R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” Lyrics Meaning

by Amanda London· Published September 29, 2021· Updated October 6, 2021

We would venture to say that few people would argue against “I Believe I Can Fly” being one of the most generally inspirational songs to come out of the American music industry in the last three decades, if not ever. Meanwhile, as of the writing of this post the main musician behind it, R. Kelly, is potentially facing life in prison.

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Now the fact that Kels may be currently anticipating being served a hot plate of justice doesn’t have anything to do with this song. But the reason we had to point that out from the jump is that with “I Believe I Can Fly” being so powerful and motivational, it’s like a shaking-my-head moment that its singer has experienced such a major downfall.

In fact it wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe that the reason Robert was given what appears to be slaps on the wrist during earlier, related run-ins with the law – such as the disturbing child abuse tape scandal of 2002 – was because he was so well-like due to dropping these genuinely and universally inspirational tunes like “I Believe I Can Fly” and “The World’s Greatest”. Indeed even as we speak, there is a US congressman publicly expressing sympathy for Kels.

Birth of “I Believe I Can Fly”

Now “I Believe I Can Fly” didn’t come out as part of one of R. Kelly’s own albums but rather the soundtrack to a movie entitled Space Jam. Space Jam is what is referred to as a live-action/animated film. This means that it features real people acting alongside make-believe cartoon characters. And in this case, the real-life star of the movie is Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan was so generally likable that he could even star in Space Jam, which is by and large a children’s film. And the reason the public embraced him so was primarily for two reasons.

One is that he was the most-successful athlete of the late 20^th century, and you know how they say – everybody loves a champion. But second would be that he had some damn good marketing teams holding him down, i.e. the types of professionals who were able to imbue him with a family-friendly image. And of course the most-successful ad he was ever involved in was 1991’s Be Like Mike, which was for the purpose of selling Gatorade.

The Be Like Mike campaign centered on inspiring viewers to aspire to be like Michael Jordan himself. Of course said admonishment was put largely into a basketball/athletic context. But at the end of the day, of course we don’t possess the physical attributes and what some may even deem as divine blessings which made His Airness into a basketball superstar.

Indeed most of us would look like total fools stepping on a basketball court and trying to, say dunk on Dikembe Mutombo. But again, this was during the decade when Jordan was winning NBA championships like they were going out of style. So trying to “be like Mike” is another way of saying that one is aspiring to be a champion, as he was.

The “Flying” Michael Jordan

Indeed Jordan is also well-known for the unparalleled work ethic he possessed as a basketball player contributing to his overall success.

Out of all of Michael’s various skills on the court, what he was perhaps best known for is his jumping ability. Indeed when he really gets up for a dunk, like MJ did during the 1987 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, his leaping ability is often described as flying.

Now of course no human being can literally fly. But what that expression alluded to was not only his ability to jump high but also remain in the air for relatively-long durations of time once he got up there.

The Point!

So the point we’re trying to get to in all of this is that the term “fly” was likely introduced to this song due to the Space Jam connection to Michael “Air” Jordan. But as alluded to earlier, the titular flying would not be of the literal variety.

Rather, in the shall we say overall Jordan context, what it points to is our individual ability to aim to do something great, you know, like Mike himself. And such a concept, i.e. prevailing over what appears like unbeatable odds, also seems to be what the movie itself is based on.

The Lyrics of “I Believe I Can Fly”

So with that said, the song commences with the vocalist noting how at one point he was so downtrodden that he was pretty much ready to give up on life. But along the way he discovered “the meaning of true love”. What exactly that phrase means isn’t specified. But based on the line that comes after it, it would appear that Kels learned how to trust in God more so than in his circumstances. And this revelation also resulted in the vocalist developing an increased confidence in himself.

And so it is with the second verse, with this song reading more philosophical than religious actually. Or let’s say that whereas the vocalist may believe in a higher power, he also understands that he must put conscientious effort into realizing his own dreams.

Or as stated in the refrain, if he but envisions a goal then that means hypothetically he can achieve it. And whereas the procedure to achieving such is described as ‘just believing’, the logical implication is that there would likely be some hard work involved also.

