After learning guitar at the age of 12, Scaggs met Steve Miller at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. In 1959, he became the vocalist for Miller's band The Marksmen. The pair later attended the University of Wisconsin together, playing in blues bands like The Ardells and The Fabulous Knight Trains. Leaving school, Scaggs briefly left Texas to join the burgeoning rhythm and blues scene in London. After singing in bands such as The Wigs and Mother Earth, he recorded his first solo album Boz in 1965, which was not a commercial success. He traveled to Sweden as a solo performer and did a brief stint with the band The Other Side with fellow American Jack Downing and Brit Mac MacLeod.
Returning to the US, Scaggs promptly headed for the booming psychedelic music center of San Francisco in 1967. Linking up with Steve Miller again, he appeared on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums Children of the Future and Sailor, which won over critical reviews. After being spotted by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, Scaggs secured a solo contract with Atlantic Records in 1968. Despite good reviews, his first Atlantic album was met with lukewarm sales, as were followup albums on Columbia Records. In 1976, he linked up with session musicians who would later form Toto and recorded his smash album Silk Degrees. The album reached number 2 on the US charts and number 1 in a number of countries across the world, spawning three hit singles: "Lowdown", "Lido Shuffle", and "What Can I Say", as well as the MOR standard "We're All Alone", later a hit for Rita Coolidge. A sellout world tour followed, but his follow-up album, the 1977 Down Two Then Left, lacked the cohesion of Silk Degrees.
Scaggs' 1980 album Middle Man would spawn two top 20 hits, "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jojo," and Scaggs would enjoy two more hits over 1980 and 1981 ("Look What You've Done to Me" from the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, and "Miss Sun" from a greatest hits set).
Scaggs continued to record and tour sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although he semi-retired from the music business and turned owner of the San Francisco nightclub Slim's. His lengthy hiatus from the music industry slowed his chart career down dramatically.
Scaggs recorded Other Roads in 1988, took another hiatus, and then came back in 1994 with Some Change. In the late 190s he released Come On Home, an album of blues, and My Time, an anthology. He garnered good reviews with Dig, although the CD, which was released on September 11, 2001, was lost in the post-911 melée. In May, 2003, Scaggs released But Beautiful, a collection of jazz standards that debuted at number 1 on the jazz charts.
In 2013 he released the album Memphis
Fly Like A Bird
Boz Scaggs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A howling like they never heard before
A cry so loud old granddad almost hit the door
He said, "I love this child as much as any one that she ever bore,
But I thank the Lord we won't be having any more."
Then the baby heard the sweetest sound he'd ever heard
In tones so beautiful he hung on every word
It was on such a night he learned to fly like a bird.
Now the years have passed and memories come and go
He hears that voice that rocked him gently so
A calm will descend and there's peace at the end of the darkest night
Sometimes I cry, sometimes I fly like a bird.
Now the years have passed and memories come and go
He hears that voice that rocked him gently so
The rain's gonna fall and the winds may blow in the darkest night
Sometimes I cry, sometimes I fly like a bird.
A calm will descend and there's peace at the end of the darkest night
Sometimes I cry, sometimes I fly like a bird
The song "Fly Like a Bird" by Boz Scaggs is a powerful tribute to the bond between a mother and her child, and how that bond can help us through the toughest moments in life. The song tells the story of a baby who learns to fly on a night when there is a mysterious howl, which scares the grandfather until the baby's mother sings a lullaby to soothe him. The baby is entranced by the beauty of his mother's voice, and soon learns to fly like a bird.
As the years go by, the baby grows up, but he still remembers the comfort of his mother's voice. When life gets tough, he thinks back to that night when he learned to fly, and he finds the strength to keep going. The lyrics capture the ups and downs of life, and how the love of a mother can be a constant source of support even as we face the toughest challenges.
The song's haunting melody and poetic lyrics make "Fly Like a Bird" a standout track on Scaggs' 1997 album "Come on Home." It's a beautiful tribute to the power of love and the enduring bond between a mother and her child.
Line by Line Meaning
There was a howl that night
The night was filled with a loud howl
A howling like they never heard before
The howl was unusual and unexpected
A cry so loud old granddad almost hit the door
The cry was so loud it startled and frightened Granddad
He said, "I love this child as much as any one that she ever bore,
But I thank the Lord we won't be having any more."
Granddad expressed his love for the baby, but was relieved that they wouldn't have to hear such a cry again
Then the baby heard the sweetest sound he'd ever heard
The baby heard a beautiful sound
In tones so beautiful he hung on every word
The baby was captivated by the singing
She sang, "Hush, my love, granny's little dove is going to take to the sky."
The singer sang a calming lullaby about the baby flying
It was on such a night he learned to fly like a bird.
The baby learned how to fly in this peaceful and calming moment
Now the years have passed and memories come and go
Years have gone by and memories can be fleeting
He hears that voice that rocked him gently so
He remembers the voice that once sang him to sleep
A calm will descend and there's peace at the end of the darkest night
Even after the darkest times, there can be a sense of peace and calm
Sometimes I cry, sometimes I fly like a bird.
The artist experiences both moments of sadness and moments of freedom and joy
The rain's gonna fall and the winds may blow in the darkest night
There may be difficult times ahead, but they can be overcome
Sometimes I cry, sometimes I fly like a bird.
The singer experiences both moments of sadness and moments of freedom and joy
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: WILLIAM R. ROYCE SCAGGS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind