This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
With your photographs of Kitty Hawk
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small
No schoolroom kept you grounded
While your thoughts could get away
You were taking off in Tiger Moths
Your wings against the brush-strokes of the day
Are you there
On the tarmac with the winter in your hair
By the empty hangar doors you stop and stare
Leave the oil-drums behind you, they won't care
Oh, are you there
Oh, you wrapped me up in a leather coat
And you took me for a ride
We were drifting with the tail-wind
When the runway came in sight
The clouds came up to gather us
And the cockpit turned to white
When I looked the sky was empty
I suppose you never saw the landing-lights
Are you there
In your jacket with the grease-stain and the tear
Caught up in the slipstream of dare
The compass roads will guide you anywhere
Oh, are you there
The sun comes up on Icarus as the night-birds sail away
And lights the maps and diagrams
That Leonardo makes
You can see Faith, Hope and Charity
As they bank above the fields
You can join the flying circus
You can touch the morning air against your wheels
Are you there
Do you have a thought for me that you can share
Oh I never thought you'd take me unawares
Just call me if you ever need repairs
Oh, are you there
And the biplanes on your wall
You were always Amy Johnson
From the time that you were small
No schoolroom kept you grounded
While your thoughts could get away
You were taking off in Tiger Moths
Your wings against the brush-strokes of the day
Are you there
On the tarmac with the winter in your hair
By the empty hangar doors you stop and stare
Leave the oil-drums behind you, they won't care
Oh, are you there
Oh, you wrapped me up in a leather coat
And you took me for a ride
We were drifting with the tail-wind
When the runway came in sight
The clouds came up to gather us
And the cockpit turned to white
When I looked the sky was empty
I suppose you never saw the landing-lights
Are you there
In your jacket with the grease-stain and the tear
Caught up in the slipstream of dare
The compass roads will guide you anywhere
Oh, are you there
The sun comes up on Icarus as the night-birds sail away
And lights the maps and diagrams
That Leonardo makes
You can see Faith, Hope and Charity
As they bank above the fields
You can join the flying circus
You can touch the morning air against your wheels
Are you there
Do you have a thought for me that you can share
Oh I never thought you'd take me unawares
Just call me if you ever need repairs
Oh, are you there
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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Great version of a great song,
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This song is practically an eloquent dictionary of pre-jet travel terminology... Kittyhawk, Biplane, Amy J (on whom the song is), Tigermoth, Tarmac, Hangar, Tailwind, Runway Lights, Leather Jacket, Cockpit, Oil drums, Slipstream, Compass, Icarus, Faith+Hope+Charity. Real musical beauty for its unusual melancholic undertone.
This is a tricky one, obviesly she died,(I suppose you never saw the landing-lights) but did he die too? since he was suppose to be with her (And you took me for a ride) "The clouds came up to gather US" either way it is a beautiful song. I believe he died too, but couldnt find her , I'm trying to avoid religious terms like heaven and hell, although clearly using "Faith Hope and Charity" has a strong christian assosciation.
"Faith", "Hope" and "Charity" were the three Gloster Gladiator fighters of the Hal Far flight who alone defended Malta in 1941 until the Hawker Hurricanes arrived.
Actually, no hidden meanings here. It's Al's 'historical' song-writing. Faith Hope and Charity are a reference to the air unit that protected Malta in WWII. And Amy Johnson was a famous aviator.
alstewart.com/history/fsorcery.htm
And FWIW the words are compass ROSE, not roads....
But it IS the best song on the album! :-)
The link on Al Stewart's website has changed. The info about Amy Johnson, the inspiration for the song, is now available at alstewart.com/publicfiles/HISTORY_fsorcery.htm .
@waaayback There are many choices for the best on that album. I love most of them.
All Stewart's tribute to Amelia Earnhardt, fame aviation who disappeared while attempting to cross the Atlantic
@anna114295 Not to Amelia Earhart, but, to Amy Johnson. Amy Johnson was the first British woman to fly solo from UK to Australia. She did it with Gipsy Moth, G-AAAH "Jason". Amy Johnson died 1941 in the WWII.
@anna114295 Not to Amelia Earhart, but, to Amy Johnson. Amy Johnson was the first British woman to fly solo from UK to Australia. She did it with Gipsy Moth, G-AAAH "Jason". Amy Johnson died 1941 in the WWII.
Sorry but there are ome misinterptretations to this amazing song lyrics. "His father, Alastair MacKichan Stewart, who served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force volunteer reserve, died in a plane crash during a 1945 training exercise before Stewart was born." (Wikipedia). I think it is a tribute to his father. -You wrapped me up in a leather coat: a child is wrapped up in clothes. -To gather us: father and son Hope this clarifies the concept a little more.
Al described this as "a breakup song cleverly disguised as a song about airplanes." She left him and went off on her own ("When I looked the sky was empty/I suppose you never saw the landing-lights") but he would take her back in a heartbeat ("Just call me if you ever need repairs").