The origins of this one are somewhat unusual... I was playing a gig at an RAF barbecue in Leuchars, which had been organised by the lovely Cpl. Mark Dalton, an engineer. During my break he took me to see some of the new aircraft he had been working on (extremely expensive, and very cool).
When we were there, he mentioned that there were pilots whose role was simply to sit in the planes on alert for hours at a time, just in case of a sudden, unexpected attack. It was a hangover from the Cold War period, really - but all the same, it got me thinking what it would be like to be one of those pilots ordered to sit and wait in reserve while their colleagues got to go and play the hero in Libya or Iraq or Afghanistan. So this is the almost-finished song - working title "Airspace" (a bit rubbish I know, you are welcome to suggest a better one).
Draw in the mist as the hours slide by
Blink off the crust baked over my eyes
My uniform pressed and a shine on my shoes
I sit like a bishop and wait for my move
I hope to be heard
Before I die on the teeth of the world
Heroes' hopes are crushed
Missiles turn to rust
I will change nothing and nothing will change
But I wait, I wait, I wait…
When will I fly?
Sitting in wait bristling with guns
Buttons that kill and buttons, buttons that stun
Armed to the teeth I believe my time has come
A time eclipsed like the moon over the sun
Shout it out loud
What I want most in the world is to make you proud
Heroes' hopes are crushed
Missiles turn to rust
I will change nothing and nothing will change
But I wait, I wait, I wait…
When will I fly?