1978 Classic Ballad, Written by an 18-Year-Old, Became a Soft Rock Anthem

Some of the biggest songs begin long before the world ever hears them.

That was the case with “Time for Me to Fly,” one of REO Speedwagon’s most enduring ballads. Although it was released in 1978 on the band’s breakthrough album You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can’t Tuna Fish, songwriter Kevin Cronin first wrote the song eight years earlier, when he was just 18 years old.

Cronin recently reflected on the song’s origins in a social media post.

“I wrote this song in 1970 in the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college,” he said in a TikTok video, meaning he was just 18 years old at the time. Long before REO Speedwagon became one of the biggest rock bands of the late 1970s and early ’80s, Cronin had already crafted the heartfelt ballad that would eventually become one of the group’s defining songs.

The lyrics tell the story of someone finding the strength to walk away from an unhealthy relationship.

“I had been in love with my first love – a girl that I met in high school,” Cronin told Songfacts. “But there was a point where I knew that I had to move on, but didn’t want to, because I was attached to her. I knew that it wasn’t working, so I went to Colorado to put some distance between me and her, even though that wasn’t what I consciously did.”

Built around an uplifting melody and Cronin’s emotional vocal performance, “Time for Me to Fly” balances heartbreak with optimism. Rather than dwelling on lost love, the song embraces the freedom that comes from moving forward, a message that has helped it resonate with listeners for generations.

“When we got out there, this friend of mine, Dave Drury, he had this beautiful Guild acoustic guitar, and it was in this weird tuning that I’d never played before,” Cronin told Ultimate Classic RockNights. “I picked it up and started strumming this thing. It was like, ‘Wow!’ It was an open tuning, which I’d never even heard of before. I started ‘Time for Me to Fly.'”

Released in 1978, the track became an early standout for REO Speedwagon.

Although it wasn’t one of the band’s biggest pop-chart hits, “Time for Me to Fly” received substantial FM radio airplay and became a staple of the band’s live shows. Its popularity also helped build momentum for REO Speedwagon’s commercial breakthrough, which arrived just a few years later with Hi Infidelity and classics including “Keep On Loving You” and “Take It on the Run.”

Over the decades, “Time for Me to Fly” has developed a life of its own.

The song has appeared in films and television shows, been covered by multiple artists, and remains one of the most requested songs in REO Speedwagon’s catalog. Fans continue to embrace its message of resilience, making it a favorite at concerts more than four decades after its release.

Nearly 50 years later, “Time for Me to Fly” still stands as one of Kevin Cronin’s finest songwriting achievements. What began as the reflections of an 18 year-old college student in the summer of 1970 ultimately became a timeless soft rock anthem, proving that some songs only grow more meaningful with age.

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