Pink Floyd — Learning To Fly

Learning To Fly

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back

A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to find my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

Friction lock — set
Mixtures — rich
Propellers — fully forward
Flaps — set — 10 degrees
Engine gauges and suction — check
Mixture set to maximum percent — recheck
Flight instruments
Altimeters — check both
[unintelligible] — on
Navigation lights — on
Strobes — on
to tower: Confirm [unintelligible] ready for departure
tower: Hello again, this is now 129.4
to tower: 129.4. It's to go.

tower: You may commence your takeoff, winds over 10 knots.
to tower: 3-8-Echo
Easy on the brakes. Take it easy. Its gonna roll this time.
Just hand the power gradually, and it...

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer
My grubby halo, a vapor trail in the empty air
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this

Suspended animation, a state of bliss
Can't keep my mind from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I