What is "steal away"

vb. (context intransitive English) to leave secretively

v. leave furtively and stealthily; "The lecture was boring and many students slipped out when the instructor turned towards the balckboard" [syn: slip away, sneak away, sneak off, sneak out]

"Steal Away" ("Steal Away to Jesus") is an American Negro spiritual. The song is well known by variations of the chorus:

Songs such as "Steal Away to Jesus", " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", " Wade in the Water" and the " Gospel Train" are songs with hidden codes, not only about having faith in God, but containing hidden messages for slaves to run away on their own, or with the Underground Railroad.

"Steal Away" was composed by Wallace Willis, Choctaw freedman in the old Indian Territory, sometime before 1862.

Alexander Reid, a minister at a Choctaw boarding school, heard Willis singing the songs and transcribed the words and melodies. He sent the music to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Jubilee Singers then popularized the songs during a tour of the United States and Europe.

"Steal Away" is a standard Gospel song, and is found in the hymnals of many Protestant denominations.

An arrangement of the song is included in the oratorio A Child of Our Time, first performed in 1944, by the classical composer Michael Tippett (190898).

"Steal Away" is a song by American singer Robbie Dupree, from his 1980 debut album Robbie Dupree. Released as the first single from the album, it became his biggest hit, peaking at #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

In March and April 2009, VH1 ran its countdown for the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. "Steal Away" placed at #64, but Dupree had a second hit with "Hot Rod Hearts" (#15) and a third hit with "Brooklyn Girls" (#54).

Steal Away is an album by pianist Hank Jones and bassist Charlie Haden recorded in 1995 and released on the Verve label. Jones and Haden followed Steal Away with a second album of spirituals, Come Sunday, recorded in 2010 and released in 2012.