I'm flying, I'm flying
Look at me
I'm flying, I'm Flying
Higher then ever before

Ain't lyin'
No cryin'
Look at me
I'm flying
I'm flying
Higher then ever before

I'm singing,
I'm gliding, I'm soaring
I'm riding, I'm sweeping
I'm flying high

I'm flying

And I know that I am feeling better
Mary wants to love me
So I'll let her

I'm flying, I'm flying
Look at me
I'm flying, I'm Flying
Higher then ever before

Ain't lyin'
No cryin'
Look at me
I'm flying
I'm flying
Higher then ever before

I'm flying, I'm flying
Look at me
I'm flying, I'm Flying
Higher then ever before

Ain't lyin'
No cryin'
Look at me
I'm flying
I'm flying
Higher then ever before

(total playing time 3:00)

Song Facts: This can be found on Zoot Out, Just Zoot, and Zoot Locker.

 According to US

 Here I am with another positive Zoot review. Why? Because I really like the lyrics, the guitars, the beat and the light-hearted feel this song projects. This is one of those songs that I dance around singing to when it comes on. (let's forget about THAT visual!) The pace is fast within the chorus and the words rhyme, flowing together nicely. I just get a "good feeling" when I hear this song. The vigorous guitar strumming in the beginning, and Daryl's "yeah yeah yeah's" and "screaming" grab me from the start. I also think Daryl's voice sounds smooth in this one.

Another reason why I love this song: the carefree and optimistic feel to the lyrics. It has a sense of relief, like a man who is on his way to a new beginning. The phrase that comes to mind for me when I hear this song…."free bird." It's obviously a song about being "released" from a relationship that he felt tied down to. Possibly a woman who was too possessive? "Forever is ending, but you see a tear." {Their promises of a love that will last forever turned out to be a mistake. But maybe she sees a bit of emotion from him when they break-up…a tear. So he quickly stuffs away those emotions because he knows it must end. He NEEDS for it to end.} "Love isn't bending, it's gone with a beer." When I first began to really think about the lyrics to this song, the part "it's gone with a beer" didn't make sense to me. But now I see the relevance to that line. {He has his mind made up. It's over. Even words of love or more promises that things will be different can't `bend' him or change his mind now. He uses alcohol for an escape, to drink away his worries and wash down his sorrows. It keeps the tears at bay. Or maybe it's not sorrow at all. Maybe it helps him build the wall he needs to step away from this relationship with no regrets. He now has the `guts' to say---"no, I'm not going back. I`m done." He doesn`t seem to be holding on to anything. It appears he had a `no turning back` attitude when he wrote this.} 

Ok, so Rick was still very young when he wrote this song, and he wanted to play the field. He didn't want to be tied down to one woman. But my mind likes to swing back and forth between the theory of I-just-want-sex-with-lots-of-women, to the thought that she may have simply been `smothering' him and he couldn't take the pressure. Next part: "And I know that I am feeling better. Mary wants to love me so I'll let her." {At last he feels good, and he's happy with his new sexual freedom. I love how after each verse when he says someone`s name, there is something of a short pause in the music before it kicks into the chorus, or the next line}. I'm quite sure that Rick didn't have to look very hard to find a woman who wanted to `be with him.' Yeah, I'm guessing they were coming out of the woodworks and beating down his door!!! Groupies following him everywhere. Oh wait…that is still the case. LOL This is quite apparent in the lyrics as he mentions more than one woman's name---Suzy, Mary, and Sally. I'm betting the names were changed to protect the `innocent`! "Chains and the irons, have fallen off of me." {Yes…so he DID feel weighted down by the woman he left…the old `ball and chain` was tying him down.} "I am much much lighter, everyone can see." {Those who knew him could see a new man emerging}. Now we all know that Rick has a heart-of-gold, but in this case I think he was completely looking out for himself. But sometimes that's what we have to do, depending on the situation. I'm thinking that the timing of that relationship in Rick's life was all wrong. This song totally sounds like a case of, "I need to sow my oats right now. Please, no `chains' & no commitment." He feels free now and he compares that feeling to "flying, soaring & gliding." "Ain't lyin' no cryin' look at me I'm flying, I'm flying higher than ever before." {He truly means to move on. No tears for Rick. He's happy now.} "Singing so loudly, I'm drowning out the birds." {Kind of like---shouting from the rooftops?!} "Singing nothing special, just any happy words." {That line gives me a nice feeling of contentment for him, for the place he was at in his mind at that moment. He's blissful and carefree, and he wants everyone around him to know how he feels.} 

I really like the guitar break & the little `shout out' Daryl does as it kicks in. Rick's guitar-playing was great even in his early years. I also like how the chorus, "I'm flying I'm flying, look at me I'm flying. I'm flying higher than ever before," keeps going at the end and fades away. It makes me feel that he will be relishing in his new-found freedom for days to come. But as we know…he later realized that love & commitment were the things in life he craved. 

I'd love to know what Rick thinks of this song now, and his other early writings. I will say that his writing has definitely improved and become "genius" over time. One cannot really compare his writing from the 80's or today, with his songwriting then. Life experiences, age and practice play a huge role. And when I consider where he was in his life then, I think the writing was really good for that place and time. I think it fit nicely with the music of the late 60's.  - Kelley Pearson

This song is just "ok" to me. I am thinking that maybe the reference to 'Flying' may have something to do with the drug scene, but I could be wrong. "I'm flying higher than ever before" ....it does say that "Mary wants to love me" and "Suzi wants to love me"....so maybe that is why he is 'flying'...not too sure on that one, but knowing Rick it could have several different meanings. I suppose it is just however you choose to interpret it. The tempo is pretty upbeat and the song seems to finish before it even really gets started, which is ok by me, because this is not a fave from these guys for me. - Amy L.