2:05........THEY HAD THEIR TURN.......IT IS OURS NOW!!! PAYBACK's A B!*CH!!! JUST WAIT,....... YOU'LL SEE!!! Love you guys (my fellow Americans).My UTMOST condolences.
I have always enjoyed Mr. Thomas's music especialy this song pilot , pianted ladies and hold on. Can't say that I've seen his music in stores and that's just a cryin' shame. Like others here that have posted about another unapreciated canadian artist...well he seems to have been largely ignored for some strange reason. Could never understand why, A loss for music fans. Maybe he had too much talent? At least I'd like to think so.
This song has haunted me from the moment it first came out. I was quite young then, but recognized it for what it was. Brilliant and enigmatic lyrics and compelling music that still sends shivers up my spine to this day. I loved the SCTV live performance, but still turn to the album version when I'm looking for my fix of the never duplicated Ian Thomas.
What a great tune. Has that smoky bar feeling about it. It's the genre of music that stood out on the sidewalk cafes of Toronto. I use to love hanging on Yonge street in front of Sam the Record Man's place and listen to all the new Canadian tunes he'd play over his street speakers. Summer evenings in the city in the 70s..what awesome memories...thanks for the upload.
I can't believe he only had the one hit in the States. In Canada he had many. As for the comments that he sounds like Neil Young and America. This is the only song that sounds a little bit like Young (and America only had the one song "Horse with no name" themselves that soung like Neil Young) And Ian wrote America's last top 10 hit "right before your eyes" as well
Yup!!!! being a letter carrier for Canada Post I delivered to his Childhood home for 7 years and always got a rush walking up to the front door knowing Dave and Ian Thomas grew up at this house..... always walked away with a smile... Phil the Postie
It's possible the song is about the atom bomb. The first verse refers to the ultra-secret Manhattan Project (including Einstein). The "Salt Flats of Nevada" refers to the many nuclear tests held there (although not the first in NM). The last verse could be about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis (very harrowing, Google it!). Nuclear weapons can be delivered by aircraft, so we in effect placed our blind trust in "the Pilot" to save us from the "fire we have made": nuclear Armageddon.
1979 for me....loved this song. Great summer before going to university in Halifax, 19 yr old varsity athlete...I had the cd but that was lost in the divorce and no bloody way am I knocking on that door so thx for posting......lol
Ian Thomas got his voice to sound like that by lying down on a couch in the recording studio!! It's true...I read it in the liner notes on his greatest hits album. Pretty cool!
I love this song so much.Ian Thomas on his time was unique.My small kids like this song:They don't know about Ian,but they like listen .Pilot is my song.Thanks,Ian.
One of my favourite songs of all time! I have the SCTV episode (on DVD) where he performed it, but it's good to be able to listen to this version too. I first heard the song on the radio when it first came out. I was reading "When Worlds Collide" at the time and the images from the book are forever connected in my mind with hearing this song.
If anyone can get their hands on the Still Here album or cd, grab it and run like hell to your sound system. Pilot is from the Glider album which is great, but Still Here is the Ian Thomas Band,s masterpiece, the sound quality is great, the band is at their best and the songs and lyrics are incredible. Please check it out.
There's that weird mythology about doomsday, mutants, post-apocalypse wastelands and stuff...never better expounded on than by Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and his brother Ian - yes, the first 2 are Bob & Doug McKenzie of SCTV. Please check the 'Mutants of 2051 A.D.' clip from the Bob & Doug film 'Strange Brew' for more!
Shows you what I know...and all these years I had imagined the song was about some Nuke test over the Nevada desert where the weapon lit Earth's atmosphere or something...the scrathcing fingers reference signalling the plane from which it was dropped caught up in the ensuing fireball. Or so some schmuck told me.
Man, I remember going through the drug hazy years of the 70's thinking I was the only Ian Thomas fan in the world! Every time I mentioned him my buddies would say "Oh yeah! He did Painted Ladies" and I'd give 'em hell and tell them he was more than a one hit artist. And this song is further proof that he was just another underated unappreciated Canadian artist with great talent. I saw him and his brother a couple of years ago doing a music/comedy tour and it was awesome!
