Jaunted

Eight Miles High

1/08/2007 at 4:01 PM
Tags: Travel Music, Music, YouTube (all tags)

Above: Hüsker Dü covers "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds.

Were the Byrds paranoid because they took drugs, or did they take drugs because they were paranoid? Either way, "Eight Miles High" isn't the straight-up drug anthem it's often made out to be. It really is about flying, at least in part, and the alienating power of foreign travel. Gene Clark was notoriously terrified of flying, and his phobia was even cited as the official cause of his departure from the group. 'Course, any good Clark groupie prefers to blame Roger McGuinn for the split. He, too, had ties to flying, albeit of a different sort. He chose his first name--changing it from Jim to Roger--from a list of choices inspired by his then interest in space travel and aviation: it's "Roger," as in pilots' radio communication.

Play It On: Your first backpacking trip to Amsterdam, a turbulent flight on a shady airline.