WISH I COULD FLY
ROXETTE
SONGWRITER: PER GESSLE
COUNTRY: SWEDEN
ALBUM: HAVE A NICE DAY
LABEL: ROXETE RECORDINGS
GENRE: ELETRONIC
YEAR: 1999
Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo,
consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international
act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second álbum Look Sharp! Their third album Joyride,
which was released in 1991, became just as successful as its predecessor.
Roxette went on to achieve nineteen UK Top 40 hits and several US Hot 100 hits, including four US number-ones with "The Look",
"Listen to
Your Heart", "It Must Have
Been Love", featured on the soundtrack of Pretty Woman, and
"Joyride".
Their other hits include "Dressed for
Success", "Dangerous",
and "Fading Like a Flower".
Before coming together to form the duo,
Fredriksson and Gessle were already established artists in Sweden, she having released a
number of solo albums and he being the lead singer and songwriter of Gyllene Tider, a band
that had three Nº. 1 albums. On the advice of the managing director of their record label, the two
came together to record "Neverending
Love", which became a hit single in Sweden.
After the release of Don't Bore
Us, Get to the Chorus!, a greatest hits record,
the duo took a hiatus before returning with the albums Have a Nice
Day (1999) and Room Service(2001).
They continued to chart in other territories, mainly in Europe and Latin America, where
they earned various Gold and Platinum awards until the beginning of the new
millennium. In 2002, the duo took a break from recording and touring when
Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Gessle went on to release solo albums and reunited with Gyllene Tider before
Roxette took to the stage together again for the first time in eight years, in
2009, during Gessle's European Party Crasher tour.
In 2011, they released Charm School,
their first studio album in ten years, which was followed by Travelling in 2012. Their final studio album, Good Karma,
was released in 2016. Marie Fredriksson died on 9 December 2019, at the age of
61, following a long battle with a brain tumour, and the group was disbanded
shortly after Fredriksson's death.
Their songs "It Must Have Been
Love" and "Listen to Your Heart" continue to receive wide radio airplay, with
both singles receiving awards from BMI in 2014 for achieving five million radio plays. They have sold an
estimated 75 million records worldwide, with over 10 million in certified units
from Germany, the US and the UK, achieving gold and platinum certifications for
Joyride and Look Sharp! in all three regions. They are Sweden's
second-best-selling music act after ABBA.
"Wish I Could Fly" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette,
released on 1 February 1999 as the lead single from
their sixth studio album, Have a Nice
Day. Na orchestral pop ballad containing elements of electronica,
the song was written as an experiment by Per Gessle,
who was attempting to establish if a prominently-placed drum loop would
fit alongside a large orchestra. The track became a sizable hit for the duo,
peaking inside the top twenty of Billboard's
European Hot 100 Singles,
and was the most-played song on European radio of 1999. It would also become
their final top 40 hit on the UK Singles
Chart.
Halfway through the
night
I wake up in a dream
Echoes in my head
Make every whisper turn into a scream
I dreamed I could fly
Out in the blue
Over this town
Followin' you
Over the trees
Subways and cars
I'd try to find out
Who you really are
In the middle of the
night
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night, in the middle
of the night)
Cool sweatin' in my bed
Got the windows open wide
Thinkin' about all the things you said
I wish I could fly
Out in the blue
Over this town
Followin' you
I'd fly over rooftops
The great boulevards
To try to find out
Who you really are
Who you really are
I wish I could fly
now
I wish I could fly now
I wish I could fly now
I wish I could fly
Around and around
Over this town
The dirt on the ground
I'd follow your course
Of doors left ajar
To try to find out
Who you really are
Who you really are
Fly, fly, fly
I wish I could fly
Oh, oh, ah
I wake up in a dream
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
I wish I could fly.
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
(In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night)
I wish I could fly.