One we used to sing in the Girl Guides:

He jumped from 40,000 feet without a parachute, x3
And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Chorus:
Glory, glory, what a terrible way to die, x3
And he ain't gonna jump no more

He landed on the tarmac like a lump of strawberry jam, x3
And he ain't gonna.......

They scooped him off the tarmac like a ...............

At which point the memory fails and I'll go to bed, but not before posting a song I wrote for my son when he was 18 and had aspirations to becone an airline pilot: he's since seen sense and gone down the line of being a musician instead! (Emmie Lou was the family cat, by the way!)

FLY AWAY WITH ME                                Written for Ewan's 18th birthday - 24.11.01.



On 24.11.83.
Such a beautiful baby, what would you be
When you came to manhood, we would see
What destiny held for you?    Could you be
Thomas the Tank's trusty driver, or a
Teenage Mutant Ninja fighter,
Or a singer in a band that could get no higher?
But flying's the life for you.

Chorus:
So fly me away again,
I just wanna ride in your jet plane,
I just wanna hear those engines roar
As we fly to a foreign shore - oh now
We can go, just me and you,
Or take Daddy and your big sister too,
Both your Grannies and your Grandads, even Emmie Lou
So let's fly, fly me away.

I wanna fly to Africa
See the tumbling falls of Victoria
Watch some lions on safari in Kenya
Take a ride on camels that sway - oh
We'll fly down the Nile to the Valley of the Kings
Near Jo'burg we'll see boks on springs
And in Zambia we'll buy drums and rings
So come fly, fly me away.

I wanna fly to Australia
Cross the Bass Strait from Tasmania
Then in Sydney go to the Opera
In the winged house by the harbour,
I wanna see Ayres rock, red and brown,
Take coffee with the neighbours in Melbourne Town
Swim the Barrier Reef, but don't let me drown,
And tie me kangaroo down - sport!




Chorus:
So fly me away again,
I just wanna ride in your jet plane,
I just wanna hear those engines roar
As we fly to a foreign shore - oh now
We can go, just me and you,
Or take Daddy and your big sister too,
Both your Grannies and your Grandads, even Emmie Lou
So let's fly, fly me away.

And I wanna fly over the Arctic Sea
I wanna see polar bears run free
And fish through the ice just to catch their tea,
And maybe spot the odd whale - oh,
Then take me South to the other Pole
To p-pick up a p-penguin, ain't they droll,
As they fall off the rocks as the breakers roll,
So come fly, fly me away.

To scale Everest would be a drama
I wanna take tea with the Dalai Lama
And see the cone of Fujiyama
And walk the Great Wall of China, but don't
Fly me over Afghanistan - we might
Get shot down by the Taliban
Or even some of President Bush's gang who can't
Recognise your airliner.

Chorus:
So fly me away again,
I just wanna ride in your jet plane,
I just wanna hear those engines roar
As we fly to a foreign shore - oh now
We can go, just me and you,
Or take Daddy and your big sister too,
Both your Grannies and your Grandads and Emmie Lou
So let's fly, fly me away.



And I wanna go samba in Rio City
The carnival girls are oh so pretty
And to climb the Andes would be real gritty
Put your senses in disarray - oh
And I wanna fly over the Empire State
And even flip under the Golden Gate
And through the Grand Canyon, I can't wait for you to
Fly, fly me away.

And though Europe, it may be our home,
I haven't been to Budapest, Crete or Rome,
And I never got to visit the Millennium Dome, they just
Couldn't make it pay - so as I
Talk of another destination
I can see your look of consternation
And I think I've really tried your patience
So just fly me home to stay.

Final Chorus:
So you flew me away again
I just loved to ride in your jet plane
And I loved to hear those engines roar
As we flew to those foreign shores - oh then
We all went, not just me and you
We took Daddy and your big sister too
Both your Grannies and your Grandads, even Emmie Lou
As we flew, all flew away.