"Born to Fly" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the '' Billboard'' country songs ch ...

. It was released in June 2000 as the first single and title track from her 2000 album of the same name. It became Evans' second number one hit on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) chart in January 2001. Evans wrote this song with

Marcus Hummon Marcus Spencer Hummon (born December 28, 1960) is an American country music artist. He is the father of country singer Levi Hummon. Early life Hummon was born in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from Williams College. Career After several years o ...

and

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959), is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The son of musician Wayne Scott, he moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana (known today as Lake Station, Indiana). ...

Content

"Born to Fly" is an uptempo country song that is backed primarily with fiddles. The song's narrator is portrayed as a person wanting to expand their horizons and dreams of being somebody, who is tired of being stuck in the same place, and wants to get out. The song makes analogies to a bird spreading its wings and flying to its new destination. The album version features a long instrumental outro for the song.

Music video

The accompanying music video for the song, Sara's first of many to be directed by Peter Zavadil, shows Evans portraying

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...

, the main character from '' The Wizard of Oz'' motion picture. The video also features many of the same story elements as the movie, such as a tornado, a wicked witch, and a little black dog. The video won the CMA Award for Video of the Year in 2001, Evans' first (and only as of 2020). The video was ranked #34 on CMT's 100 Greatest Videos.

Cover versions

*Country singer

Lauren Alaina Lauren Alaina Kristine Suddeth (born November 8, 1994) is an American singer and songwriter from Rossville, Georgia. She was the runner-up on the tenth season of ''American Idol.'' Her debut studio album, ''Wildflower,'' was released on Octobe ...

covered this song on the tenth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

''. *

Danielle Bradbery Danielle Simone Bradbery (born July 23, 1996) is an American country pop singer. She won season 4 of NBC's ''The Voice'' in 2013, becoming the youngest artist to win the competition at age 16. Bradbery's record has since been eclipsed by Sawyer F ...

covered this song on the fourth season of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

''.

Chart performance

"Born to Fly" debuted at number 59 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of July 1, 2000.

Year-end charts

Notes

References

{{authority control 2000 singles 2000 songs Sara Evans songs Songs written by Marcus Hummon Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil Songs written by Sara Evans Songs written by Darrell Scott Song recordings produced by Paul Worley RCA Records singles