The gospel song "I'll Fly Away" was written by Albert E. Brumley in 1929. It is sung frequently in the churches of many Protestant denominations in white, Black, and integrated churches. "I'll Fly Away" has been recorded numerous times by a bevy of recording artists. It was included on the soundtrack of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? When I chose the title for this book, I knew the song but was unaware of Mr. Brumley's authorship, and of the fact that he was a white Oklahoman who grew up picking cotton on his father's farm. I've learned from Wikipedia that the Brumley farm went bankrupt during the Depression and the well-known Dust Bowl drought that devastated the middle of the country; and that Brumley was one of the most prolific writers of gospel music in our history. Brumley took the theme for "I'll Fly Away" from a prisoners' song that spoke to the hope to fly from prison (not to heaven) and be free again, but he transformed it into a religious theme. In a sense it was, indeed, a kind of religion from the mouths of those prisoners.
