Dwight Yokum - 1000 Miles
*Runway four, flight 209
Teardrop falls, we start to climb
This window seat proved a poor choice
It shows the dream that’s been destroyed
A little baby starts to cry
Hey, I would too, if not for pride
I owe so much to pride, it’s true
It brought an end to me and you
But if I could, I’d turn around
Set my feet back on the ground
'Cause all this plane ride holds for me
Is a thousand miles of misery*
Can’t find a link, but Dr. Demento used to play a great song by Mark Silverman called “There’s a Baby On the Plane.” I can relate.
Beat me to it. Southern Rock Opera is actually about Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“Greenville to Baton Rouge” and “Angels and Fuselage” from the same album are also references to the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash.
Silver Bird by Mark Lindsay
Do songs by Jefferson Airplane count?
From a Window Seat by Dawes
*I buckle in my seat belt, plug my headset in a chair
And to the music, I watch flight attendants move
They are pointing out the exits, but it looks more like a prayer
Or an ancient dance their bloodline reaches through
These planes are built for sifting through the warriors from the men
I’ve got time to sit and watch them for a while
You can see everywhere they’re going, everywhere they’ve been
And how they look out at the clouds each time they smile*
Arlo Guthrie doing “Coming Into Los Angeles”
Well, at least one should count- Planes from their reunion album released in 1989.
“Home and Dry,” by Gerry Rafferty:
*This silver bird take me
'cross the sky
Just one more hour and I’ll be
home and dry
‘Cross the ocean, way above the clouds, I come stealin’
*
Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues, Danny O’keefe
Four Strong Winds, Ian Fricker (Ian & Sylvia)
Breakfast In America, Supertramp
Additional (apologetic) hijack: “Airplane” was written and performed by Indigo Girls, with the Roches (no “a”) singing backup harmonies.
Continue–
For something a bit more recent than most of the above suggestions, try “Landing in London” by 3 Doors Down.
Coming In On A Wing And A Prayer
Written in 1943, performed by Ry Cooder among others, including Bing Crosby.
“With our one motor gone
We can still carry on
Coming in on a wing and a prayer”
Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight
Written in 1937, performed by Kinky Friedman and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band among others.
There’s a beautiful, beautiful field
Far away in a land that is fairs
Happy landings to you, Amelia Earhart
Fare thee well, First Lady of the air".
Promised Land by Elvis and many others
Working on a T-bone steak a la carte
Flying over to the golden state
Ah when the pilot told us in thirteen minutes
He would set us at the terminal gate
Swing low chariot come down easy
Taxi to the terminal zone
Cut your engines and cool your wings
And let me make it to the telephone
Also the entire On Air album by Alan Parsons
Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Nick Mason are both pilots. The song certainly describes flying, but is really a metaphor on Gilmour’s feelings as the new band leader after Roger Waters’ departure.
Booming and Zooming by the Tom Tom Club seems to be about a bad day as a test pilot.
Probably not what you want to be thinking about, but there’s the great “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos” by Woody Guthrie, performed here by Arlo Guthrie and Emmylou Harris.
“Break My Mind”… another song about my baby getting on a plane and leaving me.
“Take A Picture” by Filter
Up, Up and Away!
In my beautiful baloon
–The 5th Dimension
…*Up, Up, and Away
*
Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain’t got time to take a fast train
–The Box Tops
…The Letter
I’m Learning to Fly
But I ain’t got wings
Comin’ Down
Is the Hardest thing
–Tom Petty (and the Heartbreakers)
…Learning to Fly
Up we go
Into the wild blue yonder
Flying High
Into the sky
–[Sousa?]
…[WWII Air Force march]
Cool the Engines!
Slow this rocket down
Cool the Engines!
Enough to Take a Look Around
–Boston
…Cool The Engines
How long have I been running for
that morning flight
Through the whispered promises
and the changing light
Of the bed where we both lie
Late for the sky
–Jackson Browne
…Late for the Sky
And as my plane is touching down
Will I still belong
In the arms that held my life?
Or have I stayed away to long?
–Survivor
…Runway Lights
I’m burnin’ through the skies yeah
Two hundred degrees
That’s why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I’m trav’ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you
–Queen
…Don’t Stop Me Now
Meet me halfway
Across the sky
Out where the world belongs
To only you and I
Meet me halfway
Across the sky
Make this a new beginning of another life.
–Kenny Loggins
…Meet Me Halfway
–G!
This one should be instantly recognizable to anyone who’s ever seen a Bugs Bunny cartoon:
Not pop songs, but two of the most kick-ass movie themes ever: And one for its nostalgia value:Robert MacArthur Crawford wrote this in 1938. It was originally called “Army Air Corps,” and was renamed “Air Force Song” in 1947 when the Air Force became a separate service.