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Romare Bearden, Tomorrow I May Be Far Away, 1966/1967
collage of various papers with charcoal and graphite on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Fund
© Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, N.Y.

This title is taken from “Good Chib Blues,” recorded in 1929 by Edith Johnson (1903-1988):

Aah, tomorrow I may be far away
Oh, tomorrow I may be far away
Don't try to jive me, sweet talk can't make me stay....

Combined with the image of a train racing across the horizon, the title is emblematic of the longing embodied in the African American Great Migration--for a better life in the north and for the comforting familiarity of home in the south.

Copyright © National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.