"Expecting to Fly" is a song written by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

and performed by

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song " For What It's Worth", r ...

. The song appeared on their 1967 album, '' Buffalo Springfield Again''. It would reach #98 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1968. During one of the times that Young had left the band, he booked a studio to record the song with outside musicians under the impression that it would be for a Neil Young solo project rather than for Buffalo Springfield. Producer

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spe ...

provided the orchestral arrangement featuring a string section plus an English horn. The song does not feature any members of the Springfield other than Young. Live versions from Young's early solo performances appear on the albums ''

Live at the Riverboat 1969 ''Live at the Riverboat 1969'' is a live album by Neil Young, released in 2009. In February 1969, Young performed a series of shows at the Riverboat coffee house in Toronto. This album is a live recording from these performances. This album is Vol ...

'', '' Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968'', and '' Live at the Cellar Door''. In the 2018 music documentary film, ''

Echo in the Canyon ''Echo in the Canyon'' is a 2018 film directed by Andrew Slater. The film is produced by Eric Barrett and Andrew Slater under the banner of Mirror Films. The film stars Lou Adler, Fiona Apple, the Beach Boys, Beck, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, ...

'', it is suggested "Expecting to Fly" marks and exemplifies a shift in a late 1960s's movement from group-oriented folk rock compositions toward more individualized performances and single-artist recordings.

Personnel

— vocals, guitars * Russ Titelman – guitar *

– electric piano, arrangements *

Don Randi Don Randi (born February 25, 1937) is an American keyboard player, bandleader, and songwriter who was a member of the Wrecking Crew. Career Randi was born February 25, 1937 in New York City. He was raised in the Catskill Mountains and studied c ...

– piano, harpsichord * Carol Kaye — bass guitar * Jim Gordon – drums, vibes, timpani

Other versions

Thirteen Senses Thirteen Senses are a post-Britpop band from Penzance, Cornwall. The group released the album '' The Invitation'' on 27 September 2004, along with several singles: "Thru the Glass", "Do No Wrong", "Into the Fire" and "The Salt Wound Routine", ...

released the song in 2005 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as the B-side to their single "The Salt Wound Routine". *

Metric Metric or metrical may refer to: * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics In mathem ...

recorded a version in 2011. *

Emily Haines Emily Savitri Haines (born 25 January 1974) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the rock band Metric and a member of the musical collective Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has pe ...

occasionally played it live during her ''

Knives Don't Have Your Back ''Knives Don't Have Your Back'' is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton. It is not her own debut album, as she released under her own name in limited number of copies an earlier work in 1996, ...

'' shows. * of Montreal released the song as a single in 2011 in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

.of Montreal, "Expecting to Fly" single release
Retrieved March 1, 2014 * Tom Wilson recorded the song for the Neil Young Tribute Album '' Borrowed Tunes II: A Tribute to Neil Young'', released in 2007.

In media

* Buffalo Springfield's version appears in the films '' Coming Home'' (1978), '' Purple Haze'' (1982), ''

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream'' is a 1971 novel in the gonzo journalism style by Hunter S. Thompson. The book is a ''roman à clef'', rooted in autobiographical incidents. The story follo ...

'' (1998), and ''

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

'' (2015), as well as in the '' Lillyhammer'' Season 3 episode "Foreign Affairs" (2014).

References

1967 songs 1967 singles 2005 singles 2011 singles Songs written by Neil Young Buffalo Springfield songs Thirteen Senses songs Metric (band) songs Of Montreal songs Atco Records singles Vertigo Records singles Neil Young songs Song recordings produced by Jack Nitzsche {{1960s-single-stub