There once flew a pilot, high and free
Danced with the clouds
Pirouetted with the breeze
But out of synch to the mechanical beat
That pulsed at the heart of the metal machine
Thought of their partner and thought of their kids
Thought where they're going and thought where they'd been
But a subtle change
The routine shattered
Prepare the mind
Arrange the matters

Deadstick
Deadstick
I'm a bird with a broken wing
Deadstick (deadstick)
Deadstick (deadstick)
This nightingale can't sing

I wake with a retch to the smell of ammonia
And my eyes start watering
A shadow?
A body?
“Who are you? ” I say when a voice cracks like a frozen lake
“I am your child
You are my mother and I'm sitting here dying”
I say “I got no children, I am but a boy, you are mistaken

”She sings “Follow me down through the wind and the earth
to the edge of the forgotten seas”
“Save me from the hurt”
“Tell me of my worth”
“A phantom is taking everything”

Deadstick
Death wish
Panic in the cockpit
Praying in the cabin
We're all holding hands
Deadstick
Death wish
Lost all propulsive
Propellers ain't spinning
Being forced to land
Deadstick
Death wish
We're shutting off the engines
Blues skies are turning a darker grey
Deadstick
Death wish
Heading for the smoking hole in the airfield I can't locate

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Save me!
I'm in a tight spot
Catastrophe
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Save me!
I'm ‘bout to make a crash landing

Deadstick
Deadstick
I'm a bird with a broken wing
Deadstick
Deadstick
This nightingale can't sing
Yeah!

Deadstick
Death wish
I can't believe we made it out alive
Deadstick
Death wish
Send me help before I die