“Fly By Night” by Rush

"Fly by Night" is the title track of Rush's second album, released in 1975, with music by bassist Geddy Lee and words by drummer Neil Peart. Peart wrote about leaving home for the first time: at 18, in 1971, he walked out on small-town Canadian life and flew to England. Lee sings it in his high, keening wail, and on the middle eight his voice gets spun through a Leslie speaker.

Terry Brown produced with the band and engineered alongside John Woloschuk. Cash Box heard it as hard-rocking and very Zeppelinish, and it was the first Rush single sent out beyond North America, to the Netherlands and Australia. A live medley with "In the Mood" later became their first Hot 100 single, though Lee admitted in his 2023 memoir, My Effin' Life, that he never warmed to the chorus.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.