Honky Chateau

Honky Chateau was Elton John's fifth album, and his first number one, the first of seven consecutive number ones that made him the biggest rock superstar of the decade.

Today is it is known for what some might consider his best song, the song that supplied the title of his recent biopic, "Rocket Man." That song is a perfect encapsulation of an insightful lyric by Bernie Taupin and a haunting melody by John. Taken literally, the song is about an astronaut who is about to take off for Mars:

"She packed my bags last night, pre-flight
Zero hour: 9:00 a.m
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"

But I think the song serves as a metaphor for men who work in general, and miss their families and feel lonely. It's not like Taupin and John ever had real jobs, so perhaps it could be seen as a parallel to fame, as well. But the song captures loneliness so well that even after thousands of listens its heartbreaking.

The album's other hit was "Honky Cat," which is one of Taupin's many songs about the dichotomy of living in the country and in the city. In this song, he's a rube who wants to live in the city, but is told he should go back (in "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" it would be the opposite):

"You better get back, honky cat
Living in the city ain't where it's at
It's like trying to find gold in a silver mine
It's like trying to drink whisky, oh, from a bottle of wine"

The third song on the record that people still listen to today is one of Taupin's fanciful lyrics, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters," which reflects how Taupin saw New York City:

"While Mona Lisas and mad hatters
Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say, "Good morning" to the night
For unless they see the sky
But they can't, and that is why
They know not if it's dark outside or light"

In the category of songs that probably shouldn't have been written are "I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself," which is about a teenager contemplating suicide--today it would seen as irresponsible. And not learning much from "Indian Sunset," Taupin wrote "Slave," which is, you guessed it, sung from the point of view of an African slave:

"There's a river running sweat right through our land, through our land
Driven by a man with a bullwhip in his hand, in his hand
And I've taken just as much as I can stand, I can stand
Oh, we've got to free our brothers from their shackles, yeah, if we can, if we can"

This is cultural appropriation, and while well-intentioned, is an insult to slaves who actually went through this. While some may think that it was better in those days not to have to worry about political correctness, it's better today where writers have to think a little bit before they suggest they can represent what an actual slave, or plains Indian, went through.

Honky Chateau was part of an incredibly prolific time for John. It would be only the first release of 1972--next up was Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player.