Songfacts®:

• Icicle Works is from Liverpool, just like The Beatles. They took their name from the short story The Day The Icicle Works Closed, written by American science fiction author Frederik Pohl.
• This song was written by band member Ian McNabb and originally released in Britain under the title "Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)." It charted twice in the UK, only reaching #89 in its initial 1983 release, but doing somewhat better (#52) when re-released the following year as a follow-up to "Love Is A Wonderful Colour," a UK Top 15 hit for the group.
• In addition to being re-released in Britain, this was also released in the US and Canada, but with the title reversed. Arista Records, the group's North American label, insisted upon this change so that the song's main title would match the chorus, making it easier for radio listeners to find the record in stores. Arista also demanded, and got, 2 other changes for the US release: The song's intro was remixed to remove the spoken-word lines present in the original UK version, and the article "The" was dropped from the band's name. With these changes made, this song managed to reach the lower rungs of the US Top 40, making Icicle Works an American one-hit wonder.
• This song had its biggest chart success in Canada, where it reached #19. The Canadian version was identical to the British one (with the spoken-word intro and the band's full name, The Icicle Works, both left intact), but used the reversed US title "Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly)", again to make it easier to find the record in stores. The group has had only modest and sporadic commercial success since this song, most of it coming in their native Britain. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Joshua - Twin Cities, MN, for all above
• This plays during the end credits of the season 2 Stranger Things episode "The Lost Sister."
• The English pop trio Soho recorded this for the Scream (1996) soundtrack. It plays during the horror flick's end credits.