Fly (Sugar Ray song)


"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 and the other without.
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 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.
As a result of the success of "Fly", Floored sold extremely well and was certified double platinum. The song was included on VH1's countdown of the "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s" at number 52.

Composition

"Fly" incorporates elements of dancehall. 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."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Canada Top Singles 39