Jefferson Airplane - Comin' Back To Me

[THX8406]

They don't write 'em like this anymore.

[Kkristinela]

This song gives me nostalgia though it's the first time I'm listening to it...

[Sortsdam]

@Kkristinela I know exactly what you mean... ah the 60s

[pbrucpaul]

Wow. This is Marty Balin at his best. 

[TR5T]

Those times haunt my depths with the hearing of this.

[jannyrcobs]

Their best number...?

[lenn9]

remember this scene from "Girl Interrupted"? This song, soft, yellow light - so hippie and peaceful.

[tangerleso]

oh gosh! saudações do brasil.

[Sports570]

I forgot what an awesome song this is.

[FrequentlyFried]

A song like this you can not only hear the 60's but you can feel it too. This whole album perfectly captures that time especially the softer songs. It's like hearing this album gives you a real understanding of the 60's.. beyond the sex drugs and whatever.. it's just that vibe..it's incredible.. alot like a Bob Marley song..it's real and raw. Marty talks about writing this song right after smoking a joint of really good weed he got from Paul Butterfield lol

[zoznack]

Damn did Marty had a set of pipes...

[piffypooffy]

the stoners of today dont even know this song exists!!! this is a blaze tune!

[MegaTreehugger420]

Beautiful!!!



[irarube]

through the rain upon the trees that kisses on the run ---- very lovely lyrics

[Paulsdottir]

Thank you so much; I love this song, but there is one important change needed in the lyrics - it is "You came to stay and live my way,

Scatter my love like leaves in the wind." not "You can't stay . . .

[Paulsdottir]

One of my all time favourite songs; I was a young teen when it came out and still, it is magic

[handyman1017]

Great song by a talented group from the late sixties. Ah yes, the assassinations, the war, arguments with our elders, the excellent SEEDED marijuana from Mexico and Central America, hallucinogenic drugs, and pursuit of eternal truths, with much less emphasis on the materialism and phoniness all around us today. The dream was ruined by the Manson Gang, among other things, who were informants for the FBI, probably the real reason they weren't executed, as they most certainly should have been.

[handyman1017]

Great song by a talented group from the late sixties. Ah yes, the assassinations, the war, arguments with our elders, the excellent SEEDED marijuana from Mexico and Central America, hallucinogenic drugs, and pursuit of eternal truths with much less emphasis on the materialism and phoniness all around us today. The dream was ruined by the Manson Gang, among other things, who were informants for the FBI, probably the real reason they weren't executed, as they most certainly should have been.

[pbrucpaul]

Very '60's music.

[stevevandien]

Nice, sweet song. Not as good as "Today," but in the same zip code:) --

[deadheadmays]

..this song plays in my head.. when i think of my childhood.. one of my dad's favorite songs to just sit and idly pick on the guitar.. i love it, i love it.

[99camberwell]

This song broke me through the last day of my childhood. I was 17, London 1991. I could never be the same after hearing this

[TheKaight]

I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO GETH THROUGH THIS ONE WITHOUT A TEAR :(

[briarhillgirl]

TAKES ME BACK TO 1971 AND HOW YOUNG AND IN LOVE..HE'S PASSED ON

[notmorphy]

The biggest of my life is that I was not born earlier...I was born

12/2/60 and wish I was born 8-10 yrs earlier

[Gostwriterindisguise]

@notmorphy Ah, but then you might have been drafted, sent to Viet Nam, and killed. Or maimed for life.

[mikeoli]

@notmorphy why music is eternal in your heart you were born when you were for a reason

[phoenixcube]

beautiful song

[Eedgit]

Such longing!

When I listen to this, I feel so homesick..

Pure, unadultarated genius.

[SIMKINETICS]

@Eedgit Yeah! ...Through an open window where no curtain hung, I saw my blonde version of Grace back home in the mist of California, tears streaming, heart pumping hard, listening to this. As a medic living in my illegal off-post commune, watching rare snow falling on the trees in Georgia; then got married to her (she was engaged to someone else, '69) on leave before shipping off to Germany, which could have been Viet Nam. Feel the romance. Yes, such longing. A long time ago.

[Eedgit]

@SIMKINETICS Oh Barry!

If it makes any sense at all, I can feel how you felt that day all the way from here.

Beautiful my friend.

[SIMKINETICS]

@Eedgit Janie,

Ah, it is better to have loved & lost than to have never loved at all. Better still, to love again. Yet, what you say does make sense, as you too may have been there.

[TR5T]

Soft snow falling in the Michgan winter, windows afog, cold seeping through the seams. Grey skies, radio crackles, a sound, this sound splits the chill and silence inside.

Smile or cry beauty was spoken within. I sigh at that moment so long ago.

