Banned Songs: Eight Miles High

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Well howdy! I hope those of you who are gainfully employed got today off as well as tomorrow to make it a four-day weekend, similar to Thanksgiving. I also hope you’re getting a break from the heat (as it does appear so on the “heat advisory” map). Of course, you need music for the summer, and here’s one that has been played for many summers, even though it was banned at one point. Eight Miles High - The Byrds So you get in a plane to England and fly about eight miles in the air. And when you touch down you write a song about it…and everyone says, “Oh, you druggies! We aren’t playing that!” “No, it’s not about drugs!” the Byrds retorted. “Yes, it is!” media reports (including the then-influential music trade paper Gavin Report) shouted. And pfft, the song was gone from the radio. Later, of course, David Crosby said, “Of course it’s a drug song! We were stoned when we wrote it!” Here we are in 2023, and “Eight Miles High” gets airplay on classic rock stations, while the Gavin Report went under in 2002. So who won that battle in the long run? Eight Miles High Written by Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, and David Crosby Recorded by the Byrds From Fifth Dimension, 1966 Reason banned: drug references Rain gray town: