I'll Fly Away

Gonna fly away into my Heavenly Father's throne.

Oh, one bright morning when this life is over, I'll fly away.

To my home on God's celestial shore, oh, I'll fly away.

Help me out, folks.

Oh, I'll fly away, oh, glory.

I'll fly away in the morning.

When I die, hallelujah, by and by, oh, I'll fly away.

Oh, I'm gonna fly away.

[upbeat music]

I'll Fly Away was written by my grandfather, Albert E. Brumley.

His songs have touched millions and still continue to influence the music industry today.

Come along with me on my journey as I figure out our music history and the songs that's influenced us.

You know, they're not...

We don't own the songs that, that we administer, but I feel an obligation to take the best care of those songs.

We take care of I'll Fly Away-

We do

And you've unwrapped another wonderful gift from the Music Box.

One glad morning with the shining sun, I'll fly away.

The Music Box is a production of Louisville Public Media with support from PNC, the Grace Hopkins Rummel Children's Fund, and the sustaining members of Louisville Public Media.

I'll fly away.

This episode was written by Fiona Palensky and me, Kiana Dell, with sound design by Rick Reinhardt.

Technical direction and audio editing by Rick Reinhardt.

Special thanks to Laura Ellis.

You can hear all of our episodes at musicboxpod.org, or follow us on Instagram at learnwithlpm.

I wanted to share with you before we start this next song that I just learned about this.

So the original song, I'll Fly Away, was written by Albert E. Brumley.

It was composed between 1929 and 1932, and he got the idea...

Let me get to it here.

And just every time I'm in the mountains, how can you not know that there's a God? I mean, the beauty, just the nature, just everything that God has given us to enjoy the beauty of.

So we're going to fly away one day.

To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away.

I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away.

Yeah.

I mean, you can't break into I'll Fly Away the same way you do Amazing Grace.

No. Amazing Grace, you're going to be right here like this.

You

are.

But you can't break into I'll Fly Away this close to the mic.

You'll blow people away.

Correct.

And according to Brumley biographer Kevin Kierberg, it has a story all its own.

If you tell me you've never heard I'll Fly Away, I ain't gonna believe it.

That song has been recorded more than a thousand times by a diverse list of artists ranging from Bob Marley to Jerry Lee Lewis and from Keith Urban to Kanye West.

Willie Nelson liked the song so much he cut three different versions of it, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash to a piece.

But I'll Fly Away, oddly enough, did not become an instant gospel classic like so many of Brumley's songs.

Brumley copyrighted the song in 1932. not long after getting married and settling in the Missouri Ozarks.

According to his own account, he began composing it in his head four years earlier, during a trip home to Oklahoma to help pick cotton on his parents' farm.

Instead of a prisoner flying over the walls to freedom, he crafted a song envisioning a soul's flight to heaven when death brings an end to earthly trials and tribulations.