[spretten]

this song reminds me of our dog. maybe because she was the first one i had to experience the loss of (counting both humans and pets). i still dream of her sometimes, ten years later. <3 beautiful song!

[JoaniePH51]

I held on for a year, with this song, when my boyfriend served a hitch in Viet Nam after he lost his draft deferment when he quit college to help out with his father's business after his father had a heart attack. One day In San Diego, I saw him "comin' back to me." We spent the next two weeks with Crown of Creation and a really "Adorable" friend from Panama to help things along. Great group, great music, terrible times for many.

[giveitmeonce]

Can you turn me on man?

[ffchatter]

you guys are lucky today. i couldnt afford the albums in the sixties. now i can catch up on youtube.

[dazedstorm]

i can't describe how i feel when i listen this song.it calms me down,but it awakes so much emotions inside of me.

this song makes me vulnerable and fragile.

[AboveCommonInsyt]

This is the first time i listen to this, its also the first time i dont see anyone posting stupid comments. I enjoy reading the comments that say "i remember i saw them live" or whatever, you guys are so lucky to grow up in that era. My generation sucks im 17 and my favorite music is from those days

[oldschool70s]

A true time piece. Don't give up on your generation because it is up to you to pass it along to the next. You are the true stewards of time. With GREAT RESPECT and HONOR to your generation. KEEP IT GOING!!

[bluesboydude]

@AboveCommonInsyt yeah me too. its time for a new woodstock dont you think?

[roddymuyank]

@AboveCommonInsyt

hey person, i'm 17 too, and i'll tell you there's still good music out there (being made).

Rock on!!!

[californiacamera]

One of the best soft songs ever. Its tone reminds me of Chinese Lamp by Laura Nyro. The sense of quiet becomes a part of the song.

Shows you what these guys could do. Unless you knew better, you'd never believe they could turn around and blow you away with Volunteers or Crown of Creation.

[ChristianAlfredo93]

I love how deep all of these comments are. Granted their not unjustified, I just get the creeping suspicion that a vast majority were influenced by LSD.

[magicminstrel]

I was born at the right time. It was the music that took us on the greatest trip, and still can, if we just listen.

[moby118]

@magicminstrel Nicely put. I simply MUST get the damn vinyl onto disc. Thanks for the impetus.  :)

[pbrucpaul]

I listened to this back in the '70's up at Stinson Beach Marin County, California on headphones just as the sun was going down looking at the waves just sleepily coming in from the Pacific. It was good for the soul. Peace at it's best.

[Peacelovelennon1]

God, this song unleashes so many thoughts into my head that I can't even explain. I can't even begin to describe what it is like to listen to this song for the first time, but I feel sorry for people who don't get to experience it. It's so beautiful...

[DoktorQuire]

@Peacelovelennon1 u sound sooooooo high

[Peacelovelennon1]

@DoktorQuire On life, Baby :)

[UJ96LFA]

What a lovely time this was! A transparent dream beneath an occasional sigh...

[joemp1]

makes my heart fly, my soul feel free...magical

[motrinman18]

its a very good song i never knew much beyond jefferson airplanes white rabbit and somebody to love

but they have alot more good songs like this one

[wzrdcc]

Absolutely one of the finest psychadelic albums. Maybe the best. I was in college when this album came out. It was constantly played, in every dorm suite, practically all day, every day. Still remains one of my top 3 albums and I still get misty, reflective and recall so many memories that are so vivid, it seems like I am still living in those times. "Today" was not only played at my wedding reception, it was part of our vows.

[louiseduvee]

this is the lullabye I sang for my grandson... he likes what I like, even my singing

[keitheeds]

this song and "today" are 2 beautiful sounds - great LSD music

[retcwo]

I got to see the Airplane with the Dead in Anaheim, CA at the theater in the round in late 69 or early 70 ... a super night.

[dearcharlix]

This song is so... beautiful.

I'm 15 years old, and it's really hard to find friends with the same music taste as me. I'm really sad sometimes, because I can't talk to any of my friends about great songs like this...

[AEPAM]

heeey feel the same!! im 16 and nobody listen to the kind of music i really love, like this. its really is boring and even sad...

[alexoffinnious]

That reply was for dearcharlix and AEPAM

[crystalsky84]

If you like this song you might also like "The Sage" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It's from that same time & slow.

[alexoffinnious]

First off it's nice to hear that you like this music. I first heard it when I was 16, that was many years ago. My suggestion would be to let them listen to it, listen to the words and the beauty of what is being said. At 15 you found it and enjoy it so just let the music do the talking. If they still don't get it, just be happy that YOU do and keep on enjoying what you have found. Believe it or not the kids now are starting to listen to this music again and discovering how great it really is..

