Flying Sorcery

When you dive into *Flying Sorcery*, you immediately notice that Al Stewart doesn't beat around the bush. The song, which lasts 4 minutes and 22 seconds, captivates you with an atmosphere that evokes airports and open skies, a perfect setting to talk about a relationship that is slowly falling apart. It's as if couples were drifting apart, each on their own flight. Stewart, true to his style, weaves historical references into the lyrics that give them an extra layer of depth, mentioning the pioneering aviator Amy Johnson, the historic Kitty Hawk, and even Leonardo Da Vinci, who dedicated time to the study of aviation.

What's interesting about how Al Stewart approached his compositions, as on the 1976 album *Year of the Cat*, is that he first had all the music and arrangements ready, including the full orchestration, before deciding on the song titles. He himself commented in a radio interview in Canada that this was his usual methodology for six of his albums, and that he used to write up to four different versions of lyrics for each musical piece. *Flying Sorcery* has its roots in an earlier Stewart song, *Foot of the Stage*, written in 1966, which already anticipated this theme. The production of this album, which included *Flying Sorcery*, was handled by Alan Parsons, and the record was a success, reaching the top five most listened to in the United States.