There's no sensation to compare with this. Suspended animation, a state of bliss. Can't keep my mind from the circling sky. Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I.

-David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, English songwriter and musician, born 1946.

The above lyrics were written for the 1987 Pink Floyd song Learning to Fly. The song describes the experience of flying from the perspective of an earth-bound misfit. The lyrics brilliantly capture the spirit of human flight, and what it means for a person to escape the surface of the earth. Throughout the song, the lyrics follow our earth-bound misfit as he learns to fly, beginning with his inner drive for height. This drive is described as a fatal attraction that has him in an irresistible grasp. This is followed by two lines that get repeated throughout the song:

Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

These lines are significant because they describe the human condition. We are a surface-based species that gazes up to the sky while we fantasize about escaping said surface. By repeating this line throughout the song, we’re constantly reminded of our base state on the surface. The next pair of lyrics to accompany the repeated lines follow:

A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try

These lines describe the human determination to escape the surface of the earth, as evidenced by the history of human flight. We are conditioned by our surface-based existence, but we’re determined to escape it. When we do escape it, we experience a tension within ourselves based on this condition. After all, we’re built for the surface and all of our previous experiences have taken place on it. The next and last two lyrics to accompany the repeated lines is quoted above along with the repeated lines:

There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss

These lines encapsulate the experience of flight. It’s unlike any other sensation known to us, and it gives us bliss to experience it. This is the bliss of escaping our surface-based prison, and it’s something every human longs to experience.