Rocket's Tail

Album: The Sensual World (1989)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song features backing vocals by Trio Bulgarka, a traditional Bulgarian vocal ensemble that appears throughout The Sensual World. "Rocket's actually my cat, but it was written for the Bulgarian girls," Bush explained to NME. "Ridiculous collection of images, nothing to do with Rocket really, he just started it all off. At the time the only song I could think of that mentioned rockets was 'Rocket Man' but since then there has been about three of them. I feel a bit like the Python sketch with that guy making eight-millimetre films saying 'Hitchcock had his Rear Window out while mine was still at the chemists.'"

    Bush actually recorded "Rocket Man" a couple of years later for the tribute album Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin. Her reggae-inflected cover was a commercial success, peaking at #12 on the UK singles chart. In 2007 it won The Observer readers' award for Greatest Cover of all time.
  • The song features guitar by Bush's early music mentor, Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour.

Comments: 1

  • Paul from Rothesay, Nb, NbThis song is absolutely magical. I can still remember listening to it for the first time and getting totally swept up when the song takes off after the acapella intro. David Gilmour's performance is spot on. One of my all-time faves from Kate!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors Examined

Deconstructing Doors Songs With The Author Of The Doors ExaminedSong Writing

Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.

Tommy James

Tommy JamesSongwriter Interviews

"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.

Janet Jackson

Janet JacksonFact or Fiction

Was Janet secretly married at 18? Did she gain 60 pounds for a movie role that went to Mariah Carey? See what you know about Ms. Jackson.

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.

Alice Cooper

Alice CooperFact or Fiction

How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root

Michael Glabicki of Rusted RootSongwriter Interviews

Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.