"Learning to Fly" | ||||||||||
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Artwork for the 12" release of the single
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Single by Pink Floyd | ||||||||||
from the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason | ||||||||||
B-side | "Terminal Frost" | |||||||||
Released | 14 September 1987 | |||||||||
Format | 7", 12", CD | |||||||||
Recorded | November – December 1986 | |||||||||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||||||||
Length | 4:53 (album version) 4:21 (single edit) |
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Pink Floyd singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Learning to Fly" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour, Anthony Moore, Bob Ezrin, and Jon Carin. It was the first single from the band's thirteenth studio album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It reached number 70 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in September, 1987, remaining three consecutive weeks at the top position in the autumn of the same year. Meanwhile, the song failed to chart on the official U.K. top 40 singles charts.
The song was primarily written by David Gilmour, who developed the music from a 1986 demo by Jon Carin. The notable rhythm pattern at the beginning of the song was already present in the demo, and Carin stated that it was influenced by Steve Jansen or Yukihiro Takahashi.
The lyrics describe Gilmour's thoughts on flying, for which he has a passion (being a licensed pilot with multiple ratings), though it has also been interpreted as a metaphor for beginning something new, experiencing a radical change in life, or, more specifically, Gilmour's feelings about striking out as the new leader of Pink Floyd after the departure of Roger Waters. Gilmour confirmed the latter interpretation on the Pink Floyd 25th Anniversary Special in May 1992. Also an avid pilot, drummer Nick Mason's voice can be heard at around the middle of the song. "Learning to Fly" was included on Pink Floyd's greatest hits collection Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.