By Marco den Ouden
”She soars on her own wings.” - Socrates
“The contemplation of beauty causes the soul to grow wings.” - Plato
“The man who has no imagination has no wings.” - Muhammed Ali
“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” - Salvador Dali
Since humans first observed birds flying, wings have held an important role in the human psyche. We envy the birds their flight. We associate flying with freedom. Wings have a spiritual quality as we associate wings with angels. And we have coined phrases like spreading your wings to mean leaving the nest and striving to reach your goals.
We lead off this week’s selections with an instrumental that catches the ethereal quality of wings in flight. Virtuoso Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senagalese kora player Seckou Keita enchant us with Clarach, a tune about the rehabilitation of the Welsh Osprey. Clarach was the name given to the first such bird to make the migration from Africa to Wales. Close your eyes as you listen and you can see the majestic bird taking wing in your mind’s eye.
Man has long dreamed of flying. Ziggy Marley (Bob’s son) and Elizabeth Mitchell imagine having the Wings of an Eagle. But of course they don’t, so they soar on the wings of song instead. Hans Theessink would fly to the girl he loves if he had the Wings of a dove. One of twenty songs nominated with that single-word title.
Not surprisingly wings have inspired many myths and stories. One of these is The Crane Wife, a Japanese folk tale about a man who tends to the broken wing of a crane, nursing the bird back to health. The released bird returns in human form and becomes the man’s crane wife. The Decemberists tell this enchanting tale which also has a moral about trust and greed.
An even older myth is that of Icarus, the son of Daedalus, and their attempt to flee Crete with wings forged of feathers and wax. Daedalus warns his son not to fly Too Close to the Sun. The tale is recounted by Alan Parsons.
Wings have long been a spiritual image because of their association with angels. Legendary Louisiana preacher Utah Smith made a name for himself with his music in the 1920s through to his retirement in 1961. He often appeared before his congregation wearing two large paper angel wings. His song Two Wings is in the B-list. Here we have Elton John singing a tribute to the good reverend in I Got 2 Wings.
Of course, we humans finally caught up to our feathered friends with the Wright Brothers famous flight at Kittyhawk, North Carolina in 1903. The airplane quickly became a commercial success and also became a vital tool in war. The D-Day Darlings sing about a WWII bomber returning to England with a damaged engine. They made it back Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer.
Fighter jets have advanced considerably since that war and were romanticised in the popular Tom Cruise movie Top Gun. Cheap Trick sing Mighty Wings, one of many hit songs from the flick.
Despite the attempts at romanticising war and combat, it remains one of the terrible blights that has plagued humanity for thousands of years. I’m currently reading a book called War by Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer. Dyer tells us that research done during World War II revealed that the moral injunction “Thou shalt not kill” is so deeply rooted in our culture that “on average only 15 percent of trained combat riflemen fired their weapons at all in battle. The rest would not flee, but they would not kill – even when their own position was under attack and their lives were in immediate danger.” (page 54). These were U.S. infantrymen on the battlefield between 1943 and 1945.
Further research showed this was universally true, even going back to the Civil War. This led to the American and other western militaries changing their training protocols. Recruits were now taught in basic training “that their purpose is not just to be brave or to fight well; it is to kill people.” (page 59) “By the Vietnam War around 80 percent of American soldiers were shooting to kill.” (page 61) This led to an epidemic of post traumatic stress disorder among Vietnam vets.
That was sort of a long but necessary introduction to our next song. Joni Mitchell introduces The Beat of Black Wings with the story of how she came to write it. The Beat of Black Wings may be the literal beat of helicopter rotors, or it could be symbolic of the psychological damage of PTSD. The bitterness and pain evoked in the song is devastating.
For the Edgar Broughton Band, a murmuration of birds one Evening Over Rooftops is symbolic of death itself. “They rose up in a column, hundreds upon hundreds and twice that many wingspeed. Four miles across, stretched a million miles high … Feathers thrashed together locked in that huge swarm. I knew no one could see it and now that it was gone I rubbed my eyes and tried to find a reason for the flight. Exodus? Escape?”
Well, after such gloomy thoughts, I’ll leave you with something lighter. A Head With Wings, of course, is about being high on drugs, appropriately enough by a band called Morphine. And troubadour Jimmy Buffett sings about Wings that you can’t see. Invisible wings? Or…? He offers a clue. “I don't need no runway, I've got fuel here in my bong.”
