Added: 2 years ago
From: rwells47
Views: 105,863
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:

All Comments (171)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • one of my favorite things to do is play this song in my car, and belt this song whenever eric burdon screams "sky pilot"... the best part is watching others drivers' reactions. 

  • I don't even think general Westmoreland had a good grasp of Operation Rolling Thunder, or what the inevitable outcome would be. .

  • Fuckin Cool HUH? so, after this...ill see you all over at the Rolling Stones,"Child of the Moon" Then maybe i'll turn you on to Damballa by Exhuma Man, or some Iron Butterfly, or maybe some Rare Earth???

  • All Time Favorite Eric Burdon & The Animals Tune !!!! Since I Was 9 Years Young (1969) And Still Rocking To It, Its Hard To Find The Long Version, Instead of the Side 1 45 Record With Out Flipping It Over .... Seen Eric Burden Live In Lancaster ,Pa 2009 , Still Sounded GREAT After All These Years

  • FYI: the bagpipe tune is "Blue Bonnets Over the Border", some sources say this is one of the songs played by Bill Millin, Lord Lovat's piper when Lovat's commandoes came to reinforce the paratroopers at Pegasus Bridge on D-Day

  • Great song, this is my all time favorite song by The Animals, it doesn't seem to get as much airplay on the oldies/classic rock stations as "House Of The Rising Sun", "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "It's My Life" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"

  • This song is still relevant today

  • Comment removed

  • we played this alot in nam. the chaplin was always telling us not to go home and say: 'pass the fucking bread'. geez, such leadership. PASS THE FUCKING BREAD MA.

  • Логистический Форум

  • love the animals but the beattles come on there is no catagory thats like saying elvis or sinatra or lincoln or a cadilac for get about it

  • A great song in honor of the brave Vietnam veterans who fought (and in memory of those who died) in an unpopular war. These brave men and women clearly deserved a much better welcome home immediately after the war! A BELATED WELCOME HOME VIETNAM VETERANS!!!!

  • @rocketmail217881755 I'd like to say Thank You, I was a Combat Corpsman with a Marine Corp Group. I know this song very well we had a Chaplin(Sky Pilot) we always asked for a prayer everyday we went out. I did a lot of Medivacs and well the prayers brought me home but not my Buddy. I still wounder what it is God has planned for me.

  • @rocketmail217881755 Thank you

  • Underrated.

  • Comment removed

  • Hey...great song...almost a forgotten classic. Great use of phase shifting. For you music buffs; the first song to use this affect was :The Big Hurt" by Toni Fisher. Someone leaned against the reel to reel while they were recording causing a delay in the signal. Upon playback they heard it and instantly added it to the song; this was in 1957. Another timeless classic.

  • Yes...war is horrible but to say it's wrong is bull. Are you going to say that to the brave soldiers that stormed the beaches at Normandy on D-Day? Even though the loss was severe, it also was the day the tide of war was turned against the Nazis. The bomb put an end in the Pacific against the Japanese Axis. Vietnam, though controversial, did help break the back of communism at the time. The Civil War ended slavery. So don't tell me war is wrong; you don't know what you're talking about.

  • this song has allways been , ONE OF the best to me. Makes ya remember the Brave

  • Welcome home galaxybeing101, I was there TET 68-69. dancinspirit24

  • When I think about this world and the mostly evil reprehensible things we are responsible for and then I hear a song like this and also know the beauty man is capable of.

  • I was in Nam in 70-71, this song is the real deal for us who were over there wondering if we would make it back home.

  • It is about a man of faith {priest} but it isn't getting them to do what they do. He is forgiving them for what they do. He knows because of his own role, he'll never reach the sky. Killing and war is wrong, people die on both sides and all feel the loss.

  • OK..normally I don't respond to to comments.....read all of them....your all right....your all wrong....as a wounded Viet Nam and from personal experience does it matter what religion or faith you have...when you engage in combat somebody is going to die.they are going to die......so....whats it hurt to just ask a little help from any faith......so...your able to see the sun rise tommorow, and go home.......unless you.ve experience combat......your all right...but your all wrong..

  • Sky Pilot was a term of enderment for a Chaplin of ANY faith who attempted to guide young servicemen on their own eventual journey.

  • What is the instrument called that is making that distorted whooshing sound throughout the song (but especially during the chorus). It sounds really cool and I think I have heard that instrument near the end of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". Anybody know? If so, I would appreciate it somebody told me.

