket man missing his wife is emphasized (it says nothing about his wife missing him). He is lonely "in space" but she is not lonely "on earth" with the kids. "Timeless flight" clearly indicates that the separation will last "a long long time." When will this separation end? When will the rocket man be able to "touch down"? Answer: When he can prove that he is NOT the man his wife and kids think he is. The implication here is that his wife has a very LOW opinion of him (otherwise why did she pack his bags in the first place?). There is also a strong implication that the rocket man believes that he is a better man than they think--he pleads with them: No no no I'm a "Rocket Man"--a positive image he has of himself to contrast with the "Sewer Man" image they have of him. "Mars aint the kind of place to raise the kids" means he simply cannot be a father to his kids in his separated state. The line "All that science I don't understand, it's just my job five days a week" proves that the rocket man is NOT an astronaut. An astronaut understands science, and his job is NOT just a job, but a job he truly loves. In contrast, the rocket man is ALIENATED from his work: he doesn't understand it and in fact his life has become a dull routine. Only a return to his wife and kids will cure his alienation. This is what the lyrics mean, and any other meanings attributed to this song go beyond the words that Bernie Taupin actually wrote.
@mark2marie <br /> <br /> Have to disagree about a few things.<br /> <br /> First off the wife.<br /> When this was written, it was common for a wife to pack her husband a lunch for work each day. She would also pack his suitcase for him before leaving for a trip, even a business trip.<br /> I feel that this shows she is being supportive and understanding in what he does.<br /> <br /> I have a cousin who works in the oil fields. He is gone for extended periods and his wife always packs his bags before he leaves.<br /> The fact that she does this the night before shows that she wants to make sure he is ready to go when he needs to leave to catch his 9 am liftoff.<br /> <br /> I feel that rather than referring to a strained marital separation, it refers to a necessary and agreed upon separation due to work.<br /> Again, my cousin in the oil fields is away from his family for a week or more at a time, but he knows the money he is making is building a better life for them.<br /> He could move them closer to where he works, but it is not a good place for the kids to be, just like in the song.<br /> <br /> When then song was written, many people stayed around their family and the grandparents and other relatives helped raise the kids. There is none of that on Mars, no one to raise the kids in the way that will help them become better people.<br /> So he leaves each week, sacrificing the time he could be spending with them so that they can be around their relatives.<br /> <br /> I agree that there is a difference between an astronaut and a rocket man, but I think it is more along the lines of how commonplace the job had become. <br /> Rather than have the glory and fame that came with being an astronaut, he is just a Rocket Man.<br /> Like a garbage man rather than a sanitation engineer.<br /> <br /> But he wanted to be one. He enjoys his job.<br /> And people don't understand that.<br /> <br /> Remember that one definition of the phrase "high as a kite" can be to be really excited about something, rather than just a drug reference.<br /> He really looks forward to going to work, because he loves his job. He will literally be high as a kite (the rocket taking off) and emotionally because he is back at what he loves doing.<br /> <br /> I do agree that he is a better man than they think, and that he is frustrated that the people who knew him growing up think he is in a menial, boring job. That he just abandons his family each week, rather than seeing the sacrifices he is making to make things better for his family.<br /> <br /> The song "Black Sheep of the Family" by John Anderson does a great job of referencing exactly what I mean. Everyone else looks down on him, but he is doing what he loves, his wife is loving and supportive, and he is happy.<br /> <br /> The rocket man hopes that one day he will come back to find that people finally understand what a great thing he is doing, but he knows it will be a long, long time, if ever, before that happens.<br /> <br /> A song about a family man doing what he has to do and loving it, despite what others think.
The interpretation offered below doesn't make sense for three reasons. The wife is not packing his lunch, she is packing his bags in order for him to go on a long "vacation" (most wives wouldn't know all the things their husbands need to take for work). The mood, the minor chord and the entire situation indicates a separation, not merely leaving for work or even a long business trip. Moreover, his coming back is NOT determined by whenever he has finished his work week, rather he says "I think it's going to be a long long time till touchdown brings me round TO FIND I'M NOT THE MAN THEY THINK I AM AT HOME. In other words, his wife has a negative opinion of him, and he can only return when he has made a positive change in his life. Finally, I think that the interpretation of "high as a kite" to mean extremely happy is absurd in light of the fact that the phrase is immediately followed but how much the rocket man misses the earth and his wife.
consider this from the point of view of the lyricist(s) - the (symbolic) connotations of space are quite clear; the idea of distance or separation from earth and reality. i dont think this song can be applied in one particular instance... it can be adapted to fit the predicament of a drug user, or a stressed father, or a closet gay, but to me this song is simply about loneliness - the realisation that an individual is separated from the entire world, that nobody properly understands them, and nobody can help them; and its going to 'be a long long time' until they can get out of the lonely situation that they are in. to me, this song resonates because it touches all aspects of loneliness and separation.
