The Meaning Behind “Jet Airliner” by Steve Miller Band and the Artist Who Wrote and Performed It First

The Steve Miller Band found its groove as a hitmaking machine in the mid-’70s, churning out a series of amiable rockers that were tailor-made for radio consumption. “Jet Airliner,” which soared into the Top 10 in 1977, fit so well into the continuum that you might be surprised to learn that Miller didn’t write it himself, but rather did a bit of editing on someone else’s original.

What is “Jet Airliner” about? Who wrote and performed it first? And how did Miller bend and twist it into the shape of a hit single? Let’s take this flight back to the early ’70s when the story of this song began.

A Grounded Takeoff

Paul Pena was a blind blues-rock singer who released his self-titled debut album in 1971. He then switched labels from Capitol Records to Bearsville Records to lay down his follow-up, which was titled New Train and scheduled for release in 1973. He moved from West to East Coast to record the album to accommodate his new label. Considering it featured no less than Jerry Garcia as a special guest on one song, you might think the new album would have propelled Pena to a new level of success. Only it was never released.

Bearsville was owned by Albert Grossman, who managed both Bob Dylan and The Band. Some sort of dispute caused Grossman to put the record on ice. Pena couldn’t do anything else with it because of contractual stipulations, which effectively shut down his budding career.

But one of the songs on the album had a second life in it. New Train was produced by Ben Sidran, who had been a major contributor to the earliest releases of Steve Miller. Miller was looking for material to stand alongside some of his originals, and he locked in on a song that was very specific to Pena’s situation, but would resonate with anyone who might feel a little homesick.

Outfitting the Jet

The song in question was “Jet Airliner.” Miller explained to Ultimate Classic Rock what he thought when he heard the song:

“‘Jet Airliner’ was about those people and his treatment on the East Coast when he went out. He really didn’t want to leave California and go to the East Coast and record this record, and this was a song about it. When he brought it to me, he had recorded an album, and nothing had happened. On that album there were five or six really, really great songs, and I needed one song.”

There was still an issue, however. Miller envisioned the song as a potential single for his 1977 album Book of Dreams. But he needed to shave it down to make that happen, because Pena’s complaints kept coming over five verses. Luckily, Pena gave Miller permission to do whatever he wanted with it. Thus, he began a process of winnowing down and combining verses, until he had it down to a tight four-plus minutes, knocked down to 3 1/2 for single release.

Miller also pumped up the main guitar lick, so that it was much more prominent in the mix than what Pena had done. When you combined that with the churning rhythms the Steve Miller Band seemed to have in their DNA, “Jet Airliner” came out sounding like Miller had purposely penned it for maximum commercial impact. In fact, he had acted more like a caretaker to Pena’s original, emotional plea.

What is the Meaning of “Jet Airliner”?

“Jet Airliner” tells the story of a narrator whose obligations keep pulling him away from his home and the one he loves. In the refrains, he humanizes his mode of transportation so that he can ask for its mercy: Big ol’ jet airliner / Don’t carry me too far away. The verses tell his story in greater detail, how he realizes the necessity of his travel but still feels the tug of those he left behind: But my love light feels so far away.

The narrator hints he’s entering the lion’s den (Goodbye to people I’ve trusted) and he doesn’t necessarily know there will be a happy ending (I might get rich, you know I might get busted). It’s an understatement when he says, I’m going with some hesitation.

In Miller’s hands, “Jet Airliner” is more genial shrug than tortured complaint. Paul Pena’s original, which finally saw the light of day when New Train was released in 2000, embraces the rougher edges and darker corners of the tale. In any case, this song captures the inherent melancholy of travel like few songs before or since.

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Photo by Colin Fuller/Redferns