  • @JimmyMcShane96

    it's called a Whoosher.

  • @geekintheperimeter LOL you're funny

  • @JimmyMcShane96 I think what you're asking about is called a FLANGER. You can either use a pedal- or some amps come with it as well- line 6 spider IV 75 I know for a fact does, as well as their little 15 watt. A somewhat poor demo if you can get past all the yapping

    youtube.com/watch?v=z5P_p7NCjv­4

    See if that's what you're asking about. It was a popular effect during certain periods in music history her- story whichever.

  • Sky Pilot is slang for PRIESTS who talk people into doing what they know is wrong? Get over your hatred for Catholics. Do you realize you are insulting Catholic soldiers and veterans who also fought and gave their lives? What, no 'preachers', 'politicians' just PRIESTS? All of the Priests I know have always been against wars, good or bad. Many a Priest has lost their life standing up to or defying a dictator or harboring war fugitives. You're a moron!

  • @adamjkraker I do not hate Catholics, just that they are misled by a corrupt and hypocritical religion, just search the history of the Vatican.

  • Sky Pilot is slang for priests who talk people into doing what they know is wrong.This epic song is for all those who fought and died in an unjust war and were never thanked for their service, as I remember many were hated for it.

  • al wey que no le gusto dice que prefiere a menudo.... jejejejeje

  • Used to listen to this so much during the anti-war protests, lost my EB collection and this is the first time I have listened to it since way back...thanks Glen903

  • I never get tired of this song. Thankz 

  • This is definitely my favorite song by The Animals! How do you keep a dry eye in the last verse? This song is still relevant today.

  • Every Vietnam vet ows their sanity to those holy men. they were even in the thick of it with us and all the arms they carried was a bible. They gave us hope and comfort. For those who were not there would nor understand

  • @Gordy6202 No they wouldn't. understand at all. Sometimes they were the only thing between sanity(?) and a padded room.

  • @Gordy6202 brave men,God Bless you for your service,I was too young for Nam,served inpeacetime 77-81.

  • @Gordy6202 And they're still doing good service for our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  • jeff e turned me on to this in bradys run beaver co. someone right there to bless the dead, dying, wounded for lifers

  • The song began, and my throat constricted. I was 6 years old when this song came out, but I knew it embodied misery and hopelessness. I feel wistful when I hear it, and want to make something right, but I know I can't. Thanks for putting it up with the lyrics.

  • @sheenque I feel the same way and I was just a little older than you. The throat constricting, the yearning. I get it.

  • I wore this 45 out when I was a kid.....scared shitless of Viet Nam.

  • was the top nam song, all so true...once played this 8 times in a row in e-4 club and they through me out....nam was all bull shit, but the troopers were the best

  • Back in the early eighties a DJ from CKCU 93.1 in Ottawa dedicated this to a friends father who passed away. I think of this song at every funeral.

  • I'm an old man now and this song still brings a tear or alot of tears.

  • i have been listening to eric for a few days and saw this one out of the corner of my eye. just could not connect to it or remember it. i have all his early albums and was 18 and against the war when this was released. how could i have possiable forgotton such an epic song.....like you libraryquiet i was blow away when the violins played. just one hell of a fantastic song lyrics that ring true today. i get a tear still when i hear it.

  • eric you bring tears to my eyes on this song. way underated.....the words are even true to this day..,,,what a great band you were!!!

  • I was tripping on some good weed when I first heard this long version and I wasn't ready for that part when those violins come in. Whoa!, I was taken away! Absolutely beautiful! I'm a musician and a melody man...., and I gotta tell you, I've never seen heavenly angels but on that day I knew what they sounded like.

  • nowadays at least where I live, the only place u can hear this song is on You Tube cause NO radio station, not even the classic rock station plays this song

  • Can anyone say underrated?

  • Good stuff Changed my brain when I heard it at the age of 13!

  • listened to this over and over while my brother and his buddies were serving in the Marines in Vietnam. Powerful song.

  • Esta canción siempre me pone de buenas no importa que este pasando a mi alrededor.

  • the animals rule!

  • One of the great masterpieces of musical art...in more ways than one.

  • sitll sound is nice enough. almost 50 yers. i believe music can meke no-war world. i feel there are power.

  • the best war song EVER!

