“Learning to Fly”
by Pink Floyd
from the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason
1987
Buy the album on Amazon
I’m not really a huge Pink Floyd fan. I don’t dislike the Floyd I just never had much exposure. They’ll probably end up being another Zeppelin for me – a few years from now I’ll be way, way into them. I didn’t get around to Zeppelin until maybe ten years ago, but now I totally get it. So don’t give up on me Pink Floyd fans; I might come around. This particular song though, I absolutely loved from the moment I saw the music video back in ’87 or ’88. Probably watching Dial MTV…
I don’t remember if it came out in summer. I haven’t analyzed the lyrics to know what the song is actually about. I just know that the song makes me feel summer and it always has. I’m sure a lot of it is the music video… those gorgeous blue skies and the wind coming off the plane whipping through the fields. The themes of flight and air in this dreamy jam just makes it ooze summer. It makes me want to lean back and stare into a warm summer sky. Which is what I’m going to do right now… because:
Also, how great is that guitar player’s hair (in the background). He has a crew cut on top and long flowing hair down his back. Not quite a mullet… like a super, kingly mullet. I totally wanted that haircut when I was kid.