To see the lyrics, click on the name of the version you are interested in (on the left).
With '
Tonight We Fly' this is THE DC song, played at almost every gig. The number of released versions is also quite impressive: 7, let apart the Whitlams cover. It's been played in almost every arrangement possible: the band, solo, with an orchestra, with violin, cello, clarinet, and so on and so forth...
It's one of the oldest songs, written in 1991 or 1992. The demo was sung by John Allen and Neil Hannon. In 1993, Neil rewrote it and changed the last verse. The
Liberation version is the definitive version, which we can hear at gigs. In 1999, it was remixed for
A Secret History.
The song is about two lovers taking one of their daddy's' cars, going to the seaside, getting drunk, having an accident and, in the demo version, dying. Besides being a love song, it's firstly a criticism of bad driving and drinking in Northern Ireland.
There are a few differences between the cover and the other versions, most probably because the Whitlams got the lyrics from memory.
Nova Social also covered it live in 1999.