Rocket 🚀 | 3BOPS

On the 67^th edition of 3BOPS (2021), we select three awesome songs that are associated with a ROCKET 🚀 in some form or fashion.

O

n 3BOPS, we are totally dedicated to keeping things L-I-T-E! Similar to 5ive Songs, there’s a topic and a short blurb, only with THREE songs instead of FIVE.  Yes, it’s a playlist, but it’s a miniature playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  On the 67^th edition of 3BOPS (2021), we select three awesome songs that are associated with a ROCKET 🚀 in some form or fashion.

---

1. Beyoncé, “Rocket”

💿 Beyoncé • 🏷 Sony • 🗓 2013

“Let me sit this ass on you, show you how I feel.” 🎙 Beyoncé shocked the world with her ‘visual album,’ 💿 Beyoncé, released in 2013.  Beyoncé was of the truly great contemporary R&B albums of the 2010s.  The sensual 🎵 “Rocket”, is all about making passionate love and of course, ‘blasting off.’  “I wanna show you now, slow it down, go around,” she sings near the end of the first verse, continuing, “You rock hard, I rock steady.” Phew!

On the chorus, things only grow more titillating as Bey encourages him to “Hold me ‘til I scream for air to breathe / And wash me over until my well runs dry / Send all your sins all over me, babe, over me.”  JESUS!  It doesn’t stop there, folks! On the second verse, Mrs. Carter asserts, “I’m proud of all this bass, when you put it in your face.”  That’s still just two of four verses, with the fourth being the most risqué:

“Punish me, please
Daddy, what you gon’ do with all this ass.”

#BLASTOFF!!! 🍆 💦

Also Appears On 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Beyoncé, “Rocket”: After Dark 🕛 🌃 No. 33

---

2. Stevie Wonder, “Rocket Love”

💿 Hotter Than July • 🏷 Motown • 📅 1980

“I long for you since I was born / A woman sensitive and warm / And that you were.” In 1980, 🎙 Stevie Wonder was 💿 Hotter Than July. Hotter Than July followed Mr. Wonder’s most lucrative and innovative time in his career in the 70s.  During the 70s, Stevie won the 🏆 Grammy for Album of the Year thrice, with the most notable win being for 💿 Songs in the Key of Life.  Even with him ‘kicking ass and taking names’ during the 70s, Hotter Than July was a fine album with no shortage of hits. “Rocket Love” isn’t the main attraction – “All I Do”, “Master Blaster (Jammin’)”, “Lately”, and “Happy Birthday” are the crowning achievements – but it still earns an ‘A’ in my book.

The third track from Hotter Than July benefits from those typical Stevie Wonder characteristics.  There’s an awesome groove, ample rhythm, and masterful riffs. The strings are one of the best features – agile, dizzying, and dramatic. Notably, Stevie sings in an undertone at times during the song, yet remains potent, nonetheless.  By the end, he’s elevated the performance dynamically. Besides the electric musicianship, thematically, Wonder shares with us how a relationship that was once lit soured.

“You took me riding in your rocket, gave me a star
But at a half a mile from heaven you dropped me back
Down to this cold, cold, world.”

Bummer Stevie, but your pain is our listening pleasure! “Rocket Love,” baby!

---

3. Elton John, “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Gonna Be a Long, Long Time)”

💿 Honky Chateau • 🏷 Mercury • 📅 1972

“I miss the Earth so much; I miss my wife / It’s lonely out in space / On such a timeless flight.” Sorry to her that, 🎙 Elton John!  Also, some fans may be saddened to hear that 🎵 “Rocket Man” is NOT about outer space.  Bummer, I know! Sure, the iconic musician sings lines such as the one you saw earlier as well as “Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids / In fact it’s cold as hell,” but HE’S 👏 NOT 👏 LITERALLY 👏 SINGING 👏 ABOUT 👏 MARS 👏!

Like many superbly written songs (words penned by 🎼✍ Bernie Taupin), “Rocket Man” from 💿 Honky Chateau (1972) is metaphorical. So, what does Sir Elton John sing about, then? Fame and its pitfalls. This is apparent on lyrics like “Rocket man! Burning out his fuse up here alone.”  Man, oh, man, it gets so lonely at the top.

---

Rocket 🚀 : 3BOPS No. 67 (2021) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Mercury, Motown, The Musical Hype, Nasa, Sony, Unsplash, Wilson Blanco from Pixabay]

---