From the recording Family Portraits (Volume V)
"Flying" is a brass-driven, somewhat funky love-song to a favourite Dutch nephew of mine, who started his working life off as a baggage handler at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, but then -- despite various doubters and naysayers -- literally put himself through pilot training and is now a qualified aviator, working as a pilot for a commercial airline. So it's kind of a "well done for all that self-belief" song.
Lyrics
Flying
No one believed you
Some even teased you
Smirking unkindly
Behind your back
But you were determined
Did all your learning
Undeterred, you pressed ahead
No need to shout to
Silence doubters
Your actions speak louder than words
Prove them all wrong and
Sing your own song
Show them what you’re made of
Yeah!
Now you’re flying
Now you’re flying
Just look at you go, now
Now you’re flying
Now you’re flying
High above the clouds
You had the vision
You had the mission
Every triumph was once a dream
You had the last laugh
When your dream took off
However impossible it seemed
“…Failure’s not fatal…”
So said Churchill
“…It’s the courage to continue that counts…”
If the cap fits, you should wear it
All the effort you put in…
Now you’re flying
Now you’re flying
Just look at you go, now
Now you’re flying
Now you’re flying
High above the clouds
If at first you don’t succeed
Then try and try and try again
If you put the effort in
You can win, win, win!
Now you’re flying
Now you’re flying
Just look at you go, now
Now you’re flying
Now you’re flying
High above the clouds
And if you think about the time when
People tried to change your mind about
Flying
Flying
Well, they were wrong and you were right
And now you leave them all behind
When you are flying
Flying