Fly (Sugar Ray song)

src: www.journeyofafrontman.com

"Fly" is a song by American rock band Sugar Ray. It appears on their 1997 album Floored twice: one version with reggae artist Super Cat (Track 4) and the other without (Track 13).

The song became the band's first hit, holding the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart for four consecutive weeks and spending eight weeks at the No. 1 spot on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. A physical CD-single was not released commercially in the US, although it was a huge hit on American radio. The song also reached No. 1 on Canada's Singles Chart. "Fly" did not sound anything at all like the rest of the tracks on the album, being the only reggae fusion track. It also sampled a line from Gilbert O'Sullivan's 1972 hit "Alone Again (Naturally)." Sugar Ray's lead singer Mark McGrath explained that this song had a bouncy beat, yet it was about death; "Fly" too seemed like a bright, up-tempo song but "there is this stark imagery in there. There's loss in it. There is loss of a mother, obviously. I thought it was a good way to juxtapose the lyrics with the melody on that, similar to what Gilbert O'Sullivan did on "Alone Again (Naturally)."

As a result of the success of "Fly", Floored sold extremely well and was certified double platinum. However, by the end of 1997, critics skeptical that Sugar Ray could put out another successful song labeled them a one-hit wonder. This assumption was noted and accepted by the band, who in playful defiance, named their next album 14:59 in a reference to Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame"; that album became certified triple-platinum and outsold its predecessor.

The song was included on VH1's countdown of the "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s" at number 52.

Video Fly (Sugar Ray song)

Composition

"Fly" incorporates elements of dancehall.

Maps Fly (Sugar Ray song)

In popular culture

A cover version was recorded by the band Pinmonkey on their 2002 self-titled album. Four Year Strong also covered the song on their 1990s cover album, Explains It All, featuring Travie McCoy from the band Gym Class Heroes.

src: i.ytimg.com

Chart positions

src: i.ytimg.com

See also

• List of RPM number-one singles of 1997
• List of RPM Rock/Alternative number-one singles
• List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 1997 (U.S.)
• Number one modern rock hits of 1997

src: i.ytimg.com

References

src: i.ytimg.com

External links

• "Fly" music video on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Source of the article : Wikipedia