While commercial air travel is an easy punchline on the comedy circuit, others approach it with far more gravity—among them Paula Boggs, who knows the terrain from every angle.
“Flying in 2025 is not for the faint of heart,” Boggs says. “Between DOGE, the firing of air traffic controllers, helicopter crashes, delayed or canceled flights, TSA drama, people coughing on you without masks, no free snacks—whatever—it’s never been more stressful. An out-of-control plane felt like the perfect metaphor for the anxiety so many of us are carrying right now. We arranged and recorded the song with a ‘live’ feel to amplify the sense of clear and present danger we wanted to convey.”
A singer-songwriter, bandleader, and former lawyer, Boggs brings an uncommon depth of lived experience to her music. Her songs draw equally from soul and Americana traditions and from reflection, justice, and personal reckoning. Before fully committing to music, she built a formidable career outside it—serving as a U.S. Army officer, working as a civil rights attorney, and later becoming a corporate executive at Starbucks. That background matters. Her songwriting consistently grapples with power, responsibility, identity, and moral gray areas, yet never feels preachy. Groove and storytelling always lead the way.
The Paula Boggs Band returns with its fifth studio album, Sumatra, out March 27—a revelatory collection infused with infectious soul and a bold urge to question the status quo. Glide is premiering the lyric video for “Airline Boogie,” a standout track from Sumatra that rekindles the Lowell George-led Little Feat shuffle blues groove that is always endearing.
As Boggs explains, “The chorus—‘anxiety climbs the higher we go’—feels even more personal to me now than when I wrote it last year. I suspect that’s true for a lot of people around the world. Still, I hope the ‘stars align’ so we land ‘right side up.’ That won’t happen through fatalism. To ‘boogie’ requires movement, rhythm, and enthusiasm. The lyric video lets viewers absorb the story and metaphor—along with its sometimes manic humor—and hopefully feel inspired to, well…boogie.”
One Response
Thanks for premiering our lyric video “Airline Boogie!”