# Songs about planes and flying **URL:** \ **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:** 8
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/141 "2025-02-01T01:07:08Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Now I’m 56, retired and really have become an old fart, while they still rocked the stages lately, and although I’m not a saint, they lived more, let’s say, dangerous lives than me. How do they do that? First of all, at 56 you’re far from an old fart. You’re still a middle-aged fart! 😉 As for how the Stones do it, as you alluded to earlier in the thread, Jagger is a smart, self-reflective person. He’s never been a crazy drunken druggie partier, he’s more of a shrewd businessman with an eye toward the future. He started jogging and taking care of himself early on so he could run around the stage for an hour or two, every night on tour. Richards is another story altogether. He’s famous for his drug use, but he said in his autobiography that he never used drugs for fun or recreation, but just to help get done what he needed to do. Like gears- if he was down, he took a drug that would shift him up. If he was revving and needed to slow down, he’d do a down-shift drug. He recounted a setting where they had rented a mansion (in France? Been a long time since I read it) and he was busy mixing an album (Exile on Main Street?). He was awake for like 9 days straight, with people partying, and crashing, and waking up, and passing out again, all while he was busy putting together the tracks. Finally, on the ninth day, he just passed out flat on his face. He must just have an amazing constitution. I’ve heard it said that with all his drug use to stay awake, his ‘consciousness hours’ are like that of someone 150% of his actual age, so effectively that of a 120 year old. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/142 "2025-02-01T01:29:48Z")
> [@solost](#): > > He recounted a setting where they had rented a mansion (in France? Been a long time since I read it) and he was busy mixing an album (Exile on Main Street?). Yeah, they recorded “Exile On Main Street” in a mansion in South France and called it that because they were in exile from UK taxes. I read a whole book about these recordings and the circumstances, they were wild and crazy. And that’s why I’m amazed they are still going strong, I wouldn’t have survived a week there. Lots of anecdotes could be told, but I don’t want to hijack the thread further. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/143 "2025-02-01T01:38:14Z")
I’ve actually seen them six times. We saw them both nights at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. We had tickets for Friday night, but came back the next night and bought scalped (kind of) tickets for the Saturday show, which I believe was added later. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/144 "2025-02-01T01:42:44Z")
Ah, hijack away, it’s CS, so the mods aren’t as stringent, it’s my thread, and I certainly don’t mind. I’ve always enjoyed the tangents and side tracks these more casual forum topic threads can take. And I’m enjoying the heck out of this thread. If you haven’t read Keith Richards’ autobiography ‘Life’ I’m sure you would really enjoy it! Now I want to reread it. And here, right back on track: [The Rolling Stones - Who’s Driving Your Plane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgMgD5GnxV4) > [@saucywench](#): > > I’ve actually seen them six times. Aw, now you’re just bragging 😉 What other bands have you seen? I really want to hear your stories now, either here— hijack away, in a pm exchange, or if one of us starts a ‘concerts we’ve been to’ thread (you’d definitely beat me there). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/145 "2025-02-01T01:49:38Z")
> [@solost](#): > > If you haven’t read Keith Richards’ autobiography ‘Life’ I’m sure you would really enjoy it! Now I want to reread it. Be sure I read it shortly after it came out 😉. It was a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/146 "2025-02-01T01:58:39Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Ah, hijack away, it’s CS, so the mods aren’t as stringent, it’s my thread, and I certainly don’t mind. Ok, one anecdote of the “Exile” recordings I like the most: they started out in their usual modus operandi, getting up late, wasting the day away with leisure and some drugs before beginning serious recording in the evening. They expanded the leisure/drug taking times more and more so that at one point, they were surprised to notice that they worked in usual business hours from 9 to 5. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/147 "2025-02-01T02:01:52Z")
Well, we have a 7am flight and I’ve been told we should be there 3 hours early for an international flight, so I think I’m going to wind it down. Thanks to all of you for a nice distraction for me today, and a very entertaining thread. Catch y’all when I get back! > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > They expanded the leisure/drug taking times more and more so that at one point, they were surprised to notice that they worked in usual business hours from 9 to 5. Ha! That is ironic. _Workin’ 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin’_ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/148 "2025-02-01T02:02:34Z")
