Songfacts®:

• Amelia, Laurie Anderson's eighth solo album, is a musical homage to Amelia Earhart, the American aviation pioneer who vanished in 1937 near a remote Pacific island and was declared dead two years later. The album is a sweeping exploration of Earhart's life and legacy, recorded across three continents: Canal Street Communications in New York City, Besední dum in Brno, Czech Republic, and Miraval Studios in France. Providing its orchestral foundation is the Czech Filharmonie Brno, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
• "Fly Into The Sun" is Anderson's reflection on the self-consuming power of obsession through the lens of Earhart's last journey. She blends references to Shakespeare ("Full fathom five thy father lies") with the visceral imagery of self-immolation ("hurl myself against the sky").
  
  "I spent a long time trying to figure out why she did this so obsessively," Anderson told CDM. "It wasn't just about flying. She was pushing against the sky itself, as if flying into the sun was an act of self-destruction - but also transcendence."
• The project originated as a commission from Carnegie Hall in 2000, where Anderson debuted a version titled "Songs for A.E."
  
  "It was kind of horrible, actually," she admitted to Billboard . "So I stopped working on it."
  
  Years later, conductor Dennis Russell Davies convinced her to revisit the work, this time with a string orchestra, and Anderson gradually transformed it into the layered, electronic-tinged work that is Amelia.
• Anderson's fascination with Earhart began with the Carnegie Hall commission to create something about flight. "I knew a bit about her, but as soon as I started reading, I was hooked," Anderson told Uncut magazine. "She wasn't just an aviator; she was a communicator, constantly sending reports and connecting with her audience. She was basically the original blogger. And she married her press agent!"
• Amelia Earhart's story has captivated songwriters across decades. Here are a few other notable works inspired by her:
  
  1976 "Amelia" by Joni Mitchell.
  From her album Hejira, this introspective piece intertwines Earhart's disappearance with Mitchell's own emotional journeys, using Earhart as a symbol of freedom and solitude.
  
  2000 "Waiting For Amelia" by Gretchen Peters.
  Gretchen Peters explores the barriers women face in pursuing their dreams, using Earhart's courage and mystery as a metaphor.
  
  2017 "Amelia" by David Crosby.
  Crosby's cover of Mitchell's "Amelia" appears on his album Sky Trails. "I've always loved how Joni wrote about love and Earhart's life at the same time. It's exquisite," Crosby noted.
  
  2022 "Blue Electra" by Michael Daugherty.
  This violin concerto, premiered in 2022, is a four-movement work based on Earhart's life. Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers commissioned and performed it. The concerto's movements depict different periods of Earhart's life, including her first flight across the Atlantic and her time in Paris.