  • thank you for this song it has caused a lot of healing

  • This tune is quality. Who is this one dislike?

    surely pushed the mouse button at the wrong time.

    Theres lots of great vids on youtube with heaps of likes

    then "1" dislike. I think its the same person.

  • I was in Nam in 68, this brings back memories. Good song.

  • the best version ,,, traffic sound from PERU-LSD

  • My favorite band of all time. I was just a little child when these songs came out.

  • I was 18 when this song came out, waiting to go to Viet Nam, lucky I never went , but I lost best friends over there, this song fits perfectly! God Bless all those men that didn't make it home!

  • I love veggin out to this song after a J-BAR!!!!

  • The Animals are a totally underestimated rock band. In my opinion- they beat the Beatles and the Rolling Stones! They are soulful, gritty and their sound is perfection!

  • @TheScrappingBeauty possibly better than the stones,but the beatles are another catagory-they were a pop band.

  • wow much like the beatles impressed !!!

  • I was only 2 when it came out. I feel old. I thank my parents for turning me on to 60's music before the other decades got a hold my listening ear...

  • This wasn't an ANTI war song. This was a tribute to God fearing teachers of different faiths. The teachers also lost thier lives! This song is actually a good tribute To the teachers of religions.And I must add Medics died too. Say a prayer for Mike McGill, and Freddy Baulduaf. Died in Vietnam .(1969-70) They were 18-19 -20 yearsold......how is your life?

  • @mdr4591 I agree. I am a recovering sky pilot from Afghanistan(Canada) Blessings Mike McGill , family and Freddy Baulduaf , family and all ! War is disgusting!

  • @mdr4591 thank you for the history lesson and the reminder of the costs and horrors of war

  • I just never get tired of this..listening again tonight...

  • Gotta have Quadraphonics though

  • This song plus a fattie = A GOOD TIME

  • A philosophical journey into the un-known realm of un-certainty. It has nothing to do with "war" or anything pertaining to this physical dimension, which, as we "flesh" and "blood" creatures inhabit. The true expression is of the "soul" being able to "fly" and be "free," of the "physical" body, without limitations.

    How high can we fly?

  • Rightous!

  • A classic Anti-War Song

  • @onetwopussies not anti-war but about the spiritual support to those in the fight , that they (we) all gain a new perspective from the person of faith (of any religion) 'Thou shalt not kill" misrepresents the ancient Hebrew of the text, 'kill' and 'murder' are not interchangeable (perhaps to vegans! lol) murder is the word.

  • EAST BOUND & DOWN

  • I like them much better than the Stones. Thank you for your service, Glen903.

  • @Smiley9486- you are very welcome Glen!  Ron

  • I like them much better than the Stones.

  • What low life gave here a dislike? fuckwit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Some crazy Alien got lost, made it here and gave his unwanted vote.

  • @EarthH2oLuma- I think you are right!

  • I was in the third grade when I first heard this great tune. The teacher decided to bring several new 45 records for us kids, during breaks we where allowed to play.

    I took it on my own to play it during regular class, put on headphones so no one payed any attention, until I started singing out loud. The whole class was LTAO before I noticed they where watching. Funny I did not care and kept singing until teach shut it off.

  • I was a freshman in high school when this song made the radio air waves. I have heard both the complete version and the edited version & I will give the complete version the edge.

  • I was 17 when Saigon fell, and I remember it like this morning. The fallen will always live inside me!

  • @chairjockey1 Amen Brother!

  • Hey Ron, I just voted to "dislike" this song (not!)

  • Excellent song. Thanks for posting Ron.

  • @AllAboutROCKatYT- you are very welcome!

  • Saigon, 1970. For all who didn't come home. This one's for you.

  • Very good song Ron, thanks for uploading, have fond memories of it back in 68.

    Poignant message even more relevant today

  • Wow! My very first concert living in Hawaii middle to late 60's...I can still remember all my friends with me..soon after that we all parted. My high school friend joined the army and never returned...

  • Two of my friends died in the Vietnam war! This song reminds me of them.

  • Two of my friends DIED in vietnam . They were like my big brothers!

  • Thanks a great song i love it.

  • Would this be the first rock song with bag pipes? Help me folks, first time I've heard the extended version. I thought the first rock song with bag pipe was AC/DC.

  • These guys play live at Casino Rama March 5, 2011.

