A classic American Negro Spiritual, the cradle of the blues - Steal Away was composed by Wallace Willis, a slave sometime before 1862. This version is by the Reverend Pearly Brown (1974) As applies to so many of these songs, it is believed that songs like Steal Away and Wade in the Water had double meanings for the slaves who sang them. Not only did the words reflect their faith and that they would one day Steal away to Jesus, but also acted as code to their fellow workers that they were going to seek to escape their slave-owners, that they would ‘steal away’ via the secret network called the Underground Railroad that would help them reach the northern U.S. states or Canada where they would be free.           

Reverend Pearly Brown - Steal away

About the Blues connection