"Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free . . ."
- Leonard Cohen

Contents

1)  The Sky King
2)  Butt Kicking Boomers
3)  I Was Born Under a Thermal Core
4)  Chains of the Skyways
5)  Zen Flying
6)  Great Historical Sky King
7)  Gotta Fly the Sky

1. The Sky King

[A]  On a cold winter evening
Upon a [D] train bound for [A] Ogden
I [D] met up with a [A] Sky King
We were both too tired to [E7] sleep
So [A] we took turns a'staring
At the [D] clouds and at the [A] mountains
Till [D] boredom over- [A] took us
And [E7] he began to [A] speak . . .

He said "Son, I've made a living
Out of soaring in the heavens
It's in my blood and doctors say
'Skied out' is my disease
So if you don't mind my saying
I can see you're out of thermals
For a taste of your 'whipstall'*
I'll help you if you please"

So I handed him my bottle
And he drank down my last swallow
As he bummed a cigarette
And asked me for a light
Then his face lost all expression
As he started with his lesson
Said "If you're gonna fly the skyways, Boy
You gotta learn to fly 'em right"

CHORUS:
[A] "You've gotta know when to flat-spin
Or [D] speed her up to [A] top end
[D] Crank and bank or [A] slow her down
And fly up to the [E7] sun
You don't [A] count your miles
When you're [D] skied out on a [A] thermal
You just [D] measure on that [A] topo map
[E7] When the flyin's [A] done"

"When a Sky King's flying
His secret to surviving
Is knowing when to hang around
And knowing when to run
Every flight's a winner
Or every flight's a loser
"Cuz the reason that we fly is just
To have ourselves some fun"

And when he finished speaking
The Sky King strapped his wings on
Took another toke and then
He headed out the door
He launched into the night air
Vanished in some clouds there
But in his final words I found
A thermal I could core . . .

CHORUS:
"You've gotta know when to crank 'em
Know when to bank 'em
Speed her up or slow her down
And fly up to the sun
You never count your miles
When you're skied out on a thermal
You just measure on that topo map
When the flyin's done"

REPEAT CHORUS

# # #

{from the song "The Gambler"
sung by Kenny Rodgers
written by Don Schlitz
on the album "Greatest Country Hits"
released by Curb Records}

*Note:  "Tropical Whipstall" is a refreshing beverage often enjoyed by
Cloudbuster.  Add 1/2 shot of Malibu Coconut Rum and 1/2 shot of
151-Bacardi Rum to 10 ounces Calistoga Tropical Fruit Flavor Sparkling
Mineral Water.  Pour over ice and serve with a squeeze and a twist of
lemon, lime, and tangerine.  Serve after skying out, or at the end of a
hard day of work up in the thermal mines.  Also great after a rough day
as sled dog, or to cure symptoms of lowpoxia . . .

2. Butt Kicking Boomers

Ain't [D] nothing in the world that I like better
than [G] cranking and banking in butt kicking boomers
[A] Launch in the morning, up in the sky
[D] catch me a thermal, get real high

[D] Hook 'em in the fall and hook 'em in the summer
all [G] winter without 'em is a sled dog bummer
[A] Springtime hits and the women want courting
the [D] men just wanna go hook them a rip snortin' . . .

CHORUS:
[D] . . . Butt kicking boomer, butt kicking boomer
[G] What would life be without butt kicking boomers
[A] There's only two things that money can't buy
[D] And that's true love and butt kicking boomers [D]  [G]  [A]  [D]

You can go to a doctor, that's for sure
but there's nothing a butt kicking boomer won't cure
It's good for pneumonia, it's good for depression
it'll soon become your sole obsession

You can fly to the east, you can fly to the west
but I'll tell you boys riding it high is the best
Fly to the side, fly to the middle
ride that boomer from a pancake griddle

CHORUS

If I's to change this life I lead
I'd be Johnny Thermo-Seed
Cuz I know what this country needs
and that's a butt kicking boomer in every yard you see

When I die don't you bury me
in a box in no cemetery
Spread my ashes up in the sky
so I can hang out where the eagles fly
with . . .

CHORUS

# # #

(from the song "Homegrown Tomaters"
sung by Doodoo Wah
written by Guy Clark
on the album "Doodoo Wah"
released by Ballum Rancum Records, P.O. Box 1500, Columbia, CA 95310)
Visit Doodoo Wah's web page at http://www.picklehead.com/doodoowah.html

3. I Was Born Under a Thermal Core

[C] I was [Am] born under a [G] thermal [C] core
I was [Am] born under a [F] thermal [G] core
[F] Wheels were made for rolling
Mules were made to pack
[C] Wings were made for thermalling
And to [G] fly you off the map

I was born under a thermal core
I was born under a thermal core
Do I know where hell is
Hell is on the ground
Heaven is at cloudbase
Where I crank and bank around

I was born under a thermal core
I was born under a thermal core
When I get to heaven
I tell you what I'll see
Thermals popping everywhere
All for you and me

# # #

(From the song "I Was Born Under a Wandering Star"
sung by Lee Marvin
written by Alan Jay Lerner
music by Frederick Loewe
orchastral music conducted by Nelson Riddle
choral music conducted by Roger Wagner
from the raucous western comedy movie "Paint Your Wagon"
directed by Joshua Logan
produced by Alan Jay Lerner
released by Paramount Pictures in 1970.)

