Arts

Top 50 Songs About Flying

September 6, 2023

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Music often uses the sky, planes, wings, and flying to symbolize freedom and possibility! The power of flight is used figuratively in many tunes. The sky’s the limit when it comes to inspiration! We have compiled a high-flying list of songs to get you ready to lift off!

Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz

Lenny Kravitz sings about the mystical places he would go if he could roam the skies, even touching Mars. He then invites a special lady to join him in space.

3. Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd

(…)it was inspired by his excited yet somewhat nervous feelings about becoming the band’s new lead after Roger Waters left to pursue a solo career. All those feelings are beautifully depicted in almost poetic lyrics describing nervous energy that eventually transforms into dreamlike imagery of soaring through the clouds.

7. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd

He (Ronnie Van Zant) claims that the world is too big and he has to see it all, even if that means leaving his love behind. The song is somewhat bittersweet as Ronnie seems sad over their love ending, but he also seems hopeful for freedom.

27. I am like a Bird by Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado likes to be independent. The star has no qualms about being genuine to herself. She makes it almost regretfully clear that she isn’t ready to stay in one place, no matter how much her significant other may love her.

30. Flying High Again by Ozzy Osbourne

He claims that the lyrics are actually about his point of view after becoming a solo artist. Many thought he would burn out and fail after parting ways with Black Sabbath. And he admits that he thought he would crash and burn too. But eventually, his solo music endeavors paid off as he became highly successful and flew high on his independent wings.

32. Fly by Sugar Ray

The fun fusion is actually about death. According to lead singer Mark McGrath, the message is meant to be a contrast against the music on purpose. The song mentions a mother being lost to time, and it has lyrics that reference another song, “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O’ Sullivan.

39. Turbulence by Bowling For Soup

“Turbulence,” found on the 2011 album “Fishin For Woos,” is another song that uses flying as a metaphor for getting through the toughest parts of your life. While this track is a much slower tempo than what we’re used to hearing from Bowling For Soup, its lyrical content is absolutely uplifting. The song uses positive reinforcement to help the listener get through the rough times by assuring them that better times are coming soon.

Reflexive Analysis

This analysis looks at the common and disparate threads across different songs all with the subject being flight. While the article itself isn’t exactly thought provoking, some of these songs are. For my purposes having an array of examples of flight as a symbol could be useful in trying to figure how to imbue emotions into this project.

The obvious and direct connection of quite a few of these songs is to use flying to display freedom or exploration. Kraitz’s Fly Away exemplifies this well, and also uses flight as a sort of escapism. While this sort of escapism is warm, B.O.B.’s lyrics on Airplane are a more wistful, longing escapism for times past.

Learning to Fly, I’m Like a Bird, and Flying High Again all show examples of flying or “spreading of wings” to represent taking control of one’s life and securing independence. In Ozzy’s case he is stepping into a solo career.

While the songwriter for Sugar Ray’s Fly directly said the song deals with death, he is expressing the loss for someone who has gone or flown away. This is in the same way that Free Bird and other breakup songs on the list use flight. There is a sense of loneliness, separation, and isolation in this message. Van Zant must go it alone in the vastness of the world to find himself. REO Speedwagon’s Time for Me to Fly shares this sentiment of lonely freedom. I believe this may be the freedom that sounds so terrifying to me as referenced in the analysis of Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.