"One Day I'll Fly Away" is a soul and R&B ballad with music by Joe Sample and lyrics by Will Jennings. Randy Crawford recorded it in 1980 for her fourth studio album, Now We May Begin, produced by Sample, Wilton Felder and Stix Hooper. Released as a single on Warner Bros. the same year, the version runs 5:02. Its main hook interpolates Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker.
The recording received generally favorable reviews. AllMusic's Jon O'Brien praised Crawford's sumptuous, soulful tones. It reached number one in Flanders and the Netherlands and number two on the UK Singles Chart in September 1980, becoming Crawford's highest charting single, with widespread radio airplay. The critic Helen Brown of The Daily Telegraph called it one of the saddest songs in Crawford's catalogue, sung with a smile through the tears. Later versions include Nicole Kidman as Satine in Moulin Rouge! (2001), Kimberley Walsh's lead single from her 2013 debut Centre Stage, and Vaults' cover in John Lewis's 2016 Christmas advert. Other recordings have been made by Brotherhood of Man, Shirley Bassey, Sarah Connor, Ruben Studdard and Samantha Barks.