  • This great t song never gets airplay. They just play the same 30 songs over and over. This is a flashback to '68 when music was alive and full of emotion.

  • Scott Simon will have a very bad day today.

  • I had the pleasure of picking up Eric,and the new Animals,in Detroit,in 1998,we spent 3 day's together,as he was playing,a bluesfest in Windsor ON.Ronnie Sushu,had made his new album cover,and he had a photo shoot,i could say more,but i got to tell Eric when i was a young boy,a band very close to my house use to play this song,and we would hide by the windows of the basement and listen,and loved it.One of the best and i had the pleasure of meeting him going fo dinner,it was 3 of my best day's.

  • All time classic! You may sing this for the chemtrailers nowadays...

  • Visited Vietnam a while ago and got to see places only seen b4 on tv, missed conscription in Australia by a bit but my brother was in the draft, I so remember this song from the time. Vietnam is an amazing and wonderful county and talking to to the ppl, was fascinated and proud that they saw the Australian soldiers as doing their job and as honorable.

    Oh yes I did go to Kha Shan and play Cold Chisel, that place is a must to see the folly of war

  • This one has special meaning, as I knew a couple boys over in Nam around this time. Thanks for posting the extended version!

  • @bze2nlz1- you are very welcome Chris!  Ron

  • yep,  nam......

  • This song, long version, was the #1 requested song in San Francisco for about a year when it came out.

  • ANYBODY KNOW THE NAME OF THE BAGPIPE SONG THAT'S USED IN THIS RECORDING? IS A FULL VERSION AVAIALBLE ON YOUTUBE?

    THANK YOU

  • @ragtag3333 I think it's 'The '45' but not 100% sure. 

  • @ragtag3333 The bagpipe music is a covert recording of the pipers of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards playing "All The Bluebonnets Are Over The Border", captured by Burdon while performing at a school. He received an angry letter from the UK government (or possibly the Crown) over his use of the recording in the song.

  • Why do Spanish speaking people look up stuff on youtube (american music, mind you) and leave comments in Spanish? Most Americans do not speak Spanish and English is our official language. They move here to the States, out of charity on our part, and expect us to suddenly speak Spanish! No other group in our history has done this. "Press 2 for Spanish"?? How about learning ENGLISH!!

  • @volksiebus71 pendejo

  • love this song,,,was door gunner on hughy in vietnam!!!!

  • @Glen903

    Me too but I was with 5 sqn RAAF on Hueys.

  • I so love this song. I have been to Iraq and I find this song relevant. My children know it as well. Don't judge unless you have prepared a child for war.!

  • buena rolita

  • I love the long version of this song. I love the bagpipes. Even though some critics called the Animals the "poor mans Rolling Stones" I think they stand on their own very well and certainly made their own mark in the 60's. 

  • brings me back to USARV 1969 every time i cry

  • I have always LOVED this song!!!!

  • Remembering the Philippino bands playing this in the EM clubs in Vietnam

  • A classic one.

  • The music milestone here, was created from Vic Briggs' guitar riff. He structured this first with the 3 other NEW Animals, guitars, bass, drums. Then he wrote charts for horns, strings; added the arrangement for bagpipes. Brillant studio classic to carry a protest song into pop/rock radio airplay. A frustrated Eric saw no way to perform "their" popular, new, multi-layer song, so for years, he didn't.

    Durng a band arguement, six months after, Eric fired Vic Briggs. Three months

    later, DISBAND

  • If I was lucky I would get to hear the short version on Armed Forces Radio.

    Thanks for the posting.

  • @sledgehammer347- you are very welcome! Ron 

  • whoa no dislikes

  • ive been listening to a 4:30 version for years. i had no idea there were another 3:00. what a treat.

  • TO YOU VIET NAM VETS VI DEDICATE THIS SONG!

  • Stevie Janowski moment..:)

  • @OKMRDX That's exactly what I think of when I hear this song! I know it's suppose to be an anti war song but I can't stop myself from having a huge grin on my face when I hear it! I love Stevie!!!

  • *_*

    How high can you fly?

    You'll never, never, never reach the sky.

  • Part of my conversion before the Zepplin hit with the funny little L.S.D. tabs!

  • Haven't heard this classic for ages. Now I know what I was missing!

