Learning To Fly (Live In Earls Court, London, 14 October 1994)

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
Fatal attraction is 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.

The soul intention is learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
God keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I.

Friction lock set.Mixture richPropellers fully forwardFlaps set 10 degreesEngine gauges and suction check
Mixture set to maximum percent recheck
Flight instruments
Altimeters check both
(garbled word) on
Navigation lights on
Strobes on
(to tower): Confirm 3-8-Echo 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 vapour trail in the empty air
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
To 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.