Tuesday, October 13, 2015

The Future: Fly Like an Eagle


purchase Fly Like an Eagle

It's been years since I listened to Steve Miller, but back "then", he was one of my main listens.  Heading into this theme, it was my recollection that the lyrics to Fly Like an Eagle include some kind of a reference to "the future". In fact, a re-listen to the song after maybe 20 years away reveals to me that a major conceit of the lyrics is not just that line, but in general what the future might/could bring.

Time keeps on slipping / Into the future ...  We can't/don't feed the poor now, but in the future .... I can't fly like an eagle now, but I would like to ....

In the various Youtube clips associated with this title, Steve Miller makes remarkably good use of the looping effect - playing on top of the just previously played notes as they loop past - just a thought: the present (if not the future) layered on top of the past.

Tangentially, I ran across an article in Open Culture in which there is an account of Miles Davis' rather dismissive take on Steve Miller. I enjoy them both and see no reason why one should over-ride the other - they're worlds apart.

Bonus: This is a pretty long live version and Joe Satriani joins in at about 5 minutes.

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