OH MY GOD. LET ME JUST GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY FIRST AND SAY THAT THIS SONG IS JUST ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. WOW. I DON’T EVEN. HOW????
The first time I actually heard this song was a crazy story. Smallzy was going to premiere the song at 7PM Sydney time, Thursday. Which, in the Philippines, was 5PM. I literally couldn’t sit still. Actually, I only had to work until 5PM, so I had to tell my co-workers I was going to stay a little bit late. Obviously I told them I needed to get something done but really it’s just to hear the song lol. I also told them like 3 times not to turn the WiFi off when they leave.
Literally 10 minutes before 5PM this job I was applying for called me to tell me some important stuff and I was like FUCKING HELL OK I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS BUT MAN WHY’D YOU HAVE TO CALL AT THIS TIME NEW 5SOS SONG ABOUT TO DROP HELLO ARE U SERIOUS but of course I played it cool while talking to him. When he hung up, I made it back just in time because the song just started!!! GOOD LORD. It started playing and I was going out of my mind because like 10 seconds into the song I was already like WHAT THE FUCK THIS SOUNDS SO GOOD WTF WTF WTF WTF.
AND THEN.
The guy at the job I applied for CALLED AGAIN. DUDE?????? I was only using my phone to listen to the song WHY DO YOU HAVE TO INTERRUPT ME AT THIS MOMENT ARE U SHITTING ME!!? Obviously I had to go out of the room to answer it, talked to him for like a minute and then prayed that the song wasn’t over yet. It was so stressful oh my god. I SWEAR IF I COME BACK AND THE SONG IS OVER I’M GONNA THROW A FIT. But thank heavens because I still got to hear it end and Smallzy played it again right after! GOD BLESS YOU SMALLZY. THE WORLD LOVES YOU.
And just when I was ABOUT to get to the part I missed the first time around, MY FUCKING CO-WORKER TURNED THE WIFI OFF. WHAT THE!!! I LOOKED AT HER LIKE I WAS READY TO MURDER SOMEONE AND SHE WAS JUST LIKE “OMG I TURNED IT OFF”. AND LAUGHED. I have never wanted to throw my chair at someone as much as I did at that moment. By the time she turned it back on THE SONG WAS LONG OVER. FOR FUCK’S SAKE.
If you are not grasping how fucking stressful that was then you’re probably not a fangirl, but if you are, then you can just imagine my frustration!!
But I had no time to be angry because I just couldn’t believe it. I JUST HEARD A NEW 5SOS SONG (INCOMPLETE BUT STILL) AND IT WAS FUCKING BRILLIANT!!!
Okay now time to talk about the song!
It’s absolutely incredible! Right from the start it was just pop-punk goodness! It almost sounded like All Time Low + Forever The Sickest Kids + Good Charlotte but still had that distinct 5sos sound. I MEAN HOW DO THEY DO THAT. Definitely Fly Away is that song I’ve been waiting to hear from 5sos for so long. I knew they were capable of these kinds of songs and they are finally doing it and I am just so pumped for this damn album!!!! OH MY GOD. If She’s Kinda Hot and Fly Away are any indication of what the entire album is gonna sound like and what it’s about, then this album is 100% going to be the best thing that will ever happen to me.
Now on to specifics!
LYRICS
I am absolutely in love with the lyrics! Lots of people can interpret it any way they want but to me it’s about wanting to break away from everything and exploring the world, and finding yourself in the process. And to be honest this is very relevant to me right now because I’m at that time in my life where I’m trying to figure out who I am and where I’m meant to be.
Counting down these seconds, jumping off these fences, find another place to start again.
— These are just the first words of the song and already it speaks to me on a spiritual level. Find another place to start again – this is me wanting to just escape my life right now, go somewhere I’ve never been to before and have that chance to start over, without actually starting over. I want to go to a place where no one knows who I am, where I can be whoever I want to be, even if it was just for a few days.
I won’t waste another day, wishing this would fade away, running we’re not looking back.
— This line inspires me so much and I don’t even know why. I guess I’ve always wanted to just get up and leave and travel the world without looking back. It’s not like I have so many problems, but I am not exactly happy, and I am realizing more and more that I am going nowhere with my life. I’m 22, I’m working at an office I don’t like, I have a job that I don’t like, and I can’t see a future. I feel like if I don’t do something about it I’m gonna be stuck here forever, but also I have no idea what I want to do. It’s just all so confusing. This line tells me that I should do something about it now and not wait until everything is too late.
I want a little bit of California, with a little bit of London sky. I want a little bit of open ocean, with a New York state of mind.
