"The Prisoner's Song", is a song copyrighted by Vernon Dalhart in 1924 in the name of Dalhart's cousin Guy Massey, who had sung it while staying at Dalhart's home and had in turn heard it from his brother Robert Massey, who may have heard it while serving time in prison. "The Prisoner's Song" was one of the best-selling songs of the 1920s. Victor pressed slightly over 1.3 million copies during the record's peak years of popularity. The song's publisher at the time, Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., reportedly sold over one million copies of the song's sheet music. The Vernon Dalhart version was recorded on Victor Records in October 1924. It was published as the B side with "The Wreck of the Old 97", also titled "The Wreck of the Southern Old 97", which had been a money-maker for other record companies on the A side. The last verse of this song was the inspiration for Albert E. Brumley's "I'll Fly Away". It was performed and recorded by Hank Snow, Bill Monroe, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, Bill Monroe and others.