The Byrds’ Gene Clark spent their first transatlantic flight, in August 1965, looking out of the window, watching as the Californian sunshine gave way to the drizzle of London. As the plane made its slow descent towards the rain-lashed runway of London Airport, Clark’s muse kicked in, and by the time The Byrds returned to America, he had written some lyrics about the trip.
When The Byrds’ Eight Miles High was released in December 1965, it took little delving to identify the ‘rain-grey town, known for its sound’ as the London that Clark had observed from the plane. The reference to ‘signs in the street that say where you’re going’ was revealed as a dig at the random placing of street signs around the English capital, while ‘nowhere is there warmth to be found among those losing their ground’ was a nod to the hostility they encountered from The Birds, a British mod group who accused the band of stealing their name. That same flight also prompted the song’s title.
