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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
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Six oh five on Kennedy Final and the red-eyes start to call Ten targets on my scope and I have got a slot for all Every one of them's been flying since the West Coast went to bed Every one of them is certain he should be number one instead And I said Every heading has a reason Every reason has a name Read it back to me correctly You will fly it just the same Every mile you fly for me Is a mile I chose to make The TWA from Los Angeles calls the field in sight The Learjet four miles behind him says my spacing isn't right He tells me how to run my sector, says it twice, the second slow So he gets a long downwind past Jones Beach, and he'll never know And I thought Every heading has a reason Every reason has a name Read it back to me correctly You will fly it just the same Every mile you fly for me Is a mile I chose to make They call it punishment vectors, and I have never said a word The strip goes in the shredder, and the tape has only heard "Fly heading zero-four-zero," every syllable correct The scope forgets you by the morning. I'm the one who won't forget Every heading has a reason Every reason has a name Read it back to me correctly You will fly it just the same Every mile you fly for me Is a mile I chose to make Every mile you fly for me Is a mile I chose to make Every heading has a reason
- 03The Half-Eleven Rush4:45
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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
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July of eighty-three on the Newark side Nine on the frequency and the weather painting wide Rita's two years in the building and she's heard the jokes before Two years of men who make a point of holding her the door Piedmont four-twelve checks in level at eight "Afternoon, sweetheart" — and the whole frequency waits Nine crews with their thumbs off the button Waiting on what she'll do Sweetheart on the frequency And the frequency goes still She gives him back his callsign And six thousand, nothing more Not an extra mile, not a temper Not a story for the bar Next Thursday, same flight number, and he says the word again She answers with his callsign and six thousand, same as then The Thursday after that he keys the mike and clears his throat "New York Approach, Piedmont four-twelve, level eight" — and that's all he wrote Nine crews hear the difference And nobody says a word Sweetheart on the frequency And the frequency goes still She gives him back his callsign And six thousand, nothing more Not an extra mile, not a temper Not a story for the bar December, and there's a Christmas card in the Westbury mail Addressed to "Sweetheart, Newark Sector," and the whole room knows the tale Signed "Four-Twelve" and nothing else, no captain and no name And she signs hers "New York Approach" and mails it just the same Sweetheart on the frequency And the frequency goes still She gives him back his callsign And six thousand, nothing more Not an extra mile, not a temper Just a card at Christmas from the floor She says he wasn't a bad man He was a man from a time Both are true
- 06Marine Air Terminal Blues4:30
- 07The Read Back5:45
- 08Punishment Vectors8:20
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Friday at the Marine Air Terminal, the evening push is done A charter captain two stools down has heard it from someone He wants to hear it from the tower, so he leans and asks me how I tell him that I'm TRACON, and he says, "Same thing. Tell me now." He's heard about the extra miles, the speed, the long way round He wants a yes, he wants a no, he wants it written down I don't say it happens I don't say it doesn't I tell him what is in the book And I tell him it's all legal Punishment vectors We're not saying it happens Every word of it is legal Every word is in the book Punishment vectors We're not saying it doesn't If you want to know for certain Fly in Tuesday. Take a look. "Turn left heading three-six-zero, vectors for the sequence" "Reduce speed to one-seven-zero." "Thank you for your patience." "Maintain one-zero thousand. Expect lower in a while." "Hold at Deer Park as published. You are number nine in line." "Expect the ILS Two-Two Left." "Correction: Three-One Right." "Fly heading one-three-zero." "Say fuel remaining." "Roger. You're all right." "Caution wake turbulence, you're following a heavy DC-Ten." "Turn left heading three-six-zero, vectors for the sequence." Again. Punishment vectors We're not saying it happens Every word of it is legal Every word is in the book Punishment vectors We're not saying it doesn't If you want to know for certain Fly in Tuesday. Take a look. We don't keep a list We have never needed one Check in with your altitude Say your callsign once, and say it right Read it back the first time, the way it was said Leave your connection at the gate Do that, and the shortest way in is the way you'll get That isn't a threat That's the book The captain finishes his beer and asks me one more time I tell him it's a legend, and I pay for his and mine He's flying into Kennedy on Tuesday, eight o'clock I say, "Then I'll see you Tuesday." I'll be sitting at the scope. Punishment vectors We're not saying it happens Every word of it is legal Every word is in the book Punishment vectors We're not saying it doesn't If you want to know for certain Fly in Tuesday. Take a look. We're not saying it happens