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compiled by Erin Sheehy

ART OF SONG
“Rocket Man” (as performed by William Shatner)
Originally by Elton John
Honky Château
1972 | MCA

On a recent Tonight Show appearance, William Shatner delivered a stirring reinterpretation of the naturalist-poet / relatively indecipherable portion of Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial farewell speech. Probably only Shatner, whose career in television and spoken-word music spans close to six decades — including Star Trek and its various iterations, the 1968 album The Transformed Man, two guest-villain spots on Columbo, the “Priceline Negotiator” commercials, and a film that used universal language attempt, Esperanto, as its primary language (1965’s Incubus) — could give Mrs. Palin the bizarre sendoff she deserves. First, the chosen speech excerpt then the link to this riveting performance:

…soaring through nature’s finest show. Denali, the great one, soaring under the midnight sun. And then the extremes. In the winter time it’s the frozen road that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty, the cold though, doesn’t it split the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs? And then in the summertime such extreme summertime about a hundred and fifty degrees hotter than just some months ago, than just some months from now, with fireweed blooming along the frost heaves and merciless rivers that are rushing and carving and reminding us that here, Mother Nature wins. It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild good life teeming along the road that is north to the future.

Check out Shatner’s interpretation of Palin’s speech here.

Yet long before his latest pop-culture collision, Shatner orchestrated one that may never be topped. This performance star dates back to 1978, the year he both hosted and performed at the Science Fiction Film Awards (which, thanks to Star Wars’s popularity, used to air on television). As a performer, he reinterpreted Elton John’s 1972 hit, “Rocket Man.” Not only does Shatner Captain Kirk-speak and Sinatra-smoke his way through his synthesizer-backed rendition, he gets none other than a dryly “truly proud” Bernie Taupin (who co-wrote the song with Elton John) to introduce him. The song, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story, “The Rocket Man,” never knew it would so boldly and kitschily go where it did. Thanks to Shatner’s bizarre instincts, the song will remain a classic for singer-songwriter and sci-fi fans, no matter the life form. Video after the jump.
More on William Shatner | “Rocket Man”