Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Skyrockets in flight


At work, we've been doing this contest about the best EAA AirVenture-inspired songs. The rules, in a nutshell, were that songs had to include flight, flying, the sky, space, planes, etc., in the song, and no, we couldn't use "Leavin' on a Jetplane" or any song from David Bowie. Then we burnt copies for everyone and passed them out. I think we're supposed to be judging them, but I haven't heard them all yet.

The winner of the best compilation gets the pride in knowing they know more obscure songs about flying than anyone. Oooh, aahh.

But, I figured that since we're all going to be getting in the mood for EAA sooner or later, why not post a few of the best here. I should have posted this a long time ago, and you guys could have helped me out, and I COULD HAVE WON. Kidding.

My favorites (meaning the best picks of all CDs I've gotten thus far, not my own), in no particular order (and really, as the contest is over, only cheaters would steal or remove these songs from their CDs before handing them in late, right, RIGHT??):

1. "505," the Rolling Stones.
2. "At the Bottom of Everything," Bright Eyes (OK, yeah, that was mine. It's a creepy song about a plane crash.)
3. "Afternoon Delight," Starland Vocal Band. Who just thought of Will Ferrell and Steve Carell? I know I did.
4. A few sound clips from "Airplane!"
5. "Take Me to the Pilot," Elton John.
6. "Recycled Air," Postal Service.
7. "Silver Rocket," Sonic Youth.
8. "Teenagers From Mars," The Misfits.
9. "Helicopter," M. Ward.
10. "If the Plane Goes Down"* Jason Mraz (*Honorary entry, as it was on a mixed CD that never got officially turned in)
11. "Airline to Heaven," Wilco.
12. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," Neutral Milk Hotel.
13. "Close to You," the Carpenters.
14. "I'm a Little Airplane," Jonathan Richman.
15. "Little Trip to Heaven," Tom Waits.

Think you can come up with better ones? Go ahead, post 'em here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

congratulations on your decision to become a pilot

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=53981603

Bruce Dierbeck said...

Here are some flight-themed songs on my ipod right now:

Freedy Johnston, "Western Sky"
Frank Sinatra, "Fly Me To The Moon"
Elvis Presley, "Promised Land"
Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds
, "Don't Pull Your Love" (maybe stretching, but the lyrics do go, "you say you're gonna leave, gonna take that big white bird. Gonna fly right out of here, without a single word ...")
Kenny Loggins, "Danger Zone"
Lenny Kravitz, "Fly Away"
REO Speedwagon, "Time For Me To Fly"

and of course ...

John Denver, "Rocky Mountain High"

That was fun.

Anonymous said...

Uh, yeah, a pilot. That link doesn't work.