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Find Your Wings and Fly

from Free Spirited Like Me by Mandy Woods

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    12-track CD presented in a card case with a 12-page booklet beautifully designed by Carol McPaul.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Free Spirited Like Me via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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about

My late father, Bill Woods, fulfilled his boyhood dream by becoming a fighter pilot in the RAF. I must be the least likely daughter of a man who almost literally lived to fly, as I've been terrified of flying all my life - though I don't let that fear stop me from travelling, with valium and rum as my faithful long-haul companions!

I wrote 'Find Your Wings and Fly' as my entry in the Watford folk song competition, whose theme that year (2021) was 'trains, planes and automobiles'. Although it tells my dad's story, it's also intended as encouragement for everyone to realise their own dream, whatever it might be.

lyrics

Find Your Wings and Fly
For my father, Flt Lt William E. Woods (1931–2006)

East End boy
Dreams that he can fly,
At night he spreads his arms
And soars into the endless sky,
He’s never felt so powerful or free,
This is how he always wants to be.

Ten today,
He can no longer wait,
Runs outside and climbs a wall
And takes a leap of faith,
Hits the ground and tries hard not to cry,
One day, he swears, he’s really going to fly.

Nothing is impossible,
Or too hard to imagine,
With courage and belief,
You’ll surely one day make it happen,
Your dreams are yours to cherish,
And they’re yours to realise,
There’s just one way to reach the sky:
Find your wings and fly.

Years roll by,
And in the course of time,
The young man earns his pilot’s wings
And soars into the sky,
Finally he’s powerful and free,
This is how he’s always longed to feel.

He flies in peace,
He flies in war,
He flies just like he dreamed he could
So many years before,
As new recruits come through,
He sees that young boy in their eyes,
Teaches them the skills they need
To find their wings and fly.

Nothing is impossible,
Or too hard to imagine,
With courage and belief,
You’ll surely one day make it happen,
Your dreams are yours to cherish,
And they’re yours to realise,
There’s just one way to reach the sky:
Find your wings and fly.

Glory days,
They’ll never come again,
In the end he’s grounded
By a blood clot in his brain,
Yet still at night he dreams that he can fly,
Spreads his arms and soars into the sky.

Nothing is impossible,
Or too hard to imagine,
With courage and belief,
You’ll surely one day make it happen,
Four years on,
The fighter pilot gains new wings and flies
Higher than he ever flew
In his life.

credits

from Free Spirited Like Me, released August 30, 2023
Written and performed by Mandy Woods

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Mandy Woods Glastonbury, UK

The transatlantic flavour of Mandy Woods’ songs reflects a decade spent in Austin, Texas. Now based in Somerset, she plays guitar and country blues harmonica and performs at venues around the UK. Mandy also writes songs about dachshunds, as WagsLyrical. ... more

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