Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Inspired by Lisa Sharon Harper’s book, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World–And How To Repair It All, (amazon.com/dp/1587435276?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_MRXYKRN1NCZZAMC0KSHN) “Fly (aka Fortune’s Song)” is a clarion call to truth-telling and repair in an age when state governments are legislating the suppression and twisting of history. Fortune Game Magee is Lisa’s likely 10x Great Grandmother. Born 1687 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to an enslaved Senegalese father and Ulster Scot mother, Fortune and her descendants absorbed the terror of the first race laws on American soil. “Fly (aka Fortune’s Song)” offers all of us a way forward; daring us to dream of the healing that truth can bring, if we let it.

Co-produced by Lisa Sharon Harper and Andre Henry
Performed by Andre Henry
Written by Lisa Sharon Harper with Common Hymnal's Phillip Joubert and Vincent Charlow
Mixed and Mastered by Jay Kale
Music Video produced by Art Hooker
Photography and video provided by Rev. Mark Thompson, Heather Wilson, Curtiss Paul DeYoung and various Public Domain sources

FLY
Written by Lisa Sharon Harper (ASCAP), Phillip Joubert (ASCAP), Vincent Charlow (BMI)
© 2023 Common Hymnal Publishing (ASCAP), Lisa Sharon Harper (ASCAP), Zero Dynamite (ASCAP), Common Hymnal Digital (BMI), Soul Lore Creative (BMI) (admin by IntegratedRights.com)

VERSE 1
There is a lie
That stole the daughters from their mothers arms
The sons from out beneath their father's shade
There was a lie
That drove the ships upon the waters
Built the walls around the life we live today

PRE CHORUS 1
When words of life are tools of death
To bind up dignity
We think that what we've come to know
Is all that this could be

CHORUS 1
Fly to a better life and world for you and I
Fly to a better life and world for you and I

VERSE 2
There is a lie
Making judgments without justice
Writing laws to keep the power where it's been
There is a lie
That steals the vote and harms the harmless
Working day and night to make us slaves again

PRE CHORUS 2
When hope is bent to make us feel
That things can never change
And all they ever let us see
Are claimers and the claimed

CHORUS 2
Fly to a better life and world for you and I
Fly to a better life and world for you and I
Fly …

VERSE 3
There is a truth
That can heal us if we let it
Reparation to restore and make it right

CHORUS 3
Fly to a better life and world for you and I
Fly to a better life and world for you and I
Fly, fly, fly
We can build a better world for you and I

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► LISTEN
This recording is being released to all of the digital streaming platforms on 9/22/2023. Please pre-save.

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► FOLLOW Lisa Sharon Harper

Instagram: @lisasharper
Facebook: @lisasharonharper.page
Twitter: @lisasharper
Threads: @lisasharper
Linked In: linkedin.com/in/lisasharonharper
Website: lisasharonharper.com
Website: freedomroad.us

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► FOLLOW Andre Henry

Instagram: @theandrehenry
Facebook: @theandrehenry
Twitter: @andrehenry
YouTube: @andrehenrymusic
Tik Tok: @theandrehenry
Medium: andrehenry.medium.com
Website: andrehenry.co

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► FOLLOW Common Hymnal

Instagram: @commonhymnal
Facebook: @commonhymnal
Twitter: @commonhymnal
YouTube: @commonhymnal
Website: commonhymnal.com

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