Can You Fly appeared on Fast Folk's year-end list of the ten best albums of 1992,[8] and The Village Voice's Robert Christgau later dubbed it "a perfect album".

[9] In order to finance the recording of the album, Johnston sold some farmland that he inherited from his grandfather.

This decision is mentioned in the opening lines of the first track, "Trying to Tell You I Don't Know".

[10] The song "California Thing" appeared on the soundtrack of the film Heavy, starring Liv Tyler and Deborah Harry.

"The Lucky One" was covered by Mary Lou Lord on her 1998 album Got No Shadow.