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Ethan Hunt

Prof. Stalbird

ENG 1201

6 February 2020

“Rocket Man” Music Videos

“I’m a rocket man. Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone”. This is an important

lyric from the song, “Rocket Man”, for understanding the story being told in this masterpiece.

This is a metaphor for the artist feeling isolated and lonely, and the “fuse” is his life, which he

claims is being spent alone. That is not the only way this key lyric can be interpreted, however.

Elton John, the creator of “Rocket Man, and the group Little Big Town both have their own

music videos that portray how they interpret the lyrics to the song. Elton John’s version is a

politically charged story about immigration, whereas the country music group, Little Big Town,

gives a different story about showing the problems in the inner city, causing you to interpret the

lyrics differently. Although vastly different in the story being told, both versions of the “Rocket

Man” music video have an underlying theme about risking yourself for the well-being of others

and use pathos to raise awareness for political problems, though targeting two slightly different

audiences.

In order to understand the differences and similarities, it is important to know the plots of

the two music videos Despite being made almost 50 years ago, the first official “Rocket Man”

music video was made in 2017, which speaks for the insane fact that this song is still relevant

today. The video features a man who leaves his wife and two kids to immigrate to America as

many have done to create a better life for the families left behind. Throughout the video, the man
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hitches rides and traverses' unknown cities to get to America. He then boards a small boat, and

during the trip a storm comes and flips the raft.

Little Big Town’s story is about a boy who sneaks out in the middle of the night to travel

through a city in search of a beam of energy. A concerned couple follow the child to the beam

and watch him touch it. When the kid reaches for the beam, he disappears and a cube with many

different artists appears, all of them singing “Rocket Man” and people gather around to listen to

this spontaneous concert.

A careful analysis of the videos reveals the rhetorical appeals used in each story. The

rhetoric is very similar in use to each other, but are used to push vastly different agendas. Elton

John’s version frequently expressed the immigrant’s emotions during his travels, focusing on his

longing for his wife and children. This use of pathos is derived from the song lyrics where Elton

sings, “I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife. It’s lonely out in space”. This is an obvious but

effective use of pathos to get more people to sympathize with immigrants. Similarly, Little Big

Town’s rendition uses pathos, although in a much less powerful context. This was expressed

mainly through a scene of people sleeping on the streets of the city. This was intended to show

the poverty in America, something the creators of the video care about.

Next, these videos have a similar plot about someone journeying and putting themselves

in danger to help other people at the cost of themselves. In Elton John’s version, the main

character is journeying to help his impoverished family. Many immigrants will come alone to

find jobs in America so that they can send pay checks back to their family in their native country

and it can be inferred that this is what is being attempted in the story. Little Big Town’s version,

although vastly less powerful, is about the same thing. The child is making a journey that goes

through dangerous parts of a city to bring happiness to people through music.

Last to be discussed is the difference in audience between the versions. Although it is not

night and day, there are some things that narrow down the possible audience for each. Elton’s

video is angled for adults mainly. This can be figured because of the sad, almost wistful sound of

the song and dark visuals in the video, such as the main character drowning. Conversely, Little

Big Town’s more upbeat mood speaking of adventure, the child main character, and hints of the

city being mysterious denotes a younger audience from rural areas.

In spite of the two music videos telling vastly different stories, they have many similar

aspects connecting them. The lyric from before talks of a single-person journey, important to the

plot of each rendition. Each journey is used to push an agenda with the use of pathos, though the

agendas are very different from each other. Although Elton John’s version was more powerful by

far, each used pathos in an effective way to persuade viewers to care about their respective

agendas.

Works Cited

John, Elton. YouTube, YouTube, 22 May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtVBCG6ThDk.

YouTube, YouTube, 29 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNt031VH4Wo.