dance-influenced tracks and the ballads, Carey created a concept, in which a song's lyrics would reach out to God. She created the song's choral lyrics, melody and main instrumentation, before calling James "Big Jim" Wright for a collaboration. During their meeting, Wright helped Carey arrange the song's chord structure, as well as produce the introduction, while Carey finished the rest of the lyrics. Once completing "Fly Like a Bird", Carey had her pastor, Clarence Keaton, read two verses from the Bible on the song, "Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5) during the introduction, and "He said 'He'll never forsake you, or leave you alone' Trust him" (Hebrews 13:5). According to Carey, the song, as well as the Biblical verses, were included on her "comeback album" because they helped her get through many difficult situations in the past. She described moments that were difficult growing up, during which she reached out to God, as well as during her breakdown, when she used such verses to give her faith. Carey explained how although the verses helped her greatly, no one had ever said them to her. For this reason, she wanted to make sure they were there for fans and listeners to hear, in order to give them faith and assurance lest they be in a grave situation. Release Following the extended chart success of The Emancipation of Mimi, "Fly Like a Bird" was released as a single from the project. Simultaneously promoted alongside "Say Somethin', the song was released on March 13, 2006 to urban, urban AC and gospel stations, while the latter to mainstream Top 40 channels. "Fly Like a Bird" was only commercially available as a digital download. Tom Ferguson from Billboard did not agree with releasing both singles concurrently, as he had given "Say Somethin'" a negative review. According to Ferguson, while the latter had radio appeal, its "scantily produced drum'n'bass" only distracted, concluding "'Fly Like A Bird' is a classic: why muddy the water with this release." Composition "Fly Like a Bird" is a mid-tempo ballad, drawing influence from gospel, soul and R&B music genres. It incorporates music from several musical instruments, including the organ, bass drum and trumpet. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 54 beats per minute. It is