Fly Like An Eagle

This introspective and inspirational song reminds us that time is always ticking away, so we'd better make the most of it. The message of freedom through revolution is one Steve Miller picked up when he formed his Steve Miller band in San Francisco in 1966, a time and place that centered him in the counterculture as America was ramping up the Vietnam War.

There's a message of compassion in the song, as Miller sings: Feed the babies Who don't have enough to eat Shoe the children With no shoes on their feet House the people Livin' in the street Most of Miller's hits from this time period were lighthearted story songs ("Take The Money And Run") or tunes about having a good time ("Rock 'N Me," "Swingtown"). "Fly Like An Eagle" stood out for its powerful message and call to action.

Miller used a lot of synthesizer on this song, but he kept it simple, using it mostly for sound effects and atmosphere. Because he was a guitar player, he didn't feel the need to get too intricate with it, and he got a very basic model that was easy to use: an ARP Odyssey. "I kept finding that the people who played them were way too complex, and could never remember how they got their sounds or anything," he explained in The Guitar Greats. "So I went to a little local music store and asked them if they had an idiot synthesizer, one with a stop that says 'flute' or 'French horn' or whatever, and they said they had just what I needed, and showed me this very simple synthesizer that none of the players would ever be seen with – it really hurt my keyboard player to have to use it, because he didn't want the other guys to see him with it. I took it home and started fooling around with it, and got all these sounds – it was very easy to use, and there were no problems with it."