Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
A Momentary Lapse of Reason    8th September 1987

“Learning to Fly”    (Gilmour, Moore, Ezrin, Carin)
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.

"Friction lock - set.
Mixture’s - rich
Propellers - fully forward
Flaps - set - 10 degrees
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 sky
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I.