"Fly like a bird" is Mariah's favorite track on the album "The emancipation of Mimi". It's a spiritual song she dreamed up in the moments before she went to sleep one morning. She roused the studio back up so she could demo the tune. Later she recorded it properly, gazing out the Capri studio's window, inspired by the sight of the clouds in the Mediterranean sky. "Fly like a bird" is the album's "most introspective moment, and the most powerful vocally and lyrically". The pastor from Mariah's church actually speaks on the track. "So it's a really special song for me," Mariah confesses. Pastor Clarence Keaton starts the song with "Weeping man, dour in the night, but joy comes in the morning." Mariah said "That's a phrase I really needed to hear at one point in my life, and nobody said it to me."

When talking about every song on the album, Mariah called" Fly like a bird" one of her favorite songs on the record. "It's very different from most of the album because it's an inspirational song. It kind of talks about what's going on in the world as well. I loved performing that song in the studio because I was very inspired by the lyrics and by the spiritual content of the song. So that's one of my favorites on the album."

"Fly like a bird" impacted gospel radios on May 18, 2005. The second song on this promo is the gospel "My saving grace" from the "Charmbacelet" album. Due to the limited number of gospel radios in the USA, very few copies of this promo were made.

Candace Walker, BellaOnline's Gospel Editor says of the song: "Mariah uses that beautiful voice of hers to convey a spirit of freedom and wonderment that must be felt when we as Christians are 'carried off home' with our Lord and savior. She sings on loving each other and not allowing the world to break our free loving spirit that lives inside of each of us. It's all about being free like a bird when God calls us home."

Billboard wrote about the song: "Now that Mariah Carey's comeback year is officially in the history books - complete with three Grammy Awards, two No. 1 singles and the best-selling album of 2005 - it is time to get down to business. 'The Emancipation of Mimi' spawns yet another career-redefining hit in the sweet, soulful 'Fly Like a Bird', an honest-to-God religious mantra about redemption. Set against a low-key, organ-spiced groove that recalls mid-'70s R&B, Carey opens with a pretty, wispy vocal and buoyant harmonies throughout the first chorus before she waves her arms, parts the clouds and wails to the heavens as a mile-high wall of gospel background vocals joins in for the crescendo. The flight of 'Bird' from humble call for deliverance into a frenzied ecclesiastic hymn is utterly spine-tingling. A joyful noise."

CD-SINGLES

5" CD-single from the USA (2421) ISLR 16233-2 promo collection Yuan Man Tracklisting: 1. Fly like a bird 2. My saving grace