I agree, Ian Thomas is one of the most talented artist to come along in many years! The Runner, Hold on, are works of musical art, and nothing less, and the format of Pilot, can stretch pretty deep, at least it does in my thoughts... bet you agree....thanks for the comment here4family, makes me glad I posted this........D.
Yeah, I spent many a night at venues were Ian performed thorughout southwestern ontario, fell in love in 1973 when I first saw him perform at my highshool Mayfield Secondary near Brampton, I was proud to be a Ian Thomas Groupie! cheer to all the gals from Conestoga College and Manulife in Waterloo
My guess would be the reality of man,and how we trust people we don't even know, with our very lives, especially pilots. the evolution of what has been achieved in the last 100 yrs, and what to expect in the next 100yrs. Man vs God, maybe, which has more power, a Volcano, or Einstein's atomic bomb?.. lets see and find out!! ..Nevadas test sites,the scientific minds that develop man to invade space, the wonders we see every day but look right past, to see what is next on the horizon. ???
It's a cheese ball science fiction thing. Glider, the record it's from is based loosely on a BBC program called alternative 3 which talked about a drain on the scientific pool in the 70's. One of the first apollo flights was going over to the dark side of the moon for the first time and suddenly the signal to earth went to white noise. Their supposition was that earth was screwed. And big business was already engaged on other planetoids.
Where were you able to find this? The only one I found was the SCTV version, which has a faster tempo, but this is about a minute longer...merci for posting!
I have an original copy of Pilot, there was no studio version, that I could find either, so I posted it... It is a tribute to a talented artist.... Ian also wrote "Hold on" covered by Santana, and "the Runner", covered by Manfred Mans Earth Band... his song"Painted Ladies", everyone thought was Neil young, or the band America, nope it was Ian Thomas.. merci... D.C.
einstein was a thieving jew
Teph87 1 week ago
2:05........THEY HAD THEIR TURN.......IT IS OURS NOW!!! PAYBACK's A B!*CH!!! JUST WAIT,....... YOU'LL SEE!!! Love you guys (my fellow Americans).My UTMOST condolences.
tervariousch1 1 month ago
Can anyone say Law and Order haha
countryshmountry 1 month ago
through the porthole, panic stricken
humanity had been forsaken...
large hadron collider perhaps? Oh Pilot..
lessermystery 1 month ago
Awesome! Sure brings back memories. Would love to hear so much more of Mr. Thomas.
Craig7280 3 months ago
I have always enjoyed Mr. Thomas's music especialy this song pilot , pianted ladies and hold on. Can't say that I've seen his music in stores and that's just a cryin' shame. Like others here that have posted about another unapreciated canadian artist...well he seems to have been largely ignored for some strange reason. Could never understand why, A loss for music fans. Maybe he had too much talent? At least I'd like to think so.
axsisofevil 7 months ago
This song has haunted me from the moment it first came out. I was quite young then, but recognized it for what it was. Brilliant and enigmatic lyrics and compelling music that still sends shivers up my spine to this day. I loved the SCTV live performance, but still turn to the album version when I'm looking for my fix of the never duplicated Ian Thomas.
pheloniusfriar 8 months ago
Great lyrics--a nuclear apocalypse, escaping the earth on a spaceplane...
Ian Thomas is one of Canada's great, underappreciated songwriters, along with Art Bergmann.
acsial 8 months ago
I have this on Vinyl :)
Novaheart1998 8 months ago
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What a great tune. Has that smoky bar feeling about it. It's the genre of music that stood out on the sidewalk cafes of Toronto. I use to love hanging on Yonge street in front of Sam the Record Man's place and listen to all the new Canadian tunes he'd play over his street speakers. Summer evenings in the city in the 70s..what awesome memories...thanks for the upload.
tyme4mike 10 months ago
This song is about the documentary "Alternative 3" which you can google up...
rondh69 10 months ago
Can someone *please* upload the Ian Thomas song "Liars", eh?
