Someday We'll All Be Free

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“Someday We'll All Be Free”
Song by Donny Hathaway
Album	Extension of a Man
Released	June 18, 1973
Recorded	January 10, 1973
Genre	Soul
Length	4:14
Label	Atco
Writer	Donny Hathaway, Edward Howard
Producer	Arif Mardin
Extension of a Man track listing
"I Love the Lord; He Heard My Cry" (1) “Someday We'll All Be Free” (2) "Flying Easy" (3)

"Someday We'll All Be Free" is a 1973 song by Donny Hathaway from the album Extension of a Man, written by Donny Hathaway and Edward Howard. The song was released as the flipside to the single "Love, Love, Love", and is now considered probably the most important song of Donny Hathaway's career.

The lyric was written by Edward Howard, for and about the mental pain that Donny Hathaway was experiencing at the time. As Edward Howard said:

"What was going through my mind at the time was Donny, because 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"

In recent years the song has been interpreted as being written about black rights primarily due to it being featured at the end of Spike Lee's biographical film Malcolm X. However as Howard Said:

"A lot of Black people have taken the song for some sort of Anthem. That's fine. I didn't write it for that, though. It doesn't have that significance for me. I take it with a grain of salt. I'm glad it has some significance."

"Someday We'll All Be Free" found additional resonance following Alicia Keys' simple yet dramatic rendition of it on the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Donny Hathaway himself particuarly loved the song and as Eulalah Hathaway stated:

"He loved that song. Donny literally sat in the studio and cried when he heard the playback of his final mix. It's pretty special when an artist can create something that wipes them out"