Fly Like a Bird Ken Canedo	(Based on 40 votes)

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Lyrics

Fly like a bird to the Lord, my soul.
I want to soar like an eagle.
Though I may journey far away from home,
I know I'll never be alone.

O God, you know who I am.
You know my hopes and my dreams.
In my pondering and fears,
in my joy and in my tears,
O God, your presence is real.

Where can I run from your love?
Where can I hide from my God?
From the dawn of morning's light
to the darkness of the night,
O God, your presence is real.

When I am down and afraid,
when I am falling away,
you extend a gentle hand,
and I know you understand.
O God, your presence is real.

Artist Reflection

I was cruising the Oakland hills one fine spring morning, taking a scenic drive from the warehouse where I lived near Alameda, California to my parish in Moraga. I had just made a return to ministry after a couple of wandering prodigal years and was enjoying my new position as youth minister and music minister at St. Monica Parish. It was 1994 and I had not been this happy for a long time.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw this incredible bird in flight. I had to pull over so I could observe it with my complete attention. It was a California condor, huge, black, with a tremendous wingspan, soaring majestically across the clear blue sky. At one point, it dipped slightly and eclipsed the morning sun, giving me a split-second glint of sunlight and bird flight merged. It was an awesome moment. I was alone on that road, just the bird and me, one with God's creation. I offered a silent prayer of thanks and started up my truck to continue my journey after the condor faded from view.

This moment was just crying out for a song! As I maneuvered the winding road through the hills the melody of an opening line came to me: "Fly like a bird to the Lord, my soul . . ." I thought I could use the bird in flight as a metaphor for the spiritual journey and decided to change it to an eagle for poetic purposes (Sorry, Mr. Condor!). By the time I arrived at my parish I had to move on to my ministry work, but I took care not to forget this new refrain I had composed.

A few days later, while at another job, the verses came to me. I realized that I could utilize Psalm 139, one of my favorite psalms, with its reassuring verses of God's loving presence. The song practically wrote itself after that. Verses 1 and 2 are almost verbatim from the psalm. Verse 3 was original, from my own experience of being away from God for a few years. Reflecting back on the arc of my life, I realized that no matter how much I tried to run away, God was always there for me, secretly supporting me, waiting patiently for my return. I expressed that great divine love at the end of each verse as "O God, your presence is real . . ."

So I had a new song, and I didn't know what to do with it. I called Jesse Manibusan who, at the time, lived only a few short blocks away from me. He came over to my warehouse and listened as I played "Fly Like a Bird" on my piano, with both of us singing along. My usually joking and talkative buddy became very quiet. "Play that again." I did. Jesse then smiled and said, "We need to record that!" The very next morning we went to the home recording studio of Jesse's bud, Kenny Penalver, a cool musician whom I met for the very first time. After laying down basic tracks, Jesse stepped up to the mic and sang the song perfectly on the first take. It was then that I realized that the song's soaring melody was tailor-made for Jesse's beautiful vocal range.

Now I had a demo and could shop the song around to publishers. But first, we started singing it at St. Monica. The reaction was incredible. The parishioners learned it and sang it immediately (we sang it for Communion), and dozens of people surrounded me after Mass, asking where the song came from. By the next Sunday, the whole church was singing "Fly Like a Bird" enthusiastically, as if it were an old favorite. I was stunned.

The song was eventually published in 1995 by a Midwest publisher and I started receiving letters from folks around the country who thanked me for writing it. Many of those letters came from people who used the song at their relatives' funerals, saying how much it spoke to them and reassured them. Never before had I received such a reaction to anything I had composed. I started receiving emails from people who shared how much "Fly Like a Bird" helped them on their own path back to God. Jesse and I started performing the song in our local concerts and always received similar reactions.

Eventually, OCP/spiritandsong took over the copyright and the song's distribution became more widespread. Because of its appearance in Spirit & Song youth groups discovered the song and began using it for retreats and graduations. When Jesse and I began planning the tracks for our Love Never Fails CD, we knew this song had to be on the album. I have heard many other recordings of "Fly Like a Bird" but, for me, Jesse's will always be the definitive version.

It began as an awesome moment between a bird, my God, and me. It blossomed into something more than I could have ever imagined. I am humbled and grateful. God's presence is very real indeed.

- Ken Canedo