"Learning To Fly" lyrics

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction is holding me fast
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted
Just an earth-bound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought, I thought of everything
No navigator to find my way home
Unladen empty and turned to stone
A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted
Just an earth-bound misfit, I

Throttle friction lock - set
Mixtures - rich
Propellers - fully forward
Flaps - set - ten degrees
Engine gauges and suction - check
Radios - set
Transponder - set, recheck
Flight instruments
Altimeters - check both
Navigation lights - on
Pitot heater - on
Strobes - on
Golf romeo-echo ready for departure
Romeo-echo listen out 129 decimal 4
129 4 listening out
Romeo-echo is cleared takeoff, the wind's north at ten knots
Romeo-echo
So, on the brake. Just be ready, it's gonna roll this time
Just feel the power gradually, and it

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss

Can't keep my mind from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted
Just an earth-bound misfit, I