I Can “Fly” because I Believe in Myself!

And what it is that Robert believes in most specifically is his ability to “fly”, which once again is a metaphorical statement. Indeed when he says he “can touch the sky”, that would likely be a reference to a belief that he can achieve whatever it is he can imagine, as noted earlier.

And when he sings of ‘spreading his wings and flying away’, that would be the aforementioned effort as well as an expression of the desire to overcome his current, may we say less-than-fulfilling circumstances. And what this all ultimately boils down to, as relayed in the bridge, is the vocalist having ‘belief in himself’.

The Conclusion

When you compare the above-noted sentiments and metaphors to similarly-natured songs, perhaps “I Believe I Can Fly” doesn’t come off as really being exceptional on paper. But as alluded to earlier, R. Kelly’s delivery is what really brings this song to life, like it can make you believe you can actually fly.

Indeed as with Michael Jordan, it can be said that R. Kelly’s heyday was also during the 1990s, when he too, unlike now, was viewed as sort of an inspirational figure. But as it stands this is his one song that people can most relate to, even in the aftermath of Kels being convicted of sex trafficking. And that is because it effectively puts forth a message that never gets old, which is self-belief being an intrinsic part of achieving lofty goals.

Success of “I Believe I Can Fly”

It has been noted that whereas “I Believe I Can Fly” fell a spot short of topping the Billboard Hot 100, overall it was R. Kelly’s most-successful single. It outperformed the songs of his that did top the Hot 100, i.e. 1994’s Bump n’ Grind and 1998’s I’m Your Angel alongside Céline Dion.

“I Believe I Can Fly” went platinum in the UK and US, as well as achieving gold status in a bunch of other countries. Moreover it charted in approximately 20 nations overall, scoring a number 1 on the following charts:

UK Singles Chart
UK R&B Chart
Dutch Top 40

Even More Achievements

Then there was the 40^th Annual Grammy Awards (1998), in which, in garnering three trophies total, “I Believe I Can Fly” made R. Kelly into one of the night’s top winners.

And it took home Grammys in the following “Best” categories:

Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television
Best R&B Song
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

And by the way, it was also nominated in the more-prestigious Record of the Year and Song of the Year slots. It however, lost both to “Sunny Came Home” (1997) by Shawn Colvin.

Moreover in 2004, “I Believe I Can Fly” made Rolling Stone’s highly-respected “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list.

“I Believe I Can Fly” was so successful it actually went sextuple-platinum in the United States.

When was “I Believe I Can Fly” released?

This song was officially released, as the second single from “Space Jam: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture”, on 26 November 1996. And the labels behind it are:

Atlantic Records
Jive Records
Zomba Records
Warner Sunset Records
Warner Music Group

Writing Credits

For the record, as relayed by R. Kelly, Michael Jordan himself enlisted him to “do a song for his upcoming movie”, which ended up being 1996’s Space Jam. And Kels, the sole writer and producer of this track, conceptualized the piece after watching the film and ‘kinda dreaming that melody’.

Also, the late Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997) may be the first person he introduced “I believe I can fly” to, with Biggie actually predicting that it was going to be a “big hit”.

What R. Kelly said of "I Believe I Can Fly"

R. Kelly was also highly motivated to make a song that actually edified Space Jam, which he apparently saw as some type of righteous project. And at the end of the day, this track proved “even bigger” than the film.

More Interesting Facts

Usually when a big name athlete ventures into Hollywood acting, the result is akin to laughingstock. But the star power of Michael Jordan alongside Bugs Bunny proved to be a hit, with the box office take of Space Jam being over triple its production budget.

And even as of the writing of this post, its sequel, which replaces Michael Jordan with current NBA top dog LeBron James, is airing in theaters.

The music video to this track was co-directed by perhaps the most-successful filmographer of the day in that regard, Hype Williams. Kelly was the other director of the video.

As far as the instrumental behind this song goes, The Motown Romance Orchestra participated, under the leadership of industry vet Paul Riser. And Hart Hollman is also credited as a conductor.