Notes on 'Flight' (from the album 'A Black Box')

by Martin Hall (mahall@uk.oracle.com)

In the days when writing materials were scarce, it was not uncommon to scrape the ink from a piece of hide so that it could be reused. The remains of the writing underneath the new writing are known as a 'palimpsest'.  This is an attempt to recover some of the palimpsest behind Flight (read lyrics to Flight). 

• "Flight"
  A pun, possibly on the two meanings of the word.  Either the process of flying or the process of fleeing from something. 
   

• "I search for the mote in my brother's eye
  beneath the pence... "
  Two references.  The first is biblical, New Testament (Matthew Chapter 7 verses 2-5).  Something like 'Why do you search for the mote in your brother's eye without first removing the beam from your own?' The second is possibly a reference to the ancient practise of putting coins on a dead person's eyes, both to keep the eyes shut and as a method of paying the ferryman for the journey to the underworld.
  
• "a time of blunt instruments."
  Standard phrase from post-mortem (autopsy) reports referring to a cause of death; e.g. 'a series of blows from a blunt instrument'.  Also used to describe solutions to a problem that are a good deal less than subtle. 
    
• "the pennies from heaven drop through my soul:"
  an echo of the above. 'Pennies from Heaven' was the title of a popular song in the Thirties (also the title of a television play (and film) by the British playwright, Dennis Potter). 
    
• "We want it to be slow, all the way to stall;"
  An aeroplane depends for the power of flight on its forward motion.  If it moves too slowly, it will 'stall' and stop flying. 
    
• "I'd strapped myself into the Fortress"
  The 'Flying Fortress' was the name for an American bomber used principally in the Second World War. 
    
• "We got full clearance"
  The term for permission to take off or land given by the Air Traffic Controller (see below) 
   

White canes are used by blind (and partially sighted) people, partly as an aid to avoiding obstacles and also as an indication of their state. 

• "only venial sin"
  Catholic concept, there are mortal sins which condemn and venial sins which are less serious. 
    
• "with a drawing pin punching out the Braille"
  A 'drawing pin' is the English term for a 'thumb tack' - possibly a pun here in that he is actually using the pin to 'draw' the Braille message. 
    
• "Upset the contango on your future stock;"
  'contango', a stock market term for a situation where prices are higher in the forward delivery months than in the nearby delivery months. A contango normally occurs when supplies are adequate or in surplus. Possibly a play on 'tango', another dance. 
    
• "paying backwardation, hold onto what you've got -"
  'backwardation', a stock market term for a situation where the prices of near months are higher than the prices of deferred months, i.e. prices are inverted. Such a price structure normally reflects a shortage of supplies. 
   

• "but we're still gliding deep into the red,"
  Financial term, 'in the black' means you're in profit.  'In the red' means you're making a loss.  This would be a reference to the previous section. Additionally this refers to the red or danger area found on most instrumentation. 
    
• "except for the man from the ministry."
  'the (sometimes our) man from the ministry' is a common term for a civil servant or government employee. 
    
• "he's flying a chair"
  term used by ex-pilots when they have been retired to a job in the office. 
    
• "at a barrel roll"
  Aerobatic manoeuvre, rolling the plane along its axis. 
    
• "the black-out world"
  During the second world war, the countries in Europe used to practise the 'black out'; basically not showing lights for fear of giving bombers clues as to the whereabouts of population centres.  Pilots can also 'black out' due to experiencing excessive G-Force during some manoeuvres. 
    
• "oh come in, come in number one:"
  Called out when you hired boats or other pleasure craft on a lake or on the sea.  Each craft is numbered and your number was called when your time was up (as in the next line, "your time's nearly run"). Also used in radio communications (on an open channel) when contact is desired, the initiator would broadcast "come in, come in x" where x is a code name or number for the desired contact.  Has also been used to attract someone's attention when they're lost in thought. 
   

• "Too much to drink, for the cup reaches down to the sea;"
  The Norse gods entered into a number of contests with their old enemies, the giants, and they were all rigged so that they would lose.  One such was to drain a drinking horn, which happened to be connected to the sea, so could never be finished. 
    
• "but the radio ham's out giving blood -"
  British comic, Tony Hancock (1924-1968).  Two of his famous programs were called 'The Radio Ham' and 'The Blood Donor', recorded for television and also available on record in 1961.  These are still available on BBC video. 
    
• "The cricketer knows his 'Wisden',"
  Wisden is the name of an annual publication for cricket fans giving individual scores and results of the county and test cricket matches. 
    
• "the pilot has got his 'Jane's',"
  'Jane's publish a series of guides to aircraft and ships etc. giving pictures, sizes, age and squadron size. Jane's All the World's Aircraft is considered the "bible" of the aviation industry. 
    
• "wait for the snake that the ladder becomes."
  'Snakes and Ladders' - a popular board game.  Counters are moved along a board to the throw of a dice.  Landing at the bottom of a ladder causes the player to move up (and thence forward) to the top of the ladder.  Landing at the head of a snake causes the reverse to happen. 
   

• "Sycamore silk-worm wings"
  Children refer to the seeds of the sycamore tree as 'parachutes'.  The seed has two wings that cause it to spiral slowly to the ground as it falls. 
    
• "or Roman Candle to the ground"
  Parachutes can fail to open properly and catch the air they turn into a long thin shape referred to as a 'Roman Candle', also a name for a type of firework. 
    
• "when the balloon goes up"
  a term dating from the first world war. In the first world war, balloons were used to raise up artillery observers so that they could see where the cannon shells were landing and tell the gunners what adjustments were needed to their trajectory. No matter what side the balloon was on, it was never good news. If the balloon was on the other side, it meant that the enemy shelling was going to get a lot more accurate. If it was on your side, you knew that bombardments of the enemy position were usually a precursor to an attack, which meant getting up out of the safety of your trench and running out into 'no man's land' while the enemy shot at you. 
   

• "there's something in everything if you can only pin down its name"
  a theory in the practise of magic states that knowing the true name of a person or thing grants you control over them.    
• "the umbilical cord is ripped -"
  Pun here on 'rip-cord', the line you pull to release a parachute.
• "to fly on a wing and a prayer"
  2nd World War phrase, it refers to flying a plane when there's not a lot of it left.  Can be used to refer to a romantic/heroic exercise.

All I know for sure this is the end. 

- Martin Hall (mahall@uk.oracle.com) 

All corrections, additions and suggestions gratefully received.
 

Jeff Wechter 
SAROKA@AIRONET.COM 
John McPharlin 
Jose Javier 

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