"Wish I Could Fly" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 1 February 1999 as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Have a Nice Day (1999). An orchestral pop ballad containing elements of electronica, the song was written as an experiment by Per Gessle, who was attempting to establish if a prominently-placed drum loop would fit alongside a large orchestra. The track became a sizable hit for the duo, peaking inside the top twenty of Billboards European Hot 100 Singles, and was the most-played song on European radio of 1999. It would also become their final top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart. Composition and style "Wish I Could Fly" is an orchestral pop ballad which contains elements of electronica. According to the liner notes of the duo's 2002 compilation The Ballad Hits, the song was written by Per Gessle as an experiment to "see how a drum machine loop would fit with a big orchestra, but it quickly evolved into something more substantial." Vocalist Marie Fredriksson has described it as a "very special song to me. One of my all-time favourite Roxette songs. I never get tired of this." A Spanish-language version of the song, titled "Quisiera volar", was included as a bonus track on deluxe edition versions of Have a Nice Day. According to Ultimate Guitar, "Wish I Could Fly" has a moderately slow tempo of 80 beats per minute. The song is composed around a complex, orchestra-performed chord progression, however, its basic chord structure consists of four repetitions of an A♯–F–Gm–A♯–C sequence during the introduction. Each verse is composed of four repetitions of a Gm–A♯–C sequence, followed by a chorus consisting of F–Dm–Gm–C–F–D♯–A♯–C. The bridge is made up of three progressions of G–C–G–D, followed by two short progressions of a Dm–F–G sequence, while the outro is based around three elongated bars of Cm–D♯–F. Critical reception Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet stated that the song "sounds modern but at the same time classic Roxette". AllMusic editor Jason Damas described it as "excellent pop" in his review of Have a Nice Day. Birmingham Evening Mail commented, "Marie Fredricksson and Per Gessle, once considered the hottest thing out of Sweden since ABBA and Volvo, are back with their first new release for four years. It's a simple song, a beautiful ballad with a big production, that's unmistakeably Roxette." Dagens Nyheter called it a "complete with