"Sky Pilot" is a 1968 song by

Eric Burdon & the Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound an ...

, released on the album ''

The Twain Shall Meet ''The Twain Shall Meet'' is the second album by Eric Burdon & the Animals. It was released in 1968 on MGM Records. Background The record includes " Sky Pilot", an anti-war song of the Vietnam War era, and "Monterey", the band's tribute to the 1 ...

''. When released as a single the song was split across both sides, due to its length (7:27). As "Sky Pilot (Parts 1 & 2)" it reached number 14 on the U.S. pop charts and number 15 on the Canadian

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

chart.

Themes

"Sky pilot" refers to a

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

, as revealed by the opening verse: The chorus section adds: The song is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

slice of life story Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a characte ...

about a chaplain who blesses a body of troops just before they set out on an overnight raid or patrol, and then retires to await their return. "Sky Pilot" is organized into three movements: an introduction, a programmatic

interlude Interlude may refer to: *a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production *''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production *a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...

, and a conclusion. The introduction begins with the verse quoted above, sung ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' and solo by

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powe ...

. Thereafter the band joins in with instruments for the chorus. Several verse-chorus iterations follow, leaving the story with the "boys" gone to battle and the Sky Pilot retired to his bed. The verses are musically lean, dominated by the vocal and a pulsing

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, with a strummed

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and drum mixed in quietly. The interlude starts as a guitar solo, but the guitar is quickly submerged under a

montage Montage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films * Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing * ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film Music * Montage (music), or sound collage * ''Montage'' (Block B EP), 201 ...

of battle sounds. First come the scary sounds of an

airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

with the "Jericho Trumpet" sirens of

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...

Stuka; then the airstrike and rock band fade into the sounds of shouting, gunfire, and

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

. Near the end of the interlude the battle sounds fade, briefly leaving the bagpipes playing alone before the third movement begins. The bagpipe music is a performance by the

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. The regiment, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest surviving Cavalry Regiment of the Line in the British ...

playing "All The Blue Bonnets Are Over the Border". According to an unverified story, the pipers were recorded covertly by Burdon, resulting in the government of the United Kingdom sending the band a letter of complaint. The conclusion begins with the return of the bass and strummed acoustic guitar, accompanied by

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. After a few measures the verses resume, but with a quieter, melancholy atmosphere: one verse is sung along with bass, guitar, and strings, and then without a choral break a final verse is sung to bass, guitar, and

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

. During those last verses, the "Soldiers of God" had done well defeating the enemies, for the aid of their country, however, the returning soldiers return, with tears in their eyes, having second thoughts about their mission. One of the returning soldiers feels more disturbed, with the smells of death, when he looks upon the Sky Pilot, remembering the commandment: "

Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not kill (LXX; ), You shall not murder (Hebrew: ; ') or You shall not kill (KJV), is a moral imperative included as one of the Ten Commandments in the Torah. The imperative not to kill is in the context of ''unlawful'' killing resul ...

". Finally a strong bass line announces the return of the chorus, now accompanied with strings,

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

and

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

s, repeated several times as it fades, with the repeated section that the Sky Pilot can never reach the sky, no matter how high he flies. The instrumental section is that of a military funeral march. The musical effect is very upbeat, in stark contrast with the "downer" content of the movement's lyrics.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the single as an "unusual piece of lyric material set to a pulsating rock beat" that "has all the earmarks of another out and out smash." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called the song a "a building, bluesy effort" that was the group's "strongest outing in quite some time." It was the group's final Top 40 Billboard hit.

Special effects

Besides the use of "

found sound Found objects are sometimes used in music, often to add unusual percussive elements to a work. Their use in such contexts is as old as music itself, as the original invention of musical instruments almost certainly developed from the sounds of nat ...

" in the interlude section, and heavy use of

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

and echos, the song is notable for its use of

flanging Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and not ...

, the swept "whooshing" sound effect laid over the entire track, most prominently during the chorus sections.

In popular culture

* Sky Pilot is played in Season 1 finale of the HBO series '' Eastbound & Down'' when Kenny asks Stevie to do one last job for him. * It is also featured in the motion picture ''

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

'' as well as on its soundtrack CD.

Covers

The song has been covered by several artists and is still played in live shows by

. It is included on several of Burdon's live albums and is featured in his 1999 concert film "Live at the Coachhouse". Burdon performed a somewhat-

Power Metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

version on his album "The Official Live Bootleg 2000". The song was covered by the Peruvian rock group

Traffic Sound Traffic Sound was a Peruvian rock band founded in 1967 by Manuel Sanguinetti (vocals), Freddy Rizo-Patrón Buckley (rhythm guitar), Jean Pierre Magnet (sax), Willy "Wilito" Barclay Ricketts (lead guitar), Willy Thorne Valega (bass, d.2019) and Lu ...

, in English in 1969. It was featured in full in their debut album, '' Vamos a Bailar Go Go'', and the opening hymn also appeared as the introduction to one of the songs in their album ''Virgin''. The song was covered by MacTalla Mor on their 2007 album ''Jacob's Ladder,'' in the song "Stairway to Grace". It was sampled by

Sebadoh Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his ...

during a segue between the songs "Sexual Confusion" and "Three Times A Day" on their 1990 album, ''

Weed Forestin' ''Weed Forestin'' is an album by the American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was originally self-released by Barlow on cassette in 1987, under the Sentridoh name, the solo home-recording project of American rock musician and Sebadoh member Lou Barlo ...

''.

References