— I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO TRAVEL THE WORLD. There’s nothing else I’d like to do but just go from country to country, embrace their culture, meet lots of new people, make friends, and learn new things. So I feel like this song understands my heart. Hearing it put into a song like that makes me want to take that dream of mine and make it a reality. Now, I’m just determined to do anything and everything to get myself around the world. I don’t care, I’m going to make it happen.
I wanna take my heart to the end of the world, fly away tonight.
— When I listen to the song I feel like I’m flying away to all these places I want to go to, like I’m already escaping my boring little world and finally living my life. And then the song ends and I realize I’m still in my bedroom. Doesn’t matter though. For now, this song is going to get me through until the day I can actually go out and fly away.
A never-ending replay of memories I can’t erase, I see the best of times in front of me
— This line talks about wanting to enjoy the life around us but feeling like you’re being held down by the bad memories that you just can’t seem to forget. It’s like when you’re at a concert or a party and you’re supposed to be having the time of your life but something bad happened the day before and you just can’t shake it off, so you end up just thinking about that bad thing for the rest of the night, and then when it’s over, you realize you just missed out on what was supposed to be a great night, and so you feel bad again. A never-ending replay.
Now I’m off to paradise, to a war I’ll never fight, say goodbye to pain and misery!
— Maybe we just need a break to clear our head, we need an escape. For me, it’s definitely travelling. I went to Australia just recently and I realized that was exactly what I needed. I feel like I was about to explode because I was so unhappy, and going to Australia for 2 weeks and just distancing myself from the pressures of the office and from the people I couldn’t stand, I just felt so alive. Like I was dying, but was given life.
Dreaming of a place to start again
— The fact that the lyric changed from “find another place” to “dreaming of a place” in the bridge makes me think that everything was just a dizzy daydream. But then the guitars and the drums came smashing, and it’s like being woken up. Like it’s waking you up to the fact that you if you WANT something, you have to GO AFTER it. You have to set your mind to it. And if you can dream it, you can have it.
This song is really deep, and it really means something to me, and I’m sure it means a lot to other people to. Music motivates me and pushes me like nothing else could. It has this kind of power over me that when I hear something in a song, I believe it. And hearing this kind of message in a song makes me want to just go out there and do what it is that I want to do.
MUSIC
The music is just as important as the lyrics, I think. If sad lyrics were mixed with happy music, it wouldn’t make much impact. The same goes when happy lyrics are mixed in with sad music. This is why I think the music, or the melody, also plays an important part in properly delivering the song’s message and making the listeners feel what the song is about. Fly Away’s lyrics are really motivational while at the same time daydream-y. I think the music matches it brilliantly.
The tune overall is very catchy and it’s the kind of song you’d dance around to and scream in your bedroom, but one thing I notice when I’m singing it aloud is I actually feel the emotions that came with it and makes me think “holy shit I want to travel the world”. There’s a sort of take-away from it, it makes you feel things after you listen to it, unlike most songs that are just there for entertainment purposes and when it’s over, you’re left with nothing.
The verses are filled with energy and is great to go crazy with, but when it comes to the little pre-chorus it slows down a bit, which allows me to add a bit of dramatic effect to it whilst jamming it out, before the chorus drops and all hell breaks loose. The chorus makes you feel as if you really do want a little bit of California and a little bit of London sky even if you don’t. I think that’s in part because the music in the chorus is tantamount to that feeling of craving for something, and Luke was almost shouting it out in a sort of eager manner, and it just makes me feel hopeful.
And let’s not forget about the guitars. WOW. I am so thrilled because so far the guitars in the 2 studio versions we’ve had from SGFG is less polished than the first one, and it’s closer to how 5sos sound like live, and it sounds amazing!! To be honest, for the first album, I prefer the live versions to the studio versions like 80% of the time but now, I kind of like them the same amount, and that’s saying something! And I like how there are these parts of the song that’s just guitars and drums, it’s really breathtaking to be honest, like they’re letting the music do the talking. I think Fly Away really just sends the message that 5sos are a band and they’re out to start a musical revolution.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Lastly, I LOVE HOW IT SOUNDS SO OLD SCHOOL. Like I said it reminds me of Good Charlotte and FTSK, and all other bands I listened to growing up. I love how 5sos are sticking to just guitars and drums without a whole lot of unnecessary production to grab attention, because honestly what else do you need? If  you’ve got great lyrics, a great message, awesome music and natural talent you won’t need a whole lot of production. I love how it sounds like a seasoned band doing a garage session right out of the box. It’s amazing.
Final word? THIS SONG IS BRILLIANT AND I AM SO FUCKING EXCITED FOR SOUNDS GOOD FEELS GOOD TO KICK SOME SNOOTY MUSIC SNOB’S ASS.
❤ linkinluke