4. Chains of the Skyways

[G] On those days with thermals [C] cracking
He [G] always [D] showed his [G] stuff [G7]
He'd [C] fly to cloudbase [Am] twice
Because [D7] once was not e- [G] nough

He said the secret to his skying out
And never coming down
Was that when your nose starts pointing up
You just circle round and round

It would be funny if heaven
Was like the cliffs along Fort Ord
And you had to soar the ridges
To receive your just reward

He was asked "Why do you soar
Does it make you feel unbound?
Is it true you're most at home
When your feet are off the ground?"

He just grinned and slowly answered
A cryptic twinkle in his eye
"Are birds free from the chains
Of the skyways where they fly?"

Yes a man named Jake the Drifter
Was the Sky King in our town
When he flew away
No suitable replacement could be found

# # #

(from the song "Daley's Gone"
written and sung by Steve Goodman
on the album "Say It In Private"
released by Asylum Records)

5. Zen Flying

[G] I once was a [D] pilot
and on each Sunday [G] morn
I'd be in the air [C] flying
as sure as you're [G] born
we'd soar there like angels 
in the great cosmic [C] sea
but cranking and [G] bank- [C] ing [G]
are no [D] longer for [G] me

And now I'm a [C] Buddhist
I chant my mantra each [G] day
but I miss that high fly- [C] ing [G]
when at cloudbase I'd [D] play
so [G] sing to the Sky Gods
and the wonders of [C] Zen
we'll meet in Nir- [G] va- [C] na [G]
yes [C] we'll all meet there [G] then

The flyboys don't like me
since I shaved my head
and they all talk about me
as if I were dead
my good old Zen buddies
they think I'm OK
but I can't get them singing
more than one note a day

As we sit there cross-legged
eating brown rice and tea
we chant out our mantras
in 4-square harmony
our souls take off sailing
in a new astral plane
it's new age Zen flying
but it's just not the same

# # #

(from the song "Zen Gospel Singing"
sung by Bryan Bowers
written by Mark Graham
on the album "By Heart"
released by Flying Fish Records)

6. Great Historical Sky King

I am [G] highly educated
I've [D] traveled to and fro
I'm a vagabond, a pilot
And through [G] history I will go
As the [C] Great Historical Sky King
There's [G] nothing I can't do
I've [D] been on all the greatest flights
That [G] man has ever flew

My story must begin now
In the year of 1 or 2
I was born a pterodactyl
And with Icarus I flew
We headed for the sun
But when it melted all his glue
I had a better landing
Then old Icarus could do

When birds were first created
I wrote the Book of Flight
I taught those rascals how to
Flap and flap with all their might
I'd push a shy one from his nest
If he put up such a fight
Then I'd push him out a hundred times
Until he got it right

For the mighty Roman army
I designed a catapult
And in the days of Jesus
I taught angels how to float
Yeah birds throughout the centuries
Have called me "kindred folk"
Cuz when I fly I don't depend
On smoking any dope

John Montgomery, Otto Lilienthal,
And old Octave Chanute
I taught 'em how to fly
And never wore a parachute
Wilber Wright and Orville
I showed 'em what to do
And I planned the flight that put my friend
Chuck Lindburg in the news

There's one thing that I didn't do
Though I am not ashamed
I wasn't the first woman
To fly an aero-plane
But I taught her what she don't know how
The one who claims the fame
I don't know who or where she is
But I taught her just the same

I've skied out in a hang glider
I've soared up in a kite
I've flown around the heavens
With a tiny ultralight
In the world's whole population
Compare with what you might
And you can be assured
That I have had the greatest flight

I had breakfast with the astronauts
The fact is, I am one
I took the first step on the moon
Now I'm heading for the sun
In Skylab I'm commander
And having lots of fun
And this will be the greatest flight
That man has ever done

You may wonder what my plans are
For the next deed I will do
All I will tell you is that
It will be up in the blue
It might be up in the stratosphere
Or 10 feet over you
But it will be the greatest flight
That man has ever flew

Well now my story's over
And now my story's through
Don't take it with a grain of salt
I swear my word is true
My mama says she's very proud
Of all the things I do
I've been on all the greatest flights
That man has ever flew

# # #

(Lyrics by Cloudbuster
to the tune of the traditional folk song
"Great Historical Bum")

7. Gotta Fly the Sky

[E] You might be in the American Cup from [A] England or [E] France
you might fly buck naked or you might [A] fly wearing [E] pants
you might eat caviar [A] right before you [E] fly
or [A] you might eat bread and [E] water, and [B7] spit in the warden's [E] eye

CHORUS:
But you've gotta [A] fly the sky
yeah you've gotta [E] fly the sky
it [A] might be in a __________ or in a __________
but you've gotta [E] fly the sky

You might fly in leather, you might fly in lace
you might be a nympho Sky Queen sitting on my face
you might fly the hottest bird as a way to get you high
you might even be an angel in the sweet by and by

CHORUS

You might fly a rigid wing 3-axis control
or you might fly a floppy sail dacron rogallo
you might fly a bamboo bomber, or a plastic Batso kite
or you might fly a homebuilt experimental prototype

CHORUS

# # #
{Webmaster:  I dont think I got the chords right, can someone help?}
(From the song "Gotta Serve Somebody"
written and sung by Bob Dylan
on the album "Slow Train Coming"
released by Columbia Records)

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