[NoRosesForMe]

well Charlix you have an open mind. Thats really great. Please dont close it. I promise-later in life- youll be so glad you kept yr mind open to music.

Who cares what people think right? I was you once. Still am. Stay cool.

[Neurocida69]

ayyss I can undestand you, is so frustating... when i was 15 years old happend the same... I felt very alone but with the time u will grow and in the life sure you will find friends, and this friends will teach you news amanzing song : )

Now I´m 24 years old and my circle of friends are very similar to me :) and I´m feel more comfortable. The music is a junction point very importan and say a lot of thing about somebody.

I´m very happy for see young people love this kind of music.

[Fenderjag69]

Same thing man all my friends listen to "Hardcore"

[TheGorgorothSpire]

@dearcharlix I understand how you feel Mr. / Miss ... I'm 21 and I still have the same problem lol. People just aren't into good music anymore, but hey maybe that's just my opinion.

[eleni93003]

@dearcharlix You can talk to me about good music! My taste in music is lost in the 1960's era and early 70's. Music was at it's greatest around that time I think.. Such great music! If you like these guys..you should check out "Sweetwater" "The West Coast Experimental Pop Art Band" "H.P. Love Craft, Eric Burdon and The Animals" (old Stuff) "The Yardbirds" "The Byrds" & " Strawberry AlarmClock"....I am the biggest sucker for Psychedelic 60's...so good!!

[jumpinjoe88]

@dearcharlix What country do you live in? I'm also fifteen, but my friends listen to some of the same music that I do. Although most of them don't appreciate it as much as I do, they still know about it and the music of this era. This is more of like Jimi Hendrix and specifically Led Zeppelin, not really the softer side of the rock stuff, though. There are people around your age that listen to this music. You just have to branch out to people. Most of these people will be musicians, however.

[zeldazorch]

The song is about someone leaving then coming back. I was 14 when I saw them live in Golden Gate Park, maybe you needed be to be doing the LSD you understand it. I get it, I'm older, 55. CA Native.

ZeldaZorch

[JoaniePH51]

Forty two years since the release of this album and I still get tears in my eyes when I hear this song. This is, I think, one of the best performances by any group, anywhere, any time.

[togapup]

I'm taking a wild guess and assuming Joan was born one year before me. 42 years ago I was a 15 year old when I heard this. I still don't understand it. But it floored me emotionally. It set me up to be a musical outcast. I fell in love with songs I could never understand. Everyone else fell in love with "yummy yummy I got love in my tummy" over and over; still to this day. I am thrilled 13 year old Ladiah was open enough herself to listen. I Iove her.! She's gonna be a FORCE!

[JoaniePH51]

Actually, I was 18 when this came out. The song really hit home as my boyfriend had just been drafted and transferred to the Marines as they were under quota. He had finished basic and advanced training and was about to be sent to VN for his first tour of duty. I was afraid that I would never see him again. While he was gone, I would have dreams that I would see him walking up to my front door, only to wake and realize it was a dream. This song let me know that I was not alone in my feelings.

[togapup]

Thanks for your memory. I'd love to know how things turned out with your Marine. You are a person I'm proud to be on the planet with. There are only 20 to 200,000 or more who are

left with a strong emotional ties to this gorgeous song. Who knows?

[JoaniePH51]

Married in 1969, 2 sons, 1 daughter, 4 grandchildren and 1 great grand daughter. Jer died three days after holding his great grand daughter. Sure we had problems, but we had a lot of good times too. He was a wonderful father and a great electronics engineer. We were married from 1971 until he died on 9/23/2008 from cancer. 41 years of wonderful memories. He was a proud man and I was proud of him.

[JoaniePH51]

Pardon the typo. 1971 was the year I had our daughter!

[ladidah9]

What an incredible band! I'm thirteen, and they're my favorite. This was the first song I learned on guitar.

[Gertrudis67]

Me too.

[B4001950]

Im feeling like I am there again, at the Fillmore or Winterland listening to the Airplane, Marty and Grace, Jorma and Paul...They always sounded really together...what a special time it was!

[AbberlinesGhost]

And one more time I realise: I'm born much too late!

Fantastic quiet song...

[yesdedhed]

ghost thank god I was born in the early 50s

[xakralof]

@AbberlinesGhost fuck yes! when i listen to the 4 J's (Jimi, Janis, Jefferson and Jim) i can't help thinking i should have born in the 50's so i would've totally enjoyed the 60's... but well i'm born in the "pop" era... with all those "Beyonces" and those "Britney Spears"... what you gonna do...

[sevku22]

@xakralof yeah i regret that i was born in "pop" era:( . I am 24 years old.

