Albert E. Brumley was born on a cotton farm near Spiro, OK in 1905. The medium of radio was gaining popularity as he grew up, and one of the most requested songs was a sad ballad called “If I Had the Wings of an Angel” which said: Now if I had the wings of an angel, Over these prison walls I would fly, I’d fly to the arms of my poor darling, and there I’d be willing to die.
One hot Oklahoma day, Albert was in the fields picking cotton and singing his song. The thought of flying away suddenly seemed quite appealing to him, and he began composing “I’ll Fly Away” on the spot. “I was dreaming of flying away from that cotton field when I wrote ‘I’ll Fly Away,’” he later said. The middle verse of Alberts’s song echoes the old prison ballad when it says: When the shadows of this life have grown, I’ll fly away; Like a bird from prison bars has flown, I’ll fly away.
Just turn your radio on. 
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