Fly from the Inside

This was one of the first songs Shinedown recorded. The group formed in Jacksonville, Florida, but lead singer Brent Smith was from Knoxville, Tennessee. Smith had a band in 2000 that were signed to Atlantic Records but got dropped by the label before they released any music. He ended up getting a development deal with the label, moving to Jacksonville and forming Shinedown. This song reflects his journey. "'Fly From The Inside' is just a metaphor about believing in yourself and going after anything that seems unattainable," he told the radio station KNAC. "You have to at least try for it."

"Fly From The Inside" was Shinedown's first single. They promoted it by driving across America to perform for any rock radio station that would have them. It wasn't glamorous - they called it the "S--t Brown Buick Tour" because of the car they piled into for the trek. But all that roadwork paid off: They made contacts at lots of radio stations and some even put the song in rotation. When they released their next single, "45," many of those stations jumped on it. Shinedown went on to become one of the most popular artists on rock radio for the next two decades; visiting all those stations early on carried a lot of currency.

Brent Smith wrote the song with the band's producer, Bob Marlette, who had him record his vocals separately. In those vocal sessions, Smith overdid it, blowing out his voice after doing take after take, particularly on the scream at the beginning. He had to rest his voice for a few days after.