"Far Above the Clouds" is a single by musician

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

, released on 12 April 1999. The single is the final track from the album '' Tubular Bells III''. "Far Above the Clouds" similarly features

tubular bell Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

s in fashion with the part-one-finales of Oldfield's previous works, ''

Tubular Bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

'' and ''

Tubular Bells II ''Tubular Bells II'' is the fifteenth studio album by English guitarist and songwriter Mike Oldfield. It was released on 31 August 1992 by Warner Music UK and is the successor to his debut album '' Tubular Bells'' (1973). After his contract with ...

''. The sound of the bells has a slightly more dramatic tone than in its previous appearances, and it is a combination of actual tubular bells and sampled sounds from various keyboards, most prominently a

Korg M1 The Korg M1 is a synthesizer and music workstation manufactured by Korg from 1988 to 1995. According to ''Sound on Sound'', it is one of the bestselling synthesizers, selling an estimated 250,000 units. Development Korg's chief engineer, Junic ...

. On 27 July 2012 at the

2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proce ...

Oldfield performed renditions of ''

'', "Far Above the Clouds" and "

In Dulci Jubilo "In dulci jubilo" (Latin for "In sweet rejoicing") is a traditional Christmas carol. In its original setting, the carol is a macaronic text of German and Latin dating from the Middle Ages. Subsequent translations into English, such as J. M. N ...

" during a segment about the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. This rendition appears on the soundtrack album '' Isles of Wonder''.

Charts

It charted at number 53 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Track listings

: All songs written by Mike Oldfield.

UK CD 1

# "Far Above the Clouds" (Timewriter's Radio Mix) - 3:38 # "Far Above the Clouds" (Jam & Spoon Mix) - 9:54 # "Far Above the Clouds" (Original Version) - 4:48

UK CD 2

# "Far Above the Clouds" (Jam & Spoon - Deep Inside the Club Mix) 10:24 # "Far Above the Clouds" (Timewriter's Big Bag of Secrets) - 6:18 # "Far Above the Clouds" (Jam & Spoon Far Below the Bass Edit) - 3:12

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Far Above The Clouds 1999 singles Mike Oldfield songs Songs written by Mike Oldfield Warner Music Group singles 1998 songs