7beers 11 months ago
Underrated Canadian music strikes again, eh?
7beers 11 months ago
I can't believe he only had the one hit in the States. In Canada he had many. As for the comments that he sounds like Neil Young and America. This is the only song that sounds a little bit like Young (and America only had the one song "Horse with no name" themselves that soung like Neil Young) And Ian wrote America's last top 10 hit "right before your eyes" as well
heyman29323 1 year ago
Yup!!!! being a letter carrier for Canada Post I delivered to his Childhood home for 7 years and always got a rush walking up to the front door knowing Dave and Ian Thomas grew up at this house..... always walked away with a smile... Phil the Postie
phigal 1 year ago
I had no idea Albert Einsein was a pilot.
sweiland75 1 year ago
It's possible the song is about the atom bomb. The first verse refers to the ultra-secret Manhattan Project (including Einstein). The "Salt Flats of Nevada" refers to the many nuclear tests held there (although not the first in NM). The last verse could be about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis (very harrowing, Google it!). Nuclear weapons can be delivered by aircraft, so we in effect placed our blind trust in "the Pilot" to save us from the "fire we have made": nuclear Armageddon.
helbent4 1 year ago
Excellent work, absolutely!!!!!!!
danaCOOKMAN 1 year ago
1979 for me....loved this song. Great summer before going to university in Halifax, 19 yr old varsity athlete...I had the cd but that was lost in the divorce and no bloody way am I knocking on that door so thx for posting......lol
frenchycanada 1 year ago
fuck yes
Ph4nToMX 1 year ago
Ian Thomas got his voice to sound like that by lying down on a couch in the recording studio!! It's true...I read it in the liner notes on his greatest hits album. Pretty cool!
6prereq 1 year ago
I love this song so much.Ian Thomas on his time was unique.My small kids like this song:They don't know about Ian,but they like listen .Pilot is my song.Thanks,Ian.
moshealex 1 year ago
One of my favourite songs of all time! I have the SCTV episode (on DVD) where he performed it, but it's good to be able to listen to this version too. I first heard the song on the radio when it first came out. I was reading "When Worlds Collide" at the time and the images from the book are forever connected in my mind with hearing this song.
pheloniusfriar 1 year ago
If anyone can get their hands on the Still Here album or cd, grab it and run like hell to your sound system. Pilot is from the Glider album which is great, but Still Here is the Ian Thomas Band,s masterpiece, the sound quality is great, the band is at their best and the songs and lyrics are incredible. Please check it out.
8moody1 1 year ago
Wow. THis is a great recording. Did it come from vinyl? My 45 sounds awful in comparison.
archangle81 1 year ago
Oh man, this song is awesome! I probabally said it about a million times on youtube, but only a Canadian could come up with such an awesome song!
wilkes85 1 year ago
My favorite Ian tune , tied with Liar
gravano2 1 year ago
Good Day!
I have liked Ian's music since I was young!
I still have the 8Track of Glider kicking about..also have the lp..& other lps by Ian.
I like him in "Lunch at Allens" also!
I wonder if the tribute band "Glider" is still together?
Thanks for posting this!
RetroCaptain 1 year ago
Nice that the longer version is posted.
crlaw75 1 year ago
(Let's hope there IS a flyer to deliver us from the fire!)
YearOfCam 1 year ago
There's that weird mythology about doomsday, mutants, post-apocalypse wastelands and stuff...never better expounded on than by Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and his brother Ian - yes, the first 2 are Bob & Doug McKenzie of SCTV. Please check the 'Mutants of 2051 A.D.' clip from the Bob & Doug film 'Strange Brew' for more!
YearOfCam 1 year ago
Shows you what I know...and all these years I had imagined the song was about some Nuke test over the Nevada desert where the weapon lit Earth's atmosphere or something...the scrathcing fingers reference signalling the plane from which it was dropped caught up in the ensuing fireball. Or so some schmuck told me.
