Born Rosetta Nubin on the 20th March 1915 in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, she began performing at age four, billed as "Little Rosetta Nubin, the singing and guitar playing miracle", accompanying her mother, Church of God in Christ (COGIC) evangelist Katie Bell Nubin, who played mandolin and preached at tent revivals throughout the Southern U.S.A. Exposed to both blues and jazz both in the South and after her family moved to Chicago in the late 1920s, she played blues and jazz in private, while performing gospel music in public settings. Her unique style reflected those secular influences: she bent notes the way that jazz artists did and picked guitar like Memphis Minnie.
Rosetta also crossed over to secular music in other ways. After marrying COGIC preacher Thomas Thorpe (from which "Tharpe" is a misspelling) in 1934 and moving to New York City, she recorded four sides with Decca Records backed by "Lucky" Millinder's jazz orchestra. Her records caused an immediate furore: many churchgoers were shocked by the mixture of sacred and secular music, but secular audiences loved them. Appearances in John Hammond's 1938 extravaganza "From Spirituals to Swing", at the Cotton Club and Café Society and with Cab Calloway and Benny Goodman, made her even more popular. Songs like "This Train" and "Rock Me", which combined gospel themes with bouncy up-tempo arrangements, became smash hits among audiences with little previous exposure to gospel music.
Tharpe continued recording during World War II, one of only two gospel artists able to record V-discs for troops overseas. Her song "Strange Things Happening Every Day", recorded in 1944 with Sammy Price, Decca's house boogie woogie pianist, showcased her virtuosity as a guitarist and her witty lyrics and delivery. It was also the first gospel song to make Billboard's "race records" Top Ten -- something that she accomplished several more times in her career.
After the war Decca paired her with Marie Knight, a sanctified shouter with a strong contralto and a more subdued style than Tharpe. Their hit "Up above My Head" showed both of them to great advantage: Knight provided the response to Tharpe in traditional call and response format, then took the role that would have been assigned to a bass in a male quartet after Tharpe's solo. They toured the gospel circuit for a number of years, during which Tharpe was so popular that she attracted 25,000 paying customers to her wedding to her manager Russell Morrison (her third marriage), followed by a vocal performance, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. in 1951.
Their popularity took a sudden downturn, however, when they recorded several blues songs in the early 1950s. Knight attempted afterwards to cross over to popular music, while Tharpe remained in the church, but rebuffed by many of her former fans. Retreating to Europe, Tharpe gradually returned to the gospel circuit, although at nowhere near her former celebrity. Her performances were curtailed even further by a stroke in 1970 after which she lost the use of her legs. She died on the 9th October 1973 after another stroke, on the eve of a scheduled recording session.
Fly Away
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll fly away.
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away.
Oh, I'll fly away, O Glory,
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye,
When the shadows of this life have gone,
I'll fly away.
Like a bird from prison bars have flown,
I'll fly away.
Oh, I'll fly away, O Glory,
I'll fly away.
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye,
I'll fly away.
Well, just a few more weary days and then,
I'll fly away.
To a land where joy shall never end,
I'll fly away.
Oh, I'll fly away, O Glory,
I'll fly away.
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye,
I'll fly away.
Oh, I'll fly away, O Glory,
I'll fly away.
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye,
I'll fly away...
The lyrics of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's song "Fly Away" are an expression of hope and faith in the promise of an afterlife. The song speaks of a joyful and eternal home that awaits beyond the shadows of this life. The imagery of a bird flying away from prison bars highlights the concept of freedom from earthly struggles and the possibility of a new beginning. The repeated refrain of "I'll fly away, O Glory" creates a sense of excitement and anticipation for the ultimate realization of this hope.
The song "Fly Away" is a classic gospel hymn that has been covered by many artists over the years, and it remains a popular choice for funerals and other occasions that call for a message of hope and peace in the face of loss. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, often called the "Godmother of Rock and Roll," was known for her passionate and innovative approach to gospel music. She was one of the first musicians to combine gospel and blues styles and to use an electric guitar in her performances.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, some glad morning when this life is oer,
I'll fly away.
When my time in this world is done, I will depart from here.
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away.
I will travel to a place where I'll be with God on high.
Oh, I'll fly away, O Glory,
I'll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye,
I'll fly away.
I will soar into the heavens when I pass, shouting praises and goodbyes.
When the shadows of this life have gone,
I'll fly away.
After the darkness and hardships have ceased, I will depart.
Like a bird from prison bars have flown,
I'll fly away.
I will break free from the constraints that held me, like a bird escaping from a cage.
Well, just a few more weary days and then,
I'll fly away.
It won't be long until I depart from here.
To a land where joy shall never end,
I'll fly away.
I will journey to a place where there is infinite happiness.
Oh, I'll fly away, O Glory,
I'll fly away.
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye,
I'll fly away.
I will rise to the heavens when I pass, gloriously exalting God and joyfully departing.
Oh, I'll fly away, O Glory,
I'll fly away.
When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye,
I'll fly away...
I will ascend to the heavens, rejoicing, when I depart from this life.
Contributed by Gianna S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.