Treetop Flyer

Annotation

Stephen Stills, singer/songwriter born on 3 January 1945 in Dallas, Texas, USA, and currently based in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a member of Buffalo Springfield, composing and singing the famous anti-war song "For What It's Worth", originally released as a single (ATCO Records # 45-6459), and subsequently appearing on the 2nd edition of their 1967 debut album Buffalo Springfield. He was also in the super-group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young which released the anti-war single Ohio / Find the Cost of Freedom, about the Kent State shooting, with Young composing the A-side, and Stills the b-side. In 1971 he released the song "Relaxing Town" on the solo album Stephen Stills 2 which contained a reference to the Chicago Eight demonstrations. In the post-war period, in 1991, Stills released the song "Treetop Flyer" on the album Stills Alone, about a Vietnam War vet who used is flying skills, gained in Vietnam, to smuggle drugs under the radar. Stephen Stills kicked off the 1990s with the song "Treetop Flyer" about a Vietnam veteran who used his flying skills back in the US to smuggle drugs, as the narrator explained: he was "over in Vietnam, chasin' NVA", and the US "government...taught me right, stay down, under the treeline".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I could be a rambler from The Seven Dials / I don't pay taxes 'cause I never file / I don't do business that don't make me smile / I love my aeroplane 'cause she's got style / I'm a treetop flyer / I will fly any cargo that you can pay to run / These bush league pilots, they just can't get the job done / Got to fly down into the canyons, you'll never see the sun / There's no such thing as an easy run / For a treetop flyer / I'm flyin' low, I'm in high demand / Go fifteen feet over the Rio Grande / I'll blow the mesquite right up of off the sand / Seldom seen, especially when I land / I'm a treetop flyer / Born Survivor / People been asking me, "Where'd you learn to fly that way?" / Was over in Vietnam, chasin' NVA / The government taught me, and they taught me right, / Stay down, under the treeline, you might be alright / Treetop flyer / So I'm comin' home, I'm runnin' low and fast / I promised my woman this is gonna be my last / I get the shit down, I tie it fast / Then some old boy walks up, and he says / "Hey son want to make some fast cash?" / I'm a treetop flyer / Well there's things I am, and there's things I'm not / I am a smuggler and I could get shot / Aint going to die, I ain't goin' to get caught / See I'm a flyin' fool, in an aeroplane, just too hot / I'm a treetop flyer / Born survivor / Usually work alone

About the artist

American singer-songwriter, born 3 January 1945 in Dallas, Texas ('For What It's Worth'). [Source: Wikipedia]