[PGalt]

...Eight miles high and falling fast...(McLean)

The Byrds...Eight Miles High...

Eight miles high and when you touch down
You’ll find that it’s stranger than known
Signs in the street that say where you’re going
Are somewhere just being their own

Nowhere is there warmth to be found
Among those afraid of losing their ground
Rain gray town known for it’s sound
In places small faces unbound

Round the squares huddled in storms
Some laughing some just shapeless forms
Sidewalk scenes and black limousines
Some living some standing alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCT9naHt2oo

[Aevery_Freeman]

A subtext to the "eight miles high" reference is none other than Kenny Rogers and the First Edition:

I tripped on a cloud and fell eight miles high
I tore my mind on a jagged sky

A clear reference to the LSD craze in the late Sixties and early Seventies. We all recognized it.