Fly Like a Bird
"Fly Like a Bird" | ||||
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James "Big Jim" Wright | ||||
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Mariah Carey singles chronology | ||||
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"Fly Like A Bird" on YouTube |
"Fly Like a Bird" is a song by American singer and songwriter
At the time of its release, "Fly Like a Bird" received acclaim from music critics. While many praised Carey's strong vocal performance throughout its climax, many pinpointed on its lyrical content and compared it to Carey's debut song, "
Background and recording
Following record-breaking success throughout the 1990s, Carey departed from
Following the events, as well as the release of Carey's succeeding album, Charmbracelet (2002), she began working on new material for The Emancipation of Mimi (2005).[5] Aside from the dance-influenced tracks and the ballads, Carey created a concept, in which a song's lyrics would reach out to God.[6] She created the song's choral lyrics, melody and main instrumentation, before calling James "Big Jim" Wright for a collaboration.[5] During their meeting, Wright helped Carey arrange the song's chord structure, as well as produce the introduction, while Carey finished the rest of the lyrics.[6] Once completing "Fly Like a Bird", Carey had her pastor, Clarence Keaton, read two verses from the Bible on the song, "Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5) during the introduction, and "He said 'He'll never forsake you, or leave you alone' Trust him" (Hebrews 13:5).[6] According to Carey, the song, as well as the Biblical verses, were included on her "comeback album" because they helped her get through many difficult situations in the past.[6] She described moments that were difficult growing up, during which she reached out to God, as well as during her breakdown, when she used such verses to give her faith.[6] Carey explained how although the verses helped her greatly, no one had ever said them to her.[7] For this reason, she wanted to make sure they were there for fans and listeners to hear, in order to give them faith and assurance lest they be in a grave situation.[7]
Release
Following the extended chart success of The Emancipation of Mimi, "Fly Like a Bird" was released as a single from the project.
Composition
"Fly Like a Bird" is a
'Fly Like A Bird', is a kitchen-sink, hyper-produced gospel number, but is really quite moving. There is a real, human yearning for mercy in it — Mariah’s true cry for help from a place of near-suicidal despair: 'Sometimes this life can be so cold /(Lord) I pray you'll come and carry me home'. But there’s a lot of hope and faith in this wounded voice: Carey keeps, with touching conviction, a firm grip on the idea that some higher, divine intelligence out there loves her, even if nobody else does; even if she is lost to herself. It comes across emotionally, because her heart is fully in it — Mimi has been beaten, humiliated, heartbroken; joys have been slapped out of her hands quicker than she could appreciate them. She’s deeply confused, and God, she really needs help. Hell: We’ve all been there.[7]
Entertainment Weekly's Tom Sinclair described the song as a "veritable prayer that explicitly references God", and highlighted the lines "Sometimes this life can be so cold / I pray you'll come and carry me home, Carry me higher, higher, higher."[19] According to Carey, the song holds deep lyrical meaning for herself, as well as her fans.[20] She compared it to older emotional ballads from her career, and described the sentiment they held for many fans "Usually, I'll have an introspective bleak-outlook-on-life song. In the past it's been 'Petals' or 'Close My Eyes'. Those were the ones that the hard-core fans related to most. But this has a hopefulness to it. That's why it's one of my favorites, too."[20] Additionally, Carey outed Keaton's verse during the song's introduction as her favorite part of the song, and included it as a guide for fans, due to the help it had given her in the past:
'To me the most important thing is the message he says in the beginning of the song,' she notes. 'Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.' I felt like a lot of people may not hear that message and a lot of people need to. It wasn't to be preachy. A lot of times people will hear songs that I write that are not the typical songs people look at as 'Mariah Carey songs.'[16]
Critical reception
"Fly Like a Bird" received acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised Carey's gospel-flavored vocal performance, as well as the song's lyrical content. Critic Jim DeRogatis from the Chicago Sun-Times called Carey's voice as "one-in-a-million", and wrote "she's never been shy about showing off with frequently annoying octave-spanning trills – and her instrument seems to be intact; witness the display of bravado on 'Fly Like a Bird'."[21] When describing the song, Dina Passaro from Newsday wrote "This songstress is back and better than ever!" and claimed Carey "sounds awesome and tears it apart".[22] Tom Ferguson from Billboard called the track a "classic", and wrote "the re-crowned diva delivers a consummate vocal."[15] Similarly, in a separate review for the song, Ferguson went into detail regarding Carey's performance in "Fly Like a Bird":
The Emancipation of Mimi spawns yet another career-redefining hit in the sweet, soulful "Fly Like a Bird", an honest-to-God religious mantra about redemption. Set against a low-key, organ-spiced groove that recalls mid-'70s R&B, Carey opens with a pretty, wispy vocal and buoyant harmonies throughout the first chorus before she waves her arms, parts the clouds and wails to the heavens as a mile-high wall of gospel background vocals joins in for the crescendo. The flight of 'Bird' from humble call for deliverance into a frenzied ecclesiastic hymn is utterly spine-tingling. A joyful noise.[23]
Entertainment Weekly's Tom Sinclair outed the song as a "heart-on-my-sleeve number", and called it the "crux of the album".[19] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt the song "made Mariah likeable again" and wrote "[it's] an inspirational ballad that's equal parts 'Butterfly' and 'Hero'."[24] A writer from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune compared it to Carey's debut single, "Vision of Love", and called it one of the best cuts from The Emancipation of Mimi.[25]
Commercial performance
During April 2006, "Fly Like a Bird" was released to US urban and adult contemporary radio stations, at the same time "
Music video
Following the radio premiere of "Say Somethin'", as well as the video release, MTV News reported that Carey would film a music video for "Fly Like a Bird" at the end of March 2006.[30] According to Carey, the video had already been conceptualized by mid-March, with a script featuring Carey, Keaton and a church choir as the main focuses.[31] In a later interview, Carey said, "We don't have a lot of time to do it. It's not a big-budget thing. But it doesn't need to be. It just needs to be about the song, capturing the song and the emotion of it."[31] While plans for the video's filming were made, a final version was never released or commissioned.[31]
Live performances
Following the European promotional tour for
Critics raved about Carey performance following the completion of the ceremony, with
Track listing
- United States CD single (Promo)[8]
- "Fly Like a Bird" – 3:53
- "My Saving Grace" – 4:10
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from The Emancipation of Mimi liner notes.[54]
- Vocals – Mariah Carey
- Songwriting – Mariah Carey, James "Big Jim" Wright
- Production – Mariah Carey, James "Big Jim" Wright
- Background vocals – Mariah Carey, Mary Ann Tatum, Melonie Daniels, Trey Lorenz, Sherry Tatum, Courtney Bradley, Rev. Dr. Clarence Keaton
- Engineers – Brian Garten, Dana Jon Chapelle
- Assistant engineer – Jason Finkel, Michael Leedy, Manuel Farolfi, Riccardo Durante
- Mixer – Phil Tan (mixed at Right Track Studios, NYC)
- Mastering – Herb Powers
- Additional keyboards – Loris Holland
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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References
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