PlanetGarth Exclusive: 'You Forgot That I Could Fly' Finally Finds Its Wings
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Joyce Rizer. PlanetGarth.com

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She’s sung backup for Conway Twitty and the Allman Brothers, had a top 10 video on CMT, and Garth Brooks gave this singer / songwriter her first No. 1 hit. If you’ve ever raised a glass to “Two Pina Coladas” or shed a tear while listening to “It’s Your Song,” then you know the songwriting talents of Benita Hill. Now, she’s turned the tables, recording a song herself that she wrote with country music’s biggest superstar. A song that was originally was intended for a big screen blockbuster!

Benita talked to PlanetGarth exclusively about how this particular song came to be. “In June of 2001, Garth told me he had an idea for a song that he wanted to pitch for the Harry Potter movie. He asked if I would help him write it. I loved the idea. As the story goes, Harry Potter was a magician and had the ability to fly, although he lived with a horrible family (not his parents) who always told him he was worthless. [They] made him live in a cellar under the staircase, and never let him know of all the magical abilities he possessed, because they were so jealous of his real parents lineage (they were both master magicians as well). So the name of the song is ‘You Forgot That I Could Fly’ with the tag line being ‘to be honest, so did I.’ It is really an uplifting, powerful song about overcoming limitations that others put on you, as well as the ones you put on yourself. Like many of Garth's songs, it is a very universal theme.”

You forgot that I could fly
I was born up in the sky
I just found these wings again
It’s the way I’ve always been
Oh you, forgot that I could fly.
To be honest… so did I.

“I made a demo of it at the time,” Benita continues, “but the movie's producers didn't want to use a pop song in the soundtrack, they wanted it to be John Williams' classical score only. The song always haunted me because I think it is so beautiful. So, when I recorded my current CD, The Things That Are Real, it fit right in with the theme of the album, and I asked Garth if it was OK if I recorded it. I still wish I could hear Garth singing it on the soundtrack of the next installment of the Harry Potter movie series!”

In the meantime, fans can enjoy the song through Benita’s recording of ‘You Forgot That I Could Fly,’ which is available on her 15 song CD The Things That Are Real.


Benita Hill’s association with Garth goes back to 1997 when she was working for [Garth’s Producer] Allen Reynolds. For some great stories on how Garth came to record her music, as well as the inspiration he provided during some of the darkest days of her life, you’ll want to read her complete biography at www.BenitaHill.com.