Suggested Listening: On Flying

Since Boeing-Boeing is tangentially about flying, I've been looking into other forms of entertainment that deal with aviation and found quite a lot of material. Initially I was looking into books about flying and airline hostesses, but then I got thinking about movies and music, too. For this post, I'll be focusing on songs about flying, planes, all that air travel-y stuff. 

Before we move forward, I must say, to get some of today's material for this post I navigated parts of the internet I'd never thought I'd see: Airline Pilot forums. There I found five pages of suggested flying-related songs and commentary on the songs... and something about a video done by the Blue Angels and some funky breathing technique used by fighter pilots in certain situations so they can keep blood in their brains. Eye-opening, really. Anyhow, the favorites of the pilot crowd ranged from "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum to "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins (from the Top Gun soundtrack). Other songs mentioned were Lenny Kravitz's "Fly Away," Guns N' Roses' "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "Learning to Fly" by both Pink Floyd and Tom Petty, Jimmy Buffett's "Jamaica Mistaka," Elton John's "Rocket Man," Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Zephyr," and "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf. 

Of course there were more, but it got me thinking... what are some favorite flying/plane/air travel songs of the NC Stage staff? And the responses...

 - Willie:  "Indigo Girls, 'Airplane.' It's goofy, but it gets stuck in my head on a surprising number of flights.  Others that spring to mind are Nanci Griffith's 'Flier,' which is sad and sweet, and of course 'Back in the U.S.S.R.'"

 - Amanda: "'Leavin' on a Jet Plane' by John Denver. Love me some John Denver.  Makes me tear up.  Totally different: 'The Letter' by the Box Tops - awesome sing-along at the top of your voice when you're driving.  'Get me a ticket for an aeroplane, ain't got time to take a fast train...'"

 - Melinda: "Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Aeroplane'... though it has some strong language. Gary Allen's 'Watching Airplanes' or Steve Miller Band's 'Jet Airliner' are good ones, too."

 - Lauren (me): I love me some Ben Folds, so I'm going to have to mention 'Landed', but I love Ol' Blue Eyes and his song 'Come Fly with Me,' too. However I always think of the Junior Birdman song that my mom taught me as a kid.

 - Charlie: "It's a tie between 'Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)' by Cobra Starship, and 'Final Countdown' by Europe. Enjoy!"

 

What's your favorite flying/airplane/sky song?

Drawing a blank? Here's another list of flying songs from Made Manual (a website I found the other day when I was looking for a recipe for Mac n' Cheese balls) that might help stimulate the imagination.