This was written by Airplane singer/guitarist Paul Kantner, who based the lyrics on the science fiction novel The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. The title comes from the line in the book: "They are the crown of creation, they are ambition fulfilled - they have nowhere more to go. But life is change, that is how it differs from rocks, change is its very nature."
Jefferson Airplane performed this on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in December 1967, with lead singer Grace Slick wearing very heavy makeup and appearing very dark. At the end of the video, she held her fist in the air, similar to the Black Power salute.
Asked during an interview with Italian Airplane historian Johnny Blasi whether the band ever got sued for plagiarizing the lyrics from John Wyndham's book, Kantner replied: "I have thousands of influences in literature and find it a turn-on to leave a little thing like that for people to find and then go to the writer who it came from and read him. I never thought of it as plagiarism."
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