Fly (Hilary Duff song)

Single infobox
Name = Fly


Artist = Hilary Duff
from Album = Hilary Duff" and "Most Wanted
Released = Start date|2004|8|
(see release history)
Format = CD single, digital download
Recorded =
Genre = Pop rock
Length = 3:42
Label = Hollywood
Writer = Kara DioGuardi, John Shanks
Producer = John Shanks
Misc = Extra chronology
Artist = Hilary Duff
Type = U.S./Australian singles
Last single = "Little Voice"
(2004)
This single = "Fly"
(2004)
Next single = "The Getaway"
(2004)Extra chronology
Artist = Hilary Duff
Type = UK singles
Last single = "Wake Up"
(2005)
This single = "Fly"
(2006)
Next single = "With Love"
(2007)

"Fly" is a pop rock song recorded by Hilary Duff for her third album, "Hilary Duff" (2004). It was released as the album's first single in 2004 (see 2004 in music) in the United States. It was released in 2006 (see 2006 in music) in the United Kingdom, where it was the second single from Duff's compilation album, "Most Wanted" (2005). It was co-written by Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks, whose production work on the song was partly responsible for his winning a Grammy Award.

Theme

The song's protagonist encourages listeners to "let go of your yesterday" and "reach for something when there's nothing left". Duff has described it as "an uplifting song in the face of all the negativity going around these days. It's about how people are scared to open up and show who they are inside because they're afraid of what others are going to say".Sony Music. [http://thestar.com.my/youth2/story.asp?file=/2004/11/3/hilary_duff&sec=music "Hilary Duff - "Hilary Duff"] . "The Star". Retrieved October 27 2006.] "Fly" is featured in the 2004 film "Raise Your Voice", in which Duff stars, and in the 2005 video game "Karaoke Revolution Party".

"Stylus" magazine said the song was very similar to one of Duff's previous singles, "Come Clean" (2004), but called it "an easily excusable offense, as it improves on the template ... [it] rightfully leads off the album." [Burns, Todd. [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/hilary-duff/hilary-duff.htm "Hilary Duff"] . "Stylus". September 24 2004. Retrieved October 27 2006.] "Blender" magazine said the song is "Urgent and theatrical" and "sounds like Evanescence—but the inspirational lyrics are pure Duff." [ [http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1074 "Editors' Picks: October 2004"] . "Blender". September 24 2004. Retrieved February 23 2007.] John Shanks received a 2005 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for his work on "Fly" and recordings by Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Sheryl Crow, Robbie Robertson and Alanis Morissette. [http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/grammys/2005/nominees/awards.jhtml?nomCat=production "47th Annual Grammy Awards - Winners: Production"] . VH1.com. Retrieved October 27 2006.]

Commercial release

"Fly" was released to CHR/top 40 radio in the U.S. in the week of August 9 2004, [ [http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=08/09/2004&Format=1 "Going For Adds - CHR/Top 40"] . Radio & Records. August 9 2004. Retrieved October 27 2006.] and at one point more radio stations were adding it to their playlists than any other song. In spite of this initial success, "Fly" peaked outside the top twenty on the "Billboard" Top 40 Mainstream chart and failed to chart on the "Billboard" Hot 100. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:2sqag4hptv3z~T51 "Hilary Duff - Billboard Singles"] . Allmusic and "Billboard". Retrieved October 27 2006.] As a digital download, the song reached the top forty on the Hot Digital Tracks chart,"Billboard". October 16 2004.] but download sales statistics were not included in Hot 100 calculations until February 2005. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6949416/ "Music downloads get own Billboard chart"] . Associated Press. February 10 2005. Retrieved March 23 2007.]

One reader of "Billboard" sent in a letter to the magazine comparing the chart performance of "Fly" with that of Ciara's "Goodies"; it said that "what the public buys is definitely not reflected on the Hot 100" because in spite of the number-one success of "Goodies" and the absence of "Fly" on the chart, Ciara's album "Goodies" was ranked lower on the "Billboard" 200 chart than the album "Hilary Duff". "Billboard" "Chart Beat" columnist Fred Bronson wrote that the reader's point about album sales was "well taken, but just because Hilary Duff's album outranks Ciara's on The Billboard 200 doesn't mean that "Goodies" shouldn't be more popular than ["Fly"] on the Hot 100 ... The fact that Duff's album sold so well doesn't give "Fly" a pass on the Hot 100; it will have to earn a place on that chart on its own merits."Bronson, Fred. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000662662 "Chart Beat Chat - The Sales and Airplay Debate Continues"] . "Billboard". October 8 2004. Retrieved July 10 2007.] Bronson said the reason that sales statistics had little influence on the Hot 100 was because the U.S. singles market had "shriveled up to almost nothing", but he said that the then-impending incorporation of paid digital download data into the Hot 100 "should give sales more weight on this chart." A later letter to the magazine stated that the low radio airplay of "Fly" compared to sales of "Hilary Duff" was "a great example of the fact that radio simply does not play what music buyers want to hear", a point with which Bronson agreed, writing "I've written about the disparity between the sales and airplay charts many times ... [but] "Fly" hasn't earned a berth on the singles and tracks chart, despite the popularity of its parent album. A free pass for "Fly" really would destroy the credibility of the charts." [Bronson, Fred. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000693731 "Chart Beat Chat - Taking Issue"] . "Billboard". October 29 2004. Retrieved July 10 2007.]

In Australia, where the single was released in November 2004, it was more successful: it reached number twenty-one in its second week of release and stayed on the chart for fourteen weeks. It also reached the top forty in New Zealand and the Netherlands. [http://www.musicsquare.net/charts/song/2527 "Hilary Duff - Fly"] . MusicSquare. Retrieved March 23 2007.] In the British Isles, where the album "Hilary Duff" was not released, "Fly" was not released as a single until March 2006, when it served as the second single from Duff's 2005 compilation album, "Most Wanted". It peaked at number twenty on the UK Singles Chart, failing to match the success of the album's first single, the top ten hit "Wake Up"; it spent five weeks on the chart. The single reached the top ten in the Republic of Ireland.

The single's music video, directed by Chris Applebaum, combines black-and-white backstage footage with color shots of Duff performing the song. It was filmed in Worcester, Massachusetts. ["Creating the Video and Concert" [on the DVD ""] . November 16 2004. United States: Hollywood Records.] The video premiered on MTV's "Total Request Live" on August 26 2004, debuted on the show's countdown on August 30 and reached number one on the countdown for one day. It spent twenty-eight days on the countdown, until October 27. [ [http://www.popfusion.net/records/recaparchive/2004_08.html "The TRL Archive - August 2004"] , [http://www.popfusion.net/records/recaparchive/2004_09.html "The TRL Archive - September 2004"] , [http://www.popfusion.net/records/recaparchive/2004_10.html "The TRL Archive - October 2004"] . popfusion.net. Retrieved March 23 2007.] Scott Chitwood called it "your standard forgettable pop music video. I'm just amazed that Hilary Duff could perform in front of as big a crowd as is in the video. Is it CGI?". [Chitwood, Scott. [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/dvdreviewsnews.php?id=8342 DVD Reviews - Raise Your Voice"] . ComingSoon.net. Retrieved March 23 2007.]

Charts

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of minor single releases of "Fly".

UK CD 1:1. Fly (Album Version)2. Fly (Live at AOL Sessions)

UK CD 2:1. Fly (Album Version)2. Metamorphosis (Album Version)3. Fly (Remix)4. Fly music video

Notes

External links

*YouTube|2EQMVTTW1Sk|Music video