Flying On The Ground by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Album: Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021) (2021)

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The phrase "flying on the ground" refers to a person being in a state of euphoria. In Buffalo Springfield's 1966 song "Flying on the Ground Is Wrong," Neil Young uses the phrase to illustrate losing friends after getting high from drugs. Here, though, Gallagher is saying "flying on the ground" is a good thing. His high is from a relationship, and the love between him and his partner is essential for his happy frame of mind.

As the years go by, I'll wipe the tear from your eye
All we need is love and a place we call home
The melodic song is one of two previously unreleased tracks Gallagher recorded for his compilation album Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2011-2021), which presents highlights from the first decade of his work with The High Flying Birds.
"Flying On The Ground" finds Gallagher's love of '60s music influencing his songwriting. His Bacharach-meets-Motown track finds the Oasis icon accompanied by backing singers throughout. "If Burt Bacharach wrote for Motown this is what it would sound like... only not as good, obviously," quipped Gallagher.
Gallagher wrote the song solo. He co-produced it alongside Paul Stacey, who worked for Oasis in several capacities between 1999 and 2008. Stacey also co-produced the other new Back The Way We Came song, "We're On Our Way Now."
Jonathan "Scully" Mowatt and Dan Cadan directed the video, which follows on from the "We're On Our Way Now" clip. The visual explores the lives of two lovers played by Matt Smith and Gala Gordon with improvised scenes and visual nods to French-wave films. Cadan said: "This video reveals the true darkness behind the relationship between our protagonists... and its tragic undoing - a blatant nod to A Bout De Souffle and Bande A Part (The Outsiders)."
After Noel Gallagher added three female members - Jessica Greenfield, Charlotte Marionneau and YSEE - to his High Flying Birds outfit in 2017, he recruited three backing singers known collectively as Roxy. Speaking in a video, Gallagher praised his all-female backing singers, saying their vocals have changed his approach to songwriting.

Gallagher thought "Flying On The Ground" was good, but when Roxy came up with their backing vocal part and sang it on the track, they raised it to another level. "Every time I write a song now, I hear those girls in the background somewhere doing something amazing," he said.

Comments: 2

Chris Griffith from Blue Ridge VirginiaI hear elements of the melody in Oliver Anthony's Rich Men North of Richmond.
Indy Car Rubin from Miami Beach, FloridaThank you, Noel and your High Flying Birds for an amazing and inspirational track, one of the best of 2021

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