About The Song

“Learning to Fly” is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour, Anthony Moore, Bob Ezrin, and Jon Carin. It was the first single from the band’s thirteenth studio album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The song was released on September 14, 1987, and was accompanied by an official music video. The lyrics of the song describe the experience of learning to fly an airplane, both as a metaphor for personal freedom and as a literal description of the mechanics of flight. The song has a slow tempo and features a guitar solo by David Gilmour. The song was a commercial success, reaching number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in the United States.

Video

Lyrics

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 is holding me fast
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can’t keep my eyes from the circling sky
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
Unladen 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

Throttle friction lock – set
Mixtures – rich
Propellers – fully forward
Flaps – set – ten degrees
Engine gauges and suction – check
Radios – set
Transponder – set, recheck
Flight instruments
Altimeters – check both
Navigation lights – on
Pitot heater – on
Strobes – on
Golf romeo-echo ready for departure
Romeo-echo listen out 129 decimal 4
129 4 listening out
Romeo-echo is cleared takeoff, the wind’s north at ten knots
Romeo-echo
So, on the brake. Just be ready, it’s gonna roll this time
Just feel 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
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