"We Can Fly"
Single by Yes
from the album Fly from Here
Released13 June 2011
Recorded2011
Length4:15
LabelFrontiers Records[1]
Songwriter(s)Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes, Chris Squire
Producer(s)Trevor Horn[2]
Yes singles chronology
"If Only You Knew"
(2000) 		"We Can Fly"
(2011) 		"The Ice Bridge"
(2021)

"We Can Fly" is a single by the progressive rock band Yes released in 2011, and consisting of shortened versions of two sections of the suite "Fly from Here" from their album of the same name: "Fly from Here, Part I: We Can Fly" and "Fly from Here, Part V: We Can Fly (Reprise)".

It is the first single by Yes since "If Only You Knew" (from The Ladder), released in 1999. It is also the only Yes single with Benoît David on vocals, and the second after "Into the Lens" in 1980 without Jon Anderson on vocals and with Geoff Downes on keyboards.

Music video

The official music video was released on 3 July 2011. The video portrays the story of an airline passenger awaiting his flight, who reads a magazine article about a 1940s Hollywood mogul who died in a plane crash as a result of a "pilot error." The man finishes reading, runs down a flight of stairs, and boards his plane only to find the same '40s-era cast of characters aboard, with a stewardess leading him to the cockpit to pilot the plane. Trevor Horn makes a cameo appearance as the movie mogul.

Jon Anderson's reaction

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Anderson stated that on hearing "We Can Fly" he felt it sounded "a bit dated" and that Trevor Horn's production "wasn't as good as I expected". He did, however, praise David's vocal performance.[3]

Personnel

Yes
Additional musicians

Release history

Country Date Format (Version) Label
Australia[5] 13 June 2011 Digital download – radio edit Frontiers Records
Austria[6]
Belgium[7]
Canada[8]
Finland[9]
France[10]
Germany[11]
Ireland[12]
Italy[13]
Japan[14]
Luxembourg[15]
Netherlands[16]
New Zealand[17]
Norway[18]
Portugal[19]
Singapore[20]
Spain[21]
Sweden[22]
Switzerland[23]
United Kingdom[24]
United States[25]

References

  1. ^ "Frontiers Records: Fly from Here". Frontiers Records. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  2. ^ Tatangelo, Wade (2011-03-10). "Yes' Squire on band's first album in a decade". Bradenton Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  3. ^ Greene, Andy (2011-07-06). "Ex-Yes Frontman Jon Anderson Opens Up About Getting Fired". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-07-24.
  4. ^ "Where are they now? - Yes". Bondegezou.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  5. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)". 7digital (AU). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  6. ^ "We Cant Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in German). 7digital (AT). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  7. ^ "We Cant Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in Dutch). 7digital (NL-BE). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  8. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)". 7digital (CA). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  9. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)". 7digital (FI). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  10. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit): Yes" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  11. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit): Yes" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  12. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)". 7digital (IE). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  13. ^ "We Cant Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in Italian). 7digital (IT). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  14. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit): Yes" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  15. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in Luxembourgish). 7digital (LU). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  16. ^ "We Cant Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in Dutch). 7digital (NL). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  17. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)". 7digital (NZ). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  18. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)". 7digital (NO). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  19. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in Spanish). 7digital (PT). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  20. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)". 7digital (SG). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  21. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in Spanish). 7digital (ES). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  22. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in Swedish). 7digital (SE). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  23. ^ "We Cant Fly - Single (Radio Edit)" (in German). 7digital (DE-CH). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  24. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit): Yes". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  25. ^ "We Can Fly - Single (Radio Edit): Yes". Amazon. Retrieved 7 May 2014.

External links

We Can Fly official video on YouTube

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