The story Rocket Man from Bradbury's Illustrated Man is my favorite story of ALL time. I just love the way its written and the mood. I have question though. If you ever listen to the song Rocket Man by Elton John there seems to be a lot of similiarities. Did either have some sort of influence on the other? I am really curious and I would love to know if they are related. In fact my entire English class was pondering this, in class we are learning four of Bradbury's works. Zen in the Art of Writing, Dandelion Wine, Illustrated Man, and Farenheit 451. If any one knows, or Bradbury if you are out there let me know !

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Originally posted by RocketMAN44:
If you ever listen to the song Rocket Man by Elton John there seems to be a lot of similiarities. Did either have some sort of influence on the other? If any one knows, or Bradbury if you are out there let me know ![/B]

RocketMAN: If there were any influence, it would have to be Elton being inspired by Bradbury, and not the other way around, as the story's copyright is 20 years prior to that of Rocketman, which happened to be released in the year I was born.

Cecil Adams addressed this question in a recent follow-up to a question that dealt with David Bowie's "Space Oddity." While Elton John or Bernie Taupin haven't said so directly, it is widely assumed that the song is based on the Bradbury short story.

You can find the column at:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmajort2.html

Christos

[This message has been edited by Christos (edited 10-03-2001).]

Talking about this story made me want to read it again. I love the imagery. When he puts the uniform in the centrifuge . . . some great stuff here. And when the turkey is a "jail of wishbones" . . . that's nice.