Learning to fly

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
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

[Spoken:]
Friction lock - set. Mixture - rich. Propellers - fully forward. Flaps - set - 10 degree. Engine 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
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