Someday We’ll All Be Free Lyrics
Hang on to the world as it spins around
Just don't let the spin get you down
Things are moving fast
Hold on tight and you will last
Keep your self-respect, your manly pride
Get yourself in gear, keep your stride
Never mind your fears
Brighter days will soon be here
[Refrain]
Take it from me, someday we'll all be free, yeah
[Verse 2]
Keep on walking tall
Hold your head up high
Lay your dreams right up to the sky
Sing your greatest song
And you'll keep going, going on
[Refrain]
Take it from me, someday we'll all be free
Hey, just wait and see, some day we'll all be free, yeah
Take it from me, someday we'll all be free
[Outro]
It won't be long, take it from me, someday we'll all be free
Take it from me, take it from me, take it from me
About
“Someday We’ll All Be Free” is a standout song from Donny Hathaway’s 1973 Extensions of a Man album. Edward Howard wrote lyrics about the mental anguish Donny was going through:
Donny was a very troubled person. I hoped that at some point he would be released from all that he was going through. There was nothing I could do but write something that might be encouraging for him.
The song with its message of hope often gets adopted as a de facto civil rights anthem. Hathaway’s multiple-Grammy-winning daughter Lalah Hathaway is often called upon to sing the song in his honor.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Donny felt very strongly about this song. In the album’s liner notes, he wrote that “Someday” is “basically a tune of “standard” quality, in my opinion.”
Edward Howard said Donny asked him to write lyrics to a melody he was playing backstage at a concert in Rochester, New York, but forgot about it until he was showering at home.
One day, I got into the shower and something made me slip. I grabbed the nozzle to get my balance and at that moment, the first line just came to me: “Hang on to the world.” I immediately got out of the shower, dried off, and sat down at the piano, an old, brown, upright Baldwin. In about an hour and a half, I wrote the lyrics to that song.
- 2.Someday We’ll All Be Free
- 3.Flying Easy
- 8.The Slums
- 9.Magdalena
- 10.I Know It’s You
- 11.Lord Help Me
