This is my dope song. Everybody's supposed to write a dope song, right? There was a time about a year ago, maybe a year and a half ago, when it became incredibly right. And everybody was to write about dope and have an underlying meaning in the song. And all the hip people knew about it and all the, whatever the others are didn't know it. And then they all smiled at each other and felt this big unity. Everybody went out and bought the records. The artist made a lot of bread. Well, this is my song like that. How disillusioning! Neil Young The Riverboat, Toronto, Ontario, Canada February 8, 1969

This song was...it's about dope. It's just about...mostly just grass. It's about what happens when you start getting high and you find out that people you thought you knew, you don't know any more, because they don't get high and you do. Your girlfriend, she doesn't understand. Your life is crazy. Neil Young The Cellar Door, Washington, D.C., USA December 2, 1970, Late Show

This is a very old song also. It's really old folks. I can't believe how old this song is. I can hardly remember it. I can't remember it. It's the first dope, acid-rock song I wrote folks. I was cashing in on psychedelics at the time. I was really more into jello than anything else. There's a little dust on my nine foot Steinway. I've been playing eight months. I got a nine foot Steinway! Neil Young Carnegie Hall, New York City, New York, USA December 5, 1970

[while listening to a series of audience requests after the main Tonight's The Night set] I take my time, but I will be playing songs that I can get into for you tonight. You know, a funny thing that happens, you get a group of songs, things go real good for a couple years. Then everybody thinks that's what you are. But, if you can get back to where you were two years ago, I'll go back to where I was. Neil Young Palace Theatre, Manchester, England November 3, 1973

Here's an old song for you from the Buffalo Springfield's first record. I never got to sing it on that record. I'd like to sing it for you now. Neil Young Royal Festival Hall, London, England November 10, 1973

JM: Was your apartment at Commodore Gardens a cool place? NY: It was for me. It was really my first own place. Everything was kinda psychedelic. I had a blue lightbulb in my refrigerator. Got this bamboo wall-covering stuff at Pier 9. Went down with Donna and Vicki and bought a whole shitload of stuff. Grass mats on the wall. Very funky. My apartment looked like the dressing room at the Fillmore. NY: That’s when we were playin’ the Whisky A Go-Go. I was able to pay for my own place for a while—that was a first. It was fun. I got so far in arrears that I skipped out on the rent. NY: I wrote “Out of My Mind” and “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” at Commodore Gardens on Orchid Avenue. “Flying on the Ground” wasn’t written for anybody in particular. It’s about drugs. It’s about bein’ straight and takin’ drugs—mixed in with life. NY: If you want to know me and you don’t wanna get high, you won’t get to know me. That’s kinda what that song’s about. We can’t be together because we’re too different. It’s like “I love you, but you’re not with me.” Neil Young "Shakey" by Jimmy McDonough 2002

In a rare admission, Young would tell deejay Tony Pig in a 1969 interview that the song was partially inspired by the work of his hero Roy Orbison: “That’s where ‘Flying on the Ground’ came from … the idea of the melody came from ‘Blue Bayou.’” Neil Young "Shakey" by Jimmy McDonough 2002

I wrote a lot of songs there [at the Commodore Gardens on Orchid Avenue in Hollywood] for the Springfield, and it was an exciting time for me. “Flying on the Ground,” “Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It,” and “Burned” were among the songs I wrote there. Neil Young Waging Heavy Peace Sept 2012

I wrote 'Flying on the Ground' in the first place I rented in LA. It was a one room apt in Hollywood called the Commodore Gardens. Buffalo Springfield was playing at the Whisky on Sunset strip so i was making enough to move out of the house Barry Friedman (our first manager) had been sharing with the 5 of us in the Springfield. I had finally made the big time after driving down to LA from Canada in April, 1966. Neil Young NYA Song Of The Day November 26, 2018