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BAY 1 · SCOPE RECORDS
Every Heading Has a Reason
The debut. Eight tracks recorded across four Sunday afternoons at the Westbury American Legion hall, which the band rented for twenty-five dollars a session. Every song from the controller's chair. Side two closes on the title-adjacent "Punishment Vectors" — an eight-minute suite that never confirms the practice is real and never denies it. Scope Records pressed a thousand copies; N90 controllers bought half of them; the rest sold at Long Island metal clubs.
- 01Sector Alive2:30
- 02Every Heading Has a Reason5:20
Read back
Six oh five and the first wave is coming in Fifteen inbound aircraft and my shift begins Every one of them tired from an overnight flight Every one of them ready to argue if I'm right And I said Every heading has a reason Every reason has a source Every vector's got a story That I set upon its course Every heading has a reason Every reason's mine to take Every mile you fly for me Is a mile I chose to make The 727 out of LaGuardia wants to keep his climb The corporate jet at Kennedy wants his slot right on time Some regional at Newark called me sweetheart last week So I gave him the extra ten miles and I never spoke And I thought Every heading has a reason Every reason has a source Every vector's got a story That I set upon its course Every heading has a reason Every reason's mine to take Every mile you fly for me Is a mile I chose to make They call it punishment vectors — I never say a word The strip goes in the shredder and the tape's never heard The scope has a long memory but the memory's mine Every heading has a reason but the reason is between the lines Every heading has a reason Every reason has a source Every vector's got a story That I set upon its course Every heading has a reason Every reason's mine to take Every mile you fly for me Is a mile I chose to make Every heading has a reason
- 03The Half-Eleven Rush4:45
Read back
Ten forty-five and the sector's still quiet My hand on the scope keeps a metronome time Twelve past eleven and the first one calls in Continental heavy from Miami on approach And I said Half-eleven rush! Half-eleven rush! Twenty-two aircraft in a sector for eight Half-eleven rush! Half-eleven rush! Every one of them thinks they can't wait American from Dallas asking speed reduction Delta from Boston wants direct to the fix Piedmont from Norfolk claiming minimum fuel And the sector supervisor stepping in behind And I thought Half-eleven rush! Half-eleven rush! Twenty-two aircraft in a sector for eight Half-eleven rush! Half-eleven rush! Every one of them thinks they can't wait Handoff to the tower, handoff to the tower One more coming in and one more going out Twelve o'clock straight up and the sector goes quiet Twelve o'clock straight up and my coffee gets cold Half-eleven rush! Half-eleven rush! Twenty-two aircraft in a sector for eight Half-eleven rush! Half-eleven rush! Every one of them thinks they can't wait Half-eleven rush
- 04Two-Two-Left5:10
- 05Sweetheart on the Frequency6:15
- 06Marine Air Terminal Blues4:30
- 07The Read Back5:45
- 08Punishment Vectors8:20
Read back
There's a legend among pilots that we send them out of range They call it punishment vectors — they say we do it just because We never confirm the practice, we never deny it neither But every heading has a reason, and every reason has a name And they say Punishment vectors The story that never was Punishment vectors The tape that never got saved Punishment vectors The vector we assigned Punishment vectors For reasons in our mind The controller works her sector for another hour on The scope shows twelve aircraft and the frequency won't stop The pilot in the Learjet reads it back too rough The controller writes his callsign on a strip and lets it drop Maybe she sends him direct Maybe she adds ten miles Maybe she asks him to slow to two-two-oh for spacing Maybe she keeps him high with the deck coming down Maybe she holds him longer than the traffic requires Punishment vectors The story that never was Punishment vectors The tape that never got saved Punishment vectors The vector we assigned Punishment vectors For reasons in our mind Now we sing about the strips Now we sing about the tapes Now we sing about the extra miles That got added to your flight We sing them from the controller's side Where the pilots never sit We sing them at the Legion hall Where the retired ones admit Punishment vectors Everybody says it doesn't happen Punishment vectors Everybody says it isn't real Punishment vectors The tape from the tower Punishment vectors Was never turned in for review Punishment vectors