Jefferson Airplane, a rock band based in San Francisco, California, was one… Read Full Bio ↴Jefferson Airplane, a rock band based in San Francisco, California, was one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They were headliners at the three most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s—Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969) and Altamont (1969)—and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England. Their 1967 break-out album Surrealistic Pillow ranks on the short list of the most significant recordings of the "Summer of Love". Two songs from that album, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", are among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

The "classic" lineup of Jefferson Airplane, from October 1966 to February 1970, was Marty Balin (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar, vocals), Grace Slick (vocals), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar, vocals), Jack Casady (bass), and Spencer Dryden (drums). Marty Balin left the band in 1971. After 1972, Jefferson Airplane effectively split into two groups. Kaukonen and Casady moved on full time to their own band, Hot Tuna. Slick, Kantner, and the remaining members of Jefferson Airplane recruited new members and regrouped as Jefferson Starship in 1974, with Marty Balin eventually joining them. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and was presented with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

Spencer Dryden died on January 11, 2005.

Both Signe Anderson and Paul Kantner died on January 28, 2016.

Marty Balin died on September 27, 2018

D.C.B.A.
Jefferson Airplane Lyrics

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It's time you walked away and set me free
I must move away, 'n' leave you be.
It has been good to us my friend,
Wait, and see how it will end.
We come and go as we please.
(Grace: We come and go as we please)
(Paul: That's how it has to be).

Here in this ocean, the near and holy,
Too many days I've left unstoned.
If you don't mind, happiness
Purple pleasure-fields in the sun
Ah don't you know I'm runnin' home
(Grace: Don't you know I'm runnin' home)
(Paul: To a place, for you unknown).

I take great peace in your sitting there(1).
Searching for myself, I find a place there(2).
I see the people of the world,
Where they are and what they could be.
I can but dance behind your smile

(Grace: I can but dance behind your smile)
(Paul: To [the] other world to me, for a while)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jefferson Airplane's song D.C.B.A convey a sense of a farewell and the need to move on. The singer is addressing a friend or a lover, explaining that it's time for them to part ways and that they must set each other free. The line "I must move away, 'n' leave you be" explicitly implies the need for separation. However, the singer acknowledges the goodness of the relationship with the line "It has been good to us my friend", and tells the other person to "wait and see how it will end." This line implies that the singer believes their separation might lead to something beneficial for both parties.

The lyrics are ambiguous, but they suggest that the singer is searching for something. In the line "Here in this ocean, the near and holy, too many days I've left unstoned," the word "stoned" could mean drug use, but it could also be a metaphor for missed opportunities or experiences. The next line, "If you don't mind, happiness, purple pleasure-fields in the sun," seems to imply that the singer is searching for happiness in a new place, where the grass is greener. The final lines, "I see the people of the world, where they are and what they could be. I can but dance behind your smile, to [the] other world to me, for a while," suggest that the singer has found some sort of enlightenment or perspective on the world through their relationship with the other person.

D.C.B.A.Jefferson Airplane Lyrics

D.C.B.A.
Jefferson Airplane Lyrics