@magicaudiomale
@magicaudiomale
@magicaudiomale
@magicaudiomale I agree very much with your interpretation. It is about loneliness and being either misunderstood or reviled in some sense for what he does. He feels his children should have better, and he misses a close relationship that he used to have but is no longer there, and perhaps will never be again. And there is no immediate remedy for his situation.
there's this story by ray bradbusry called rocket man. its about and astronaut and his family and about how much he wants to stay home with his family but he can't pull himself away from space but he promises it will be his last time going up but his ship crashes into the sun. "I miss the earth so much I miss my wife " the relationship he has with his wife...very distant she know she coudl die so she pretends he's already dead. "I'm not the man they think I am at home Oh no no no I'm a rocket man " family thinks highly of him but he's not a good father or husband because he keeps leaving. "Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone " dies by flying into the sun..burning up alone. "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids" he tells his son never to be like him because of how the life is and how he can't tear himself away. "And I think it's gonna be a long long time" he dies out there so he's never coming back. maybe there's a corelation aside from coinsidence
Absolutely correct! Congratulations!!! I read this story some time ago but I guess I could not to explain this song meaning as well as you did because I am not a English native speaker :) :) I am brazilian!
Interesting compilations... and most are probably correct in their own candid percentaged regard. However, in my opinion based upon facts, after Elton's semi-supportive family childhood, he was married, but not devoted to settling down. He was and still is a one-man band of selfishness and instant gratifications. His dumped wife, like most women, refused to learn and apply the physical concept of the mutually submissive marriage bed duties. Admittedly, women are wired to be selfish b-itches usually around their period cycles, and their dreamy idea of settling down after their plastic baby-doll and buggy-pushing childhood pasts transforms their visions into adult identifying happy family units, and all spirited with procreation realities: their main animal role in life. Elton's career, and slinging beer, getting high, and becoming queer, was and still is his entrapped escape and pitfall, especially his current, long-term acute complex break-out of faggoitis which psychologically still weighs him away from proper rebound. Example: After a concert, around 10 years ago, paired with George Michael, in their silver stretch limo, George by the back right window, Elton seated next to him near the middle, just moments before their departure, windows down, a brief conversation amidst them both, and both will remember, George scoffed with a grin as Elton made his reply to this paraphrased loaded question: "Elton, have you thought about the 'Divine Truth' and turning from your immoral ways, and actually accepting Christ as your Lord and Saviour?" Elton replied, "I know, but I am not ready yet." As the growing crowd of greetings and hopeful signatures encroached, the limo starting to leave, the window was slowly engaged up with increased "thank yous" and murmurs, and then quickened with departed silence. What is "not ready" supposed to mean? When is the 'right' time? Can we buy and bargain our own eternity? No! And it is by shear luck, not command, that our choices can falsely seem to control God's hand as if to put off the personal acceptance gift of Salvation to our own assumed terms. The sad thing is, at that time, Elton and Michael, clearly decided to gamble their fate then, even if they accept or reject God up to the moment that God clicks His 'Your time is up!' stopwatch right now. So, in essence, "Rocketman" is clearly a song of 'Freewill Rebellion' which Elton (and other non-committers) may still live today while laughing fearlessly in the face of God. Prove me wrong! I betcha can't! I hope everyone gets on their knees and prays for their own and others Salvation right now, everyday forward. Understand this, the talents given to Elton, Michael, and others need not be wasted, but acknowledged and appreciated always even through the ages, because by Grace alone, we have an awesome Creator God. Review all of Elton's music: his own basis lifestyle.
@Sapphiredemon another shot story/chapter by ray bradbury, Zero Hour may be refranced in the begining of the song. i am not sure if i am streaching the referances here, but it is possible.
After reading all of these posts I still think this song is about being a rockstar who is constantly touring. The first verse explains how hes preparing to go on tour. In the chorus he talks about how it will take him a long time to realize that he's become someone different than who he was at home and how his family and friends envisioned him. The title rocket man is interesting too because when I think of an astronaut I don't initially think "rocket man", I think spaceman or something along those lines so I think its possible he intentionally used the word rocket to imply that he would burn up. Actually Neil Young once said that it's better to "burn out" than to fade away. The part about kids alludes to various children of famous musicians who never really had full-time parents like the case of Julian Lennon. I think this is one of those most significant pieces of evidence to the rockstar theory because if he lived on Mars why would there be no one there to raise his children if they were there too? The science part in my opinion is about either the technicalities of music like music theory or its about how the press follows him around incessantly involving the world with his business because it's just his job. Just my two cents.
Wow, nice thinking! It seems like you're right...
@anakin821 Rocket man is about being gay. There is an allusion to venus/mars, and the kind of "man" the singer really is. The rocket illusion is similar to the Queen's Killer Queen "Dynamite with a laser beam", just a little less poetic.
Try comparing this song to the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name...it has quite a lot in common...great story too. :)
You’re absolutely correct. I read this little Ray Bradbury’s story and it is about a man that feels divided between his family at earth and his job as a rocket man at space. When he is at earth he misses the space and when he is at space he misses his family at earth. He is an unhappy man. Poor guy. He is scared that in the future his soon wants follow his carrier. <br /> I’ll spoiler : ) at he end his rocket crashed and hi pass way and it is the only way to finish his hurts. <br />
I like the Stewie version from Family Guy.
Totally.
Yes.
According to the new greatest hits double CD, it was about an astronaut. Bernie wrote it on his way home and sent the lyrics to Elton for the melody.
You are absolutely right! That is all this song could mean! And your info comes straight from the source!
@MackethB Hah that's what I thought
Something tells me he doesn't work for NASA at all. Ah, the alienation of modern life. And, drugs are only part of it.
honestly, you people sound like you've never heard of Taupin, Elton Johns lyricist! In reality, this section should be called Bernie Taupin instead of Elton John. Therefore, you really can't read that much about Elton from his lyrics considering they aren't his.