Show Synopsis:
The vagabond child Huckleberry Finn is tired of everyone questioning whether he is doing what he should to get to heaven, save for his guardian's slave Jim. His drunken and impoverished father finds him and tries to kill him, and after he falls asleep, Huck stages his own murder and runs away to Jackson's Island. Jim has escaped there too to avoid being sold down the river, so the two begin traveling far from their home on a raft. They meet "The Duke" and "The King," two con men who want to sell Jim for their own profit. After they succeed, Huck contemplates whether he should tell his guardians where Jim is or find him so he can escape, and he decides that Jim's freedom is worth going to hell for. Huck meets up with Tom Sawyer, and they conspire to free Jim from his new master. Tom tells Jim that his mistress has died, and Jim tells Huck that while they were sailing their raft, he saw Huck's father dead in the river. Huck decides to continue his travels westward.	

Character:
Jim, a middle-aged African-American slave with a kind heart; he is spiritual and non-violent man; very loyal to Huck, who has promised to help him escape to freedom	

Song Context:
Huck and Tom have found Jim imprisoned in a tiny dark cell, and while the boys work on freeing him, Jim sings about his longing to be free from the cell and free from slavehood.	

Fun Facts:
1) The musical is based on the events in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