CRASH

Crash is told almost entirely in aviation terminology so you may want to read the lyrics with your web browser open to define terms and catch all of the underlying meanings.

American society is portrayed as an airplane, "Flight 1776," as it prepares for, takes flight, malfunctions and ultimately prepares for a crash landing. Although pre-flight protocol is followed, the aircraft leaves the gate without any payload (or carrying capacity). In spite of thin air, which can dramatically diminish airplane performance, wind sheer, no clearance from the airport tower, no cargo, passengers who didn't pay, and no way to return the plane takes the runway and takes off any way. It immediately gets off course, missing waypoints, and in a double meaning phrase goes from the airport "terminal" to "terminal" meaning "at the end."

Block time refers to the length of a flight. In this case the flight has apparently ended in disaster as it is "time to find the black box (the flight recorder, which incidentally is usually orange). Yet perhaps the search for the flight data is something else entirely as we are told next that it was "Hangared for unsanctioned thoughts (Watch what you think, the thought police are trying to get in our heads)" giving new meaning to the "angle of attack." Whatever the cause, the flight is dead-stick (lost all propulsion) and "gone tech," unable to fly.

The refrain states that Flight 1776 is squawking 7-7-0-0, a code used for serious issue on board a flight. It then takes airline terms like "bleeding air, hitting the ceiling, and dead-heads" and gives them a new meaning. With systems failing (another double meaning) in the second verse the flight radioes "Pan-pan," a term that help is needed. The next lines, however, "No lift, no thrust, drag and gravity - they pull us down. Lost power, lost trust, soul-less cavities are all around" is a veiled, or not so veiled, reference to governments. "Notify the first responders." The plane is coming in without landing gear on uneven ground.

As the flight is number 1776, the flight plan deviation is a reference to attempts to alter the founding documents of the nation having the capability to "divert entire nations." Air shudders (all shutters) are the vibration of the plane on takeoff. Words also move air and can cause 'shudders. "All flap" - up and down are possible, "No rudder" - but there is nothing to steer by. No F.O. (first officer) or P.I.C. (person in charge). The "flight" has been hijacked and will presumably end in tragedy.