This song is about the race car driver Donald Campbell, a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. "We watched him die on TV," said Biff Byford in an interview.
11 days before Biff Byford's 16th birthday on January 4, 1967, Campbell set out to break the water speed record in Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water. His father had set the world record on the same lake on August 19, 1939, achieving a speed of 141.74mph, which his son had sought to more than double; Between them, the two men held a staggering 21 world speed records, the last being Donald's 403.1mph on land in July 1964. His final attempt on water was monitored by the media, including filming of the actual crash; The vehicle had been broken up and his body was not recovered until May 2001.
This song is about the race car driver Donald Campbell, a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. "We watched him die on TV," said Biff Byford in an interview.
11 days before Biff Byford's 16th birthday on January 4, 1967, Campbell set out to break the water speed record in Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water. His father had set the world record on the same lake on August 19, 1939, achieving a speed of 141.74mph, which his son had sought to more than double; Between them, the two men held a staggering 21 world speed records, the last being Donald's 403.1mph on land in July 1964. His final attempt on water was monitored by the media, including filming of the actual crash; The vehicle had been broken up and his body was not recovered until May 2001.