Kerebrad 2 years ago
fucking amazing, you have to know this song to really know the 70's and Star Wars
discokidx1 2 years ago 4
Man, I remember going through the drug hazy years of the 70's thinking I was the only Ian Thomas fan in the world! Every time I mentioned him my buddies would say "Oh yeah! He did Painted Ladies" and I'd give 'em hell and tell them he was more than a one hit artist. And this song is further proof that he was just another underated unappreciated Canadian artist with great talent. I saw him and his brother a couple of years ago doing a music/comedy tour and it was awesome!
here4family 2 years ago 16
I agree, Ian Thomas is one of the most talented artist to come along in many years! The Runner, Hold on, are works of musical art, and nothing less, and the format of Pilot, can stretch pretty deep, at least it does in my thoughts... bet you agree....thanks for the comment here4family, makes me glad I posted this........D.
cutlercustomcyclefab 2 years ago 2
Yeah, I spent many a night at venues were Ian performed thorughout southwestern ontario, fell in love in 1973 when I first saw him perform at my highshool Mayfield Secondary near Brampton, I was proud to be a Ian Thomas Groupie! cheer to all the gals from Conestoga College and Manulife in Waterloo
RosaElliott 2 years ago
@cutlercustomcyclefab Outstanding job on the audio culter. A rarely heard, but very good song.
OPS5255 1 year ago
@here4family i like blues cheer's "pilot" better but i dont mind this is not bad
PrisimAlarmCock 3 months ago in playlist YouTube Mix for Ian Thomas
Thanks for posting this version! I'd only ever heard the version he played live on SCTV... but this is very enjoyable as well.
radiofan6872 2 years ago
Is this song religious?
TomCruiseCloneTwo 2 years ago
My guess would be the reality of man,and how we trust people we don't even know, with our very lives, especially pilots. the evolution of what has been achieved in the last 100 yrs, and what to expect in the next 100yrs. Man vs God, maybe, which has more power, a Volcano, or Einstein's atomic bomb?.. lets see and find out!! ..Nevadas test sites,the scientific minds that develop man to invade space, the wonders we see every day but look right past, to see what is next on the horizon. ???
cutlercustomcyclefab 2 years ago
WOW. That pretty much covers every possible meaning of the song.
TomCruiseCloneTwo 2 years ago
It's a cheese ball science fiction thing. Glider, the record it's from is based loosely on a BBC program called alternative 3 which talked about a drain on the scientific pool in the 70's. One of the first apollo flights was going over to the dark side of the moon for the first time and suddenly the signal to earth went to white noise. Their supposition was that earth was screwed. And big business was already engaged on other planetoids.
The song came from an era of love and drugs ok?
3gypt1an 2 years ago
Alright. Just asking a question. If you don`t ask, you`ll never know.
TomCruiseCloneTwo 2 years ago 2
this song goes well past cheeze ball! LOL
cutlercustomcyclefab 2 years ago
Yeah, I like your answer better.
TomCruiseCloneTwo 2 years ago
Rock On Pilot Sully!
Yikespaco 2 years ago
Comment removed
puddy1115 2 years ago
And here's to our local hero, Captain Richard Phillips, and the Navy Seals - God bless'em!
puddy1115 2 years ago
Where were you able to find this? The only one I found was the SCTV version, which has a faster tempo, but this is about a minute longer...merci for posting!
puddy1115 2 years ago
I have an original copy of Pilot, there was no studio version, that I could find either, so I posted it... It is a tribute to a talented artist.... Ian also wrote "Hold on" covered by Santana, and "the Runner", covered by Manfred Mans Earth Band... his song"Painted Ladies", everyone thought was Neil young, or the band America, nope it was Ian Thomas.. merci... D.C.
cutlercustomcyclefab 2 years ago
Ian Thomas also wrote right before my eyes covered by the band America
cutlercustomcyclefab 2 years ago
Comment removed
puddy1115 2 years ago
There is a video of Ian in a live performance of right before my eyes..beautiful....
puddy1115 2 years ago