I’ll Fly Away

Some glad morning when this life is o'er
I'll fly away
To a home on God’s celestial shore
I'll fly away

You may have heard this song in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou, or in the popular late-1990s TV series 7th Heaven. Performed by numerous country, bluegrass, and pop music performers, I’ll Fly Away will soon mark its first centenary: originally written as a church hymn by Alfred E. Brumley in 1929, its folksy tune and the message of life eternal continues to inspire hope and faith. And it happens to be one of my all-time favourite songs!

In this post I’ll present an annotated version of the lyrics intended primarily for English language learners: below the lyrics you’ll find the vocabulary notes, along with the links to just a few of the renditions accessible on YouTube. Each one is different, so you can compare different styles.

Tell me how you like this song in the comments section at the bottom of the page!

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Some glad morning when this life is o'er, 
I'll fly away; 
To a home on God's celestial shore, 
I'll fly away 

[Chorus] 
I'll fly away, Oh Glory 
I'll fly away; (in the morning) 
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, 
I'll fly away. 

When the shadows of this life have gone, 
I'll fly away; 
Like a bird from prison bars has flown, 
I'll fly away (I'll fly away) 

[Chorus] 

Just a few more weary days and then, 
I'll fly away; 
To a land where joy shall never end, 
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)

[Chorus] 

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VOCABULARY NOTES

GLAD (adj.) – causing happiness and satisfaction

CELESTIAL (adj.) – heavenly, in heaven

HALLELUJAH (n.) – expression of joy, happiness or thanks (the original meaning of this Hebrew expression is ‘praise the Lord’)

BY AND BY (adv.) – soon, after a short period of time, in a little while; eventually

BARS (n.) – long, thin pieces of wood or metal used to prevent someone from leaving a cage or a prison cell

WEARY (adj.) – very tired, with no energy or enthusiasm

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RECOMMENDED VIDEOS

Joey+Rory (live version)

Cover by Megan Miller

Johnny Cash (from the My Mother’s Hymn Book album)

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COVER IMAGE CREDIT

Photo by Pablo Heimplatz via Unsplash