I want back to 60'. Love music from this times. And i am very happy to see peoples hearing the same old classic music like me:) The best era for me was 60' ahhhh

[pbrucpaul]

@sevku22 Marty Balin recorded this in November of '66 after Paul Butterfield gave him some dynamite weed. He then went down to a studio where JA was doing "Surrelistic Pillow" in L.A. and put this together. Peaceful in an era of turbulence.

[ottowes]

Marty was always the soul of JA, certainly their most prolific writer and voice. Crawdaddy magazine (1977) interviewed him and he told a story about someone he loved and left for his call to perform music. Perhaps this recounts what that experience meant to him.

[ttoflea]

ottowes, i could not agree with you more!

"the soul of JA" ~ precisely what i just commented under a post of Balin's ballad 'Today' as well as "writer extraordinaire.."

[ottowes]

ttoflea, Such a coincidence! It's nice to meet a kindred spirit!

[ttoflea]

and certainly my pleasure as well, ottowes!

Peace.

[Agoateeman]

WOW, it's been really great to rediscover some of their acoustic music again. Soulful and poetic. Lasting well into the years when so much other music subsides in the time of the tide of the day.

[SacredMojo]

Such a hauntingly beautiful song... takes you back to that "place and time"

[genxxxersize]

This "gem" by the Airplane is timeless!Has there ever been a better song that captures the listener from the start and proceeds to touch your soul for 5:23? This remarkable song is FLAWLESS! Raw feeling and emotion immortalized! This tune should be mandatory listening to anyone who wants to capture, for a brief moment anyway,what it felt like to be alive in the "summer of love." TY!

[PaIatine]

Hello, I love you won't you tell me your name?

[RockMusicLover73]

Huge Beatles and Airplane fan, and this song is definitely the saddest song they've done.

But it's also one of their best that they've done.

[Johnyc321]

Is this same band as Starship - This song is a massive step up from we built this city

[msduggan]

Sort of. The Starship grew out of the Airplane, and had many of the same members. However, the best music by far was the Airplane, especially this one album, Surrealistic Pillow. This was one of the greatest albums of rocks best period. Within 1-2 years of this album were albums like the Beatles' White Album, Abbey Road, Lead Zeppelin 1, Let It Bleed (the Stones), Our Childrens' Childrens' Children (Moody Blues), The Doors, Santana, and so much more. No better period in rock music.

[ttoflea]

oh my god -- that song (built this city) is pure spam in a can and has nothing whatsoever to do with the original starship or airplane.

I can't even bring myself to refer to the present day starship as starship.. couldn't be further from the original or even the late 70's/early 80's incarnation

with Balin & Freiberg (i.e., Takes Off.)

I just about crapped myself when I first caught that trite bit of slick gone super-slick.

[kerrgal]

@ttoflea I saw an interview with Grace (I think) and she said that song was written soley because the record company wanted something commercial. Yes, it's one of the worst rock songs ever.

[iorioriorio]

@kerrgal  This is not a rock song....does it sound like one?????

[kerrgal]

@iorioriorio I had responded to a comet by @ttoflea (which I can't find), the comment was not about *this* song, it was about the song, "We Built This City"

[jumpinjoe88]

@iorioriorio It actually is a rock song. Not Rock N'Roll or hard rock, but rather folk/alternative rock. The term rock applies very largely to the instrumentation. I know there's a recorder in there, but it's still rock. Jefferson Airplane could be considered an alternative rock band...

[killingtheblueskarma]

there was never a voice or song more heartbreakingly beautiful ...

karma

[OrbisMundi]

certainly in best 10--no best 5--albums ever

[Judge85]

wonderful!

[moof2]

1967 the summer of love. where did it come from? it came from the tragedy unfolding and that was vietnam. old people asked what is wrong with young people? young people asked the opposite. a song as timeless as this.. where did it come from? a hippie dream? no.. just...humans longing to be with loved ones again.

[jumpinjoe88]

@moof2 So... Beautiful...

[B4001950]

Grace always did a wonderful play on the flute. The music they made was so strong and focused on a beauty of the times, a belonging, spirit we all shared in those times. A belonging and friendliness toward each other that has been mostly lost in contemporary times.

[androidstar]

OMG! This brings back soooooo many memories of the 1960's! I must have dropped acid dozens of times listening to this tune, and ended up getting so spaaaaaaced out! I wrote a book about those days titled: "Autobiography of a Hippie: 1964 through 1969", in which I describe what it was like back then as a runaway teenage "flower child" aged 14 through 19. I turned on, tuned in and dropped out! You can check out a link to my book on my channel. Those were times of real intense adventures! Cheers!

[tomjunowak]

wow. thanks for posting!