The Story Behind The Song: Pink Floyd’s instructional ‘Learning to Fly’
For many people, Pink Floyd are much more than a band. They are an institution of creativity, a cultural frame of reference, a portal to a bygone era and a defining band of the 20th century. Their anthems offer listeners a chance to re-connect with the world at large, while their albums instil a certain nostalgia for an England fading away like the history they hope to contain. With time, the band evolved into something completely different.
Following the maniacal musical moments of the 1960s, the band grew into prog-rock heroes during the 1970s, creating some of the most significant concept albums of all time. It would be a continuous pathway of artistic development and see David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright become cult heroes and global superstars. Of course, all good things come to an end, and the group would soon split with the principal leaders of the band, Waters and Gilmour, proving to have irreconcilable differences.
The duo had been the two forces behind some of the band’s best songs, but things changed with one-half of the team out on their own. After Roger Waters left the band, Gilmour began songwriting as a more singular occupation. While it indeed removed a spark of tension and competition from the band, Waters’ departure allowed the guitarist to experiment without reproach, ‘Learning to Fly’ was one of those moments.
One of the most successful songs of the period, Gilmour takes Pink Floyd to a new plane as the dreamlike quality of the track is only enhanced by Gilmour’s musicianship and effervescent vocals. As well as all that, the song is also one of Gilmour’s more personal tunes, proving that he could commit himself to his art. But perhaps the most notable part of the A Momentary Lapse of Reason song is its instructional quality.
The track is built out of two things, firstly, the pilot training David Gilmour was undergoing at the time and the most cherishable notion of rock songs, freedom. In an interview, Gilmour noted:” ‘Learning to Fly’ is about breaking free and the actual mechanics of learning to fly an aeroplane.” Taking help from lyricist Anthony Moore, Gilmour would put his flying lessons into practice by incorporating some actual flying instructions into the lyrics.
Ironically, Gilmour and drummer Mason were scared of flying before getting their pilot’s licenses, with Mason even taking on the role of the over-dubbed pilot’s voice on the track. But while the song is rooted in reality, its metaphor seemed more likened to the band’s ability to deal with the loss of Roger Waters; this was the single that saw the band try to find their own wings, even amid heavy criticism from their former bandmate.
The track would be released in America as a single and land in the hot 100, one of the few Pink Floyd songs to achieve the feat. However, what it would truly symbolise was that whether at the helm of a barrelling aircraft or a mega-ton band, David Gilmour was the man to have behind the controls.
