Obviously the song can be interpreted to be about drugs (smoking pot, psychedelics, etc.) but if you read the last verse which is not included on the Easy Rider, and best-known, version of the song you might be able to see something else.
This song was written during the 60s, and the last verse can easily seem to pertain to the going to war, the Vietnam War. So while you, the listener, thinks the hippies can offer you freedom, the military (air force?) is marketing to you their ability to make you free too, and their ability to make you fly, through joining them and going to war.
Obviously the song can be interpreted to be about drugs (smoking pot, psychedelics, etc.) but if you read the last verse which is not included on the Easy Rider, and best-known, version of the song you might be able to see something else.
This song was written during the 60s, and the last verse can easily seem to pertain to the going to war, the Vietnam War. So while you, the listener, thinks the hippies can offer you freedom, the military (air force?) is marketing to you their ability to make you free too, and their ability to make you fly, through joining them and going to war.