Have a great vacation! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/149 "2025-02-01T02:06:04Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/150 "2025-02-01T02:09:04Z")
The concert thread sounds fun. I have seen some great ones. Have a wonderful time! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/151 "2025-02-01T02:38:20Z")
Oh, come _on_, people [are](https://youtu.be/Xd8ZfKNgraY?si=Pe7TqMQPxABjWo4M) there no art lovers here?       _I bet Regina’s on the plane_       _A Newsweek on her knees_       _While far below the curlews call_       _From strangely stunted trees_ I mean, a band took their name from the title. Also,       _I’m gonna build a [Jumbo Ark](https://youtu.be/QkuH9vtid00?si=SUYdyMihMq-k_Cnh)_       _Stretch seven-forty-seven_ ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/152 "2025-02-01T02:43:21Z")
Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today We just touched ground on an international runway Jet propelled back home, from overseas to the U.S.A. “Back In The U.S.A.” - Chuck Berry [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XVukAcLqHFI/maxresdefault.jpg "Chuck Berry Back In The USA") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVukAcLqHFI) ---
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/153 "2025-02-01T02:44:59Z")
Sadly this has been running in my head for the last couple week. Of course in Johnie Cash’s voice Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) ‘Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita Adiós mi amigo, Jesus y María You won’t have a name when you ride the big airplane And all they will call you will be “Deportee” The sky-plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon A fireball of thunder, it shook all the hills Who are all these dear friends scattered like dry leaves? The radio said they were just deportees’ ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/154 "2025-02-01T03:00:22Z")
Has anyone mentioned the two tracks on Radiohead’s best album, _OK Computer_? “Lucky” includes the lyric “pull me out of the air crash,” while “The Tourist” arguably is about flying (as well as a metaphor for living or thinking too fast): > They ask me where the hell > I’m going? > At a thousand feet per second Hmm…I guess “The Tourist” isn’t about flying in a plane, after all. I always thought it was, until I saw the lyrics written out just now. Well, that’s what makes great art. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/155 "2025-02-01T03:22:50Z")
Australian band, the Hoodoo Gurus, ‘[I was a Kamikaze Pilot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N56YnwlRU4c)’. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/156 "2025-02-01T03:27:37Z")
Pet Shop Boys - **Love Etc.** _You need more than a big blank check to be a lover, or_ _ **A Gulfstream jet to fly you door to door** _ _Somewhere chic on another shore_ _You need more, you need more, you need more_ [etc.] ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/157 "2025-02-01T08:00:31Z")
> [@saucywench](#): > > Have a wonderful time! Thanks sw! > [@saucywench](#): > > “Back In The U.S.A.” - Chuck Berry Good one! ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/158 "2025-02-01T13:15:15Z")
British Heavy Rock Band **Tygers** **of** **Pang** **Tang** and **Hellbound** which basically describes an aerial dogfight. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/159 "2025-02-01T13:24:21Z")
In a very tenuous link to flying, British Pop Group **The** **Squeeze** had an early hit with **Cool** **For** **Cats** and the lyrics include “The Sweeney’s doing ninety 'cause they’ve got the word to go They get a gang of villains in a shed up at Heathrow” The Sweeney referencing a department of the London police - The Flying Squad although they were not an aerial unit of any kind - and Heathrow being a London airport. ‘Doing 90’ suggesting they were driving fast - 90 MPH - in a built up area. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675/160 "2025-02-01T13:59:51Z")
Another reference to Heathrow Airport is in British New Wave Band **The** **Members** ’ song **Sound** **of** **the** **Suburbs** “Every lousy Monday morning, Heathrow jets go crashing over our home Ten o’clock Broadmoor siren, driving me mad, won’t leave me alone” Trivia: The song was an early production job for Steve Lillywhite who would continue to a very successful career with almost every British New Wave artist plus some high profile stuff with U2, Rolling Stones and The Killers. His brother was drummer in The Members. On a personal note I used to live near enough to hear the Broadmoor siren on a Monday morning. Broadmoor is a secure hospital in Berkshire housing some of the UK’s most notorious criminals (used to house one of the Kray twins which might register in the USA.) Every Monday they would test the siren (signifying an escape) for a few minutes. Then after a gap you would (hopefully) hear them sound the all clear. TCMF-2L [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-planes-and-flying/1013675.md?page=9)