Make My Heart Fly

"Make My Heart Fly"
Single by The Proclaimers
from the album This Is the Story
Released8 February 1988[1]
GenreRock
Length2:44 (album version)
3:43 (single version)
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)
  • Craig Reid
  • Charlie Reid
Producer(s)John Williams (album version)
Hugh Murphy (single version)
The Proclaimers singles chronology
"Letter from America"
(1987) 		"Make My Heart Fly"
(1988) 		"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
(1988)

"Make My Heart Fly" is a song by Scottish music duo the Proclaimers. Originally released on the band's 1987 album This Is the Story, "Make My Heart Fly" saw a more complete, full-band release as a single in 1988.

Versions

Album version

The version of "Make My Heart Fly" featured on This Is the Story was performed in the same stripped-back acoustic vein as the rest of the record, featuring as its sole instrumentation the backing vocals and acoustic guitar of Charlie Reid, and the lead vocals of Craig Reid.[2]

Single version

For release as a single in 1988, "Make My Heart Fly" saw a longer version recorded with a full-band arrangement.[3]

Cover versions

Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies covered "Make My Heart Fly" for their 1988 demo album Buck Naked.[4]

Reception

In 1989, Bill Wyman of Chicago Reader described "Make My Heart Fly" as "a painted love song [...] of heroic intensity" and "one of the high points" of the album.[5]

Personnel

Album version[2]

  • Craig Reid - vocals
  • Charlie Reid - vocals, acoustic guitar

Single version[3]

  • Craig Reid - vocals
  • Charlie Reid - vocals, 12-string guitar
  • Arun Ahman - drums, percussion
  • Hugh Burns - electric guitars
  • Ian Maidman - bass, keyboard
  • Gary Taylor - acoustic guitar, keyboard, backing vocals

Charts

Chart (1987) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[6] 63

References

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 33.
  2. ^ a b The liner notes entail This Is the Story musical personnel
  3. ^ a b The liner notes for the Germany 12-inch single release entail band personnel, and track length
  4. ^ Lemieux, Patrick (2014). The Barenaked Ladies Chronology (Illustrated ed.). Lulu. p. 7. ISBN 9780991984091. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. ^ Wyman, Bill (27 April 1989). "The Proclaimers--Sunshine on Leith - Music Review". Chicago Reader. Chicago Reader. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Proclaimers: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.