I am the grit in the gears, the missing bolt, I am the poker of sticks into spokes. I like to know how things work, but sometimes when I take them apart and rebuild them, I have a few pieces left over. I am a man, so I tend to leave reading the instructions until after it goes wrong. And like all men I have a comprehensive mental map of the world and never need to ask directions. I never get lost, only sometimes I'm late, or end up in the wrong place entirely. It's what we do.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Eight Miles High, Byrds.
A live concert recording from the Byds gig, the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 1968.
I loved this song in 1968, no less now. In 1968, the first manned Apollo mission was launched, (Apollo 7) the first space mission to carry a three man crew, a previously unheard of eleven day orbital mission, later that year Apollo 8 left earth orbit and travelled to the moon on a three-day journey, completing ten lunar orbits, in preparation for the moon landing in july '69.
1968 was a time of unrest and rebellion, of assassination and unease, Russian tanks crushed the Prague Spring rebellion, Paris was ablaze, Martin Luther King was murdered. Baader-Meinhof guerilla gang bombs go off in Berlin, Wiki 1968.
Others were exploring inner space.
"The obscure lyrics, penned by Clark, are about the group's plane trip touring England in 1965. "Eight miles high, and when you touch down, you'll find that it's stranger than known." Airliners fly at an altitude of six to seven miles high; but it was felt that "eight miles high" sounded better. Unconvinced, the BBC banned the song"
The BBC didn't like that word "high"........
Always liked this song. Goes well with "Sandman" by America.
ReplyDeleteI always liked the line about the signs outside just being their own. What do it mean man, what do it mean?