And we conclude with a wonderful upbeat song about following your dreams. Our third song called Wings has British girl group Little Mix tell us “these wings are made to fly.” After all, their mama told them: “Spread your wings, my little butterfly.” Ain’t nobody gonna bring them down!
Fly high, Song Bar patrons!
The Almighty Avian and Aviator A-List Playlist:
1. Clarach - Catrin Finch & Sekou Keita (Suzi)
2. Wings of an Eagle - Ziggy Marley & Elizabeth Mitchell (Fred Erickson)
3. Wings - Hans Theessink (Fred Erickson)
4. The Crane Wife 1 & 2 - The Decemberists (amylee)
5. Too Close to the Sun - Alan Parsons (IsabelleForshaw)
6. I’ve Got 2 Wings - Elton John (Fred Erickson)
7. Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer - The D-Day Darlings (OliveButler)
8. Mighty Wings - Cheap Trick (Fred Erickson)
9. The Beat of Black Wings - Joni Mitchell (swawilg)
10. Evening Over Rooftops - Edgar Broughton Band (sonofwebcore)
11. A Head With Wings - Morphine (Seth Miller)
12. Wings - Jimmy Buffett (Fred Erickson)
13. Wings - Little Mix (Loud Atlas)
The Big Beating B-List Playlist:
1. Two Wings - Rev. Utah Smith (swawilg)
2. On the Wings of a Nightingale - Everly Brothers (swawilg)
3. Blackbird - The Beatles (severin)
4. Jonathan - Barclay James Harvest (severin) - inspired by Jonathan Livingstone Seagull
5. Fly Little White Dove Fly - The Bells (tincanman) - I went to school with the singer’s sister
6. Eagle - Abba (pejepeine)
7. Broken Wings - Mr. Mister (Loud Atlas)
8. Falling in Love Again - Marlene Dietrich (sonofwebcore)
9. Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground - Willie Nelson (magicman)
10. Weightless - Matt Anderson (Loud Atlas)
11. On the Wings of a Dove - Leon Russell (BanazirGalbasi)
12. Tejiendo Alas - Malú (Makinavaja)
13. Je Dors Avec Elle - Julien Clerc (TatankaYotanka)
14. Gaia - Peter Hammill (TatankaYotanka)
15. Snowbird - Anne Murray (Alaricmc)
16. High Flight - BYU Women’s Chorus (BanazirGalbasi) - based on John Gillespie Magee Jr. poem
17. Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine - Eric Wiseacre (BanazirGalbasi)
18. Fodder in Her Wings - Nina Simone (Fred Erickson)
19. Goldwing - Billie Eilish (Loud Atlas)
20. Wings of a Dove - Van Dyke Parks (ParaMohr)
21. Silver Wings and Golden Rings - Billie Jo Spears (Fred Erickson)
22. Wings Upon Your Horns - Loretta Lynn (Fred Erickson)
23. Broken Wings - Anastacia (Fred Erickson)
24. Blue Wing - Tom Russell (treefrogdemon)
25. Young Wings Can Fly - Ruby and the Romantics (Nicko)
26. The Girl Who Used to be Me - Patti Austin (florian7)
27. Wings - Little Simz (magicman)
28. Skye Boat Song - Paul Robeson (sonofwebcore)
29. From Galway to Graceland - Richard Thompson (Alaricmc)
30. O For the Wings of a Dove - Kiri Te Kanawa (severin)
Soaring Instrumental C-List Playlist:
1. Two Wing Temple in the Sky # 1 - Johnny Wiggs (TarquinSpodd)
2. No Step on Wing - Nils Frahm (megadom)
3. Upon the Wings of Music - Jean Luc Ponty (BanazirGalbasi)
4. Winged Processional - Mesa Music Consort (Suzi)
5. Wings and Things - Johnny Hodges & Wild Bill Davis (TatankaYotanka)
6. Wings - Kitaro (Fred Erickson)
7. Little Wing - Stevie Ray Vaughan (amylee)
Guru’s Wildcard Pick:
At this year's Olympics a popular anime tune has been played at the beginning of volleyball games featuring the Japanese team. The song, Fly High by Burnout Syndromes is from an anime called Haikyuu. Here is the original version as well as a cover in English by AmaLee. Thanks to my son for the suggestion.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: And the beat goes on: songs about wings. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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