“Eight Miles High” is essentially a reference to an airplane ride; from Wikipedia:  “Although commercial airliners fly at an altitude of six to seven miles, it was felt that ‘eight miles high’ sounded more poetic than six and also recalled the title of the Beatles’ song ‘Eight Days a Week’. . . .  Other lyrics in the song that explicitly refer to the Byrds’ stay in England include the couplet:  ‘Nowhere is there warmth to be found / Among those afraid of losing their ground’, which is a reference to the hostile reaction of the UK music press and to the English group the Birds serving the band with a copyright infringement writ, due to the similarities in name.  In addition, ‘Round the squares, huddled in storms / Some laughing, some just shapeless forms’ describes fans waiting for the band outside hotels; while the line ‘Sidewalk scenes and black limousines’ refers to the excited crowds that jostled the band as they exited their chauffeur-driven cars.” 

(July 2015)