  • NICE

  • This is the British Army in action, as the Scots pipers lead the men into battle. Issued in the only year that a British serviceman did not die in action in the history of the British Army - 1968.

  • this is one of the best songs written about war during Vietnam because it honors the troops not protests them even if it just honors a military Chaplin it is still honoring men and women that were in our armed forces so thank you Eric Burdon and all of the other animals for performing such a beautiful song that honors our military

  • @paratrooper504 Chaplins are needed, but this song points out the hypocracy of being a chaplin in the military - you know,the 'thou shall not kill' part of the lyrics.

    If I was a anti-war priest, I could not be a chaplin, but I would never turn away a vet with pain in the soul.

    I'm anti-war but not a pacificst, or an automatic 'oppose all american wars! type.

    All the men at Normandy were heros- amazing what they did, yet I also protested the 2nd Iraqi war.

  • @PacificCircle1 huh interesting my great uncle who served in Vietnam also protested the 2nd iraq war and i dont support it but i would never turn away a veteran also, i dont mean to start a "flame war" or whatever you call it but is this the actual meaning of the song or an opinion? i've long wondered what the actual meaning of the song is my father was the one who told me it honored military chaplains but i've gotten a few different opinions from other people

  • @paratrooper504 I listen to the lyrics, the central character is a Chaplin.

    At the end a soildier tells him 'thou shall not kill',

    yet a chaplin can't very well the troops don't go' - presents a conflict.

    If I just lost a buddy in a fight, I might be damn glad to have a solice from chaplin.

    Let's say I think Chaplins are 90% in a good role.

  • @paratrooper504 You must be way younger than me, a great uncle in 'nam? Make fell old, when I turned 18. 'nam was well wound down.

    "never touch the Sky' = never go to heaven.

    Era of the 'protest' song, you know.

    Songs can be interpreted many ways!

    Sometimes, I , at a later time, figure out what a song IS REALLY ABOUT.

  • E-7 7th Security Police Squadron, Ton Su' Nute Air Base. I salute all of our veterans.

  • this song really effects me, i know a lot of veitnam vets, and every single one bares huge scars, i have total respect and honer for them,

    and lots of love for them

  • that music is the best!!!!

  • where is the stereo sounding?

  • ...............I was given this 45 when I was a kid by a friend of mine's brother because I loved it so much....my cousin had just left for Viet Nam.......he did return but exposure to Agent Orange caused him to die of cancer (at Walter Reed) at the age of 23.......... THANK YOU TO EVERY SOLDIER THAT HAS EVER SERVED FOR OUR COUNTRY!

  • .....................

  • This song absolutely HAUNTS me

  • One GREAT song! You just don't hear it enough.

  • the most incredible song paying tribute to fallen pilots sevicemen....tears..

  • the 45 had the entire long version...had to turn it over.

  • great! love this one...

  • dedicated to (ALL) Vietnam Veterans and Veterans from all wars may god bless them all. and to the veterans of Vietnam WELCOME HOME !!! My husband is a vietnam veteran too.

  • @dmiller60 Please give your husband a hug from all of us who were there during that time of confusion and fear and freedom and hope and love...I am sure that he is one brave and good man!!

  • @dmiller60 I am a Vietnam Vet and want to thank you for the kind words and Welcome Home, this song was my fave over there. Shedding some tears remembering some of the names on the Wall. People need to understand that "Time was served, TIME TO HONOR". Thank you again for the kind words.

  • @TheRoland54 I want you to know that I appreciate your service in 'Nam and want you also to know you and your fellow veterans hold an honored place in American military history. I entered the army in 1974 and am considered a Vietnam era veteran however, the closest I ever came to 'Nam was being called on alert during the fall of Saigon. Since I was new to the unit, I was chosen for ammo detail. Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw live ammo on the crates.

  • Sigh....Those were the days...

  • How high can you fly?

  • I was 16 years old when this song came out in 1968 , loved it then , love it now :)

  • I love the smell of gun grease in the morning!

  • Awesome

  • I never get tired of this song (and I have been around for a while) A real classic!

  • Hi !! Great and famous song !! Yeah !!! Flew over the rainbow such a mirror

  • Great sound quality. One of the greatest records ever made. Timeless. 42 Years, Nothing has changed. This song is a masterpiece.

  • 74sodapop- thanks for the comments! I agree with your comments. This song surely is a classic! Ron

  • thx for the response!! the first one ever!!