Can You Fly

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Can You Fly
FJ CYF.jpg
Studio album by
Freedy Johnston
ReleasedApril 14, 1992
RecordedJanuary–December 1991
Genre
Length49:42
Label Bar/None
Producer Graham Maby, Knut Bohn
Freedy Johnston chronology
The Trouble Tree
(1990)		Can You Fly
(1992)		 This Perfect World
(1994)

Can You Fly is the second album by singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston, released in 1992 on Bar/None Records. [3]

Contents

Overview

In order to finance the recording of the album, Johnston sold some farmland that he inherited from his grandfather. This decision is mentioned in the opening lines of the first track, "Trying to Tell You I Don't Know". [4]

"California Thing" appeared on the soundtrack of the film Heavy .

"The Lucky One" was also covered by Mary Lou Lord on her 1998 album Got No Shadow .

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
Christgau's Consumer Guide A+ [7]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 10/10 [10]

Kristi Coulter of AllMusic wrote, "A giant step forward from his likeable but ragged debut, Freedy Johnston's Can You Fly is a stunningly accomplished and coherent album that recalls the raw lyricism of such quintessentially American writers as Raymond Carver and Richard Hugo." [5]

Andy Gill of The Independent said, "Can You Fly is full of Costelloid little depictions of uncertainty. He has a gift, too, for odd verbal juxtapositions, searching for new expression rather than employing the re- arrangement of old cliches. A small gem." [11]

Track listing

All songs written by Freedy Johnston.

  1. "Trying to Tell You I Don't Know" – 4:24
  2. "In the New Sunshine" – 2:45
  3. "Tearing Down This Place" – 4:10
  4. "Remember Me" – 2:54
  5. "Wheels" – 3:18
  6. "The Lucky One" – 3:09
  7. "Can You Fly" – 4:34
  8. "Responsible" – 5:28
  9. "The Mortician's Daughter" – 3:56
  10. "Sincere" – 4:18
  11. "Down in Love" – 3:04
  12. "California Thing" – 3:03
  13. "We Will Shine" – 4:39

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ de Visé, Daniel (August 12, 2025). "Besides Nirvana: 13 Great Alternative Rock Albums from the Early 1990s". AllMusic . Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  2. ↑ Blender Staff (May 2003). "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!". Blender . New York: Dennis Publishing Ltd . Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ Freedy Johnston (1992). Can You Fly (album). Bar/None Records.
  4. ↑ O'Dair, Barbara (July 14, 1994). "Freedy Johnston: This Perfect World". Rolling Stone : 102. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Coulter, Kristi. "Can You Fly – Freedy Johnston". AllMusic . Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  6. ↑ Kot, Greg (April 30, 1992). "Freedy Johnston: Can You Fly (Bar/None)". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  7. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Freedy Johnston: Can You Fly". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s . St. Martin's Press. ISBN   0-312-24560-2 . Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Freedy Johnston: Can You Fly". Q (85): 120. October 1993.
  9. ↑ Randall, Mac (2004). "Freedy Johnston". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p.  437. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
  10. ↑ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide . Vintage Books. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.
  11. ↑ Gill, Andy (September 16, 1993). "ALBUMS/ Return of the vox Pop: Andy Gill on Iggy Pop and the week's new releases". The Independent. p. 31. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
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