Walking in the Air
"Walking in the Air" is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film of Raymond Briggs' 1976 children's book The Snowman. In the film the song was performed by St. Paul's Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty. For the subsequent single release, which reached number five in the UK pop charts in 1985, the vocals were sung by Welsh chorister Aled Jones, who became a popular celebrity on the strength of his performance. Jones' version was not an official The Snowman tie-in though it was authorised by Howard Blake. "Walking in the Air" has subsequently been covered by several different artists, in a variety of styles.
The song forms the centrepiece of The Snowman, which has become a seasonal perennial on British television. The story relates the fleeting adventures of a young boy, and a snowman who has come to life. In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole. "Walking in the Air" is the theme for the journey. They attend a party of snowmen, at which the boy is the only human. They meet Father Christmas and his reindeer, and the boy is given a scarf with a snowman pattern.
The song has remained so popular that a parody version of it was used in a British television commercial in 2006, for an Irn-Bru advert in which the slightly edited song tells the story of a boy and a snowman flying through Edinburgh, over Loch Ness, and over Glasgow. In the commercial, the snowman drops the boy into the snow near George Square after the boy refuses to give the snowman a taste of the drink[1].
Versions
- Andrew Johnston performs a duet of the song with Faryl Smith on his 2008 album One Voice
- Aled Jones (Boy Soprano) and Aled Jones (Adult Baritone) as part of his 2007 Album You Raise Me Up-The Best of Aled Jones
- Angelis 2006
- Barry Manilow & Celine Dion did a duet rendition of "Walking In The Air".
- Bill Thompson did 6 versions of "Walking In The Air", including a duet version with Peter Auty.
- Breakcore musician Shitmat uses samples from "Walking in the Air" on his song "Dis Dancehall Ting is Better Than That T.V. Ting Tony".
- Chloë Agnew from Celtic Woman, on her title album, in the song "Last Rose of Summer/Walking in the Air"
- Christine Guldbrandsen used part of the lyrics from "Walking in The Air" on her song "Surfing In The Air" found in the album with the same name
- Cliff Richard on his 2003 album "Cliff at Christmas"
- Connie Talbot 2007: Over The Rainbow
- Declan Galbraith 2001
- George Lam Waiting For a Night (Traditional Chinese: 在等一個晚上) 1989[2]
- George Winston (The Snowman, Walking in the Air) 1992; (Forest with two other selections from The Snowman: "Building the Snowman" and "The Snowman's Music Box Dance") 1994 [1]
- Grand Belial's Key play an organ version of Walking in the Air on "At the Blessed Grotto" in their 1997 album, Mocking the Philanthropist
- Hayley Westenra 2000: Walking in the Air, a demo album done for friends and family
- Joshua Redman 2007: Back East first instrumental version of the song
- Kenneth Smith (Walking in the Air) 1992
- King's Singers (Kid's Stuff, EMI) 1988
- Laura Greenwald, on the album "Believe - a holiday music collection"
- Nightwish (Walking in the Air on Oceanborn) 1998
- Oceansize played it live twice during their Effloresce tours, recorded a studio version in December 2007 and released it on their Myspace as a 1st Xmas Single
- Plácido Domingo and Riccardo Cocciante in A Gala Christmas in Vienna
- Rainbow Snowman (Bent Out Of Shape) 1983
- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Tring Music School (Hybrid) 1995
- Spoonbender 'TBA' (EMI Records) 2005
- St. Philips Boy's Choir on their 1997 album Angel Voices 3, Solist Liam O'Kane
- Tangerine Dream, used as the end music 1983 in the film The Keep
- Tarja Turunen (Henkäys Ikuisuudesta) 2005
- The Shadows (Simply Shadows) 1987
- The Swingle Singers (Walking in the Air) 2006
- The two guitarists of Iron Maiden, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, played an altered version during their tour to support Somewhere in Time, first half containing a solo duel between the two guitarists, the second half of which Murray played the vocal melody while Smith played supporting rhythm. This combination is known as "Walking On Glass"
- This song is also featured in Ernie and his Rubber Ducky and Bear in his New Car