# Songs about planes and flying
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [January 31, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675 "2025-01-31T13:07:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/1 "2025-01-31T13:07:35Z")
I hope this post isn’t considered in bad taste considering the timing; let me explain why I’m making it:
I’ve typically been kind of a nervous flyer. That didn’t stop me from flying quite a bit from my early adulthood to early middle age, both for business and pleasure. But due to various circumstances, I haven’t _avoided_ flying, but just haven’t had need nor opportunity to fly anywhere in over 10 years. But tomorrow morning I’m getting on a plane, and, especially in light of the recent tragedy, flying has been top of mind, to say the least.
So this morning around 3am, I wake up and have a hard time falling back to sleep. My mind is racing, not just with the thought of flying, but with the million details of packing and such before we go. So, I play a little mind game with myself, thinking of songs about planes and flying.
And just like counting sheep, it worked-- I managed to fall back asleep. But even further than that, it made me think about how ingrained flying is in popular culture. For good reason-- any time you get on a plane, you’re going on _some_ kind of adventure. Even if it’s just a business trip, it’s a break from the day-to-day. So, at least for me, the exercise was kind of therapeutic-- I’ve been reminding myself how amazing (as well as statistically very very safe) plane travel is.
So, I hope you can take the post in that spirit, or in just the general spirit of “Songs about (X)” that we often do. The rules are simple: post song title and artist, and a snippet of relevant lyric if the plane/flying aspect is not immediately apparent in the title. Here are the 3am ones I thought of before drifting back to sleep:
**Jet Airliner**
- Steve Miller Band
**Jet** \*
- Paul McCartney and Wings
**Back in the USSR**
- The Beatles
_Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC…_
**Leaving on a Jet Plane**
- John Denver, various artists(?)
**In the Aeroplane Over the Sea**
- Neutral Milk Hotel
**Like a G6**
- Far East Movement
**Daniel**
- Elton John
_Daniel is travelin’ tonight on a plane…_
\*When I looked up the lyrics this morning I saw that the ‘Jet’ in this song appears to be the name of a woman, not about a plane, but as one of my 3am picks, I’m leaving it in, since it’s my post, dammit!
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/2 "2025-01-31T13:09:58Z")
[Come Josephine in My Flying Machine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxT0lDE2wjE)
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/3 "2025-01-31T13:12:02Z")
Going To California - Led Zeppelin
> Took my chances on a big jet plane
> Never let 'em tell you that they’re all the same
IIRC Robert Plant and/or other band members really didn’t like flying.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/4 "2025-01-31T13:14:10Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> IIRC Robert Plant and/or other band members really didn’t like flying.
Really? Huh. I hadn’t heard that. Surprising, considering they had their own plane:
[ ](https://www.billboard.com/wp-content/uploads/media/starship-bb15-2015-led-zepplin-billboard.jpg?w=450)
Maybe that’s _why_ they had their own plane though- maybe the part about flying they didn’t like was being packed in with the general public.
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/5 "2025-01-31T13:22:29Z")
Gordon Lightfoot’s song _In the Early Morning Rain_
Also sung by Peter, Paul and Mary
Talks about a 707 and watching it fly westward
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/6 "2025-01-31T13:22:45Z")
D.O.A. - Bloodrock
“We were flying along, and hit something in the air…”
Maybe don’t think about that one.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/7 "2025-01-31T13:24:06Z")
> **[It's Sopwith Camel Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRJmsTmxGko%2F)**
>
> Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupIt's Sopwith Camel Time · The Royal GuardsmenSnoopy And His Friends The Royal Guardsmen℗ A Capitol Records Releas...
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/8 "2025-01-31T13:25:54Z")
“American Pie” is at its core about a famous plane flight.
“[Nite Flights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-qp46azma8)” by Scott Walker, but I know it from Bowie’s amazing _[cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL03lUj89oY)_.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/9 "2025-01-31T13:28:27Z")
> **[Airline Amy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK5TiqQn7wo%2F)**
>
> Provided to YouTube by VolcanoAirline Amy · "Weird Al" YankovicOff The Deep End℗ 1992 Volcano Entertainment, III, L.L.C.Released on: 1992-01-01Composer, Lyri...
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### Author:  [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/10 "2025-01-31T13:34:46Z")
_Travelin’ Band_ by CCR.
737 comin’ out of the sky
Won’t you take me back to Memphis on a midnight ride
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/11 "2025-01-31T13:35:46Z")
Does German count? There is Hans Albers’ **[Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjjE15ClLgw)** in the original 1932 version, and then there is the modern, [**'80s version**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e61KF2eH3g).
And of course there is Domenico Modugno - **[Nel blu dipinto di blu (“Volare”)](https://youtu.be/uF9mRDW6Gg8?t=61)**
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/12 "2025-01-31T13:36:37Z")
Lot of good ones so far!
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#):
>
> “We were flying along, and hit something in the air…”
> Maybe don’t think about that one.
Yeah, it’s fine, I’ve been watching the wall-to-wall coverage of the crash, so I can take it. I did think of this one at 3am as well, but left it out because I was trying to stay positive:
**Fire and Rain**
- James Taylor
_Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground_
> [@Pardel-Lux](#):
>
> Does German count?
Sure!
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/13 "2025-01-31T13:40:17Z")
The Byrds - **Eight Miles High**
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/14 "2025-01-31T13:42:02Z")
I always thought of that song as more of a drug-related metaphor than about literally flying in a plane, but what the hey, I’ll allow it.
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/15 "2025-01-31T13:44:01Z")
Enola Gay - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Up, Up and Away - The 5th Dimension
One Day I’ll Fly Away - Randy Crawford
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### Author:  [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/16 "2025-01-31T13:47:02Z")
La Orquestra Mondragón **[Bon Voyage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SIC9l5UEHs)** is parodic, but the whole record was hilarious. **[Viaje con nosotros](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MoyZ-cbxO0&list=OLAK5uy_n5PUckSG8vXRv3w4kmnF6Irei27zvA7mA&index=1)** opens the playlist. Understanding Spanish helps.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/17 "2025-01-31T13:47:43Z")
Supertramp - **Breakfast in America** (“Take a jumbo across the water”)
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/18 "2025-01-31T13:51:49Z")
It was both. They (the Byrds) were inspired by an actual plane flight.
My contribution: “Aeroplane,” by Jethro Toe.
(It was Tull’s first little single. The record company printed the label incorrectly.)
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/19 "2025-01-31T13:58:18Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#):
>
> It was both. They (the Byrds) were inspired by an actual plane flight.
OK, I thought ‘Eight Miles High’ was much higher than a commercial flight would ever get to, but I did the math: eight miles is 42,240 feet, and [according to the internets](https://epicflightacademy.com/flight-school-faq/how-high-do-commercial-planes-fly/):
> The approved maximum altitude for most commercial aircraft is 42,000 feet.
So, just a little too high (said some member of the Byrds at some point, I’m sure)
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2025, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/20 "2025-01-31T13:59:24Z")
The original (pre-recording) lyric was “six miles high” (more correct), but they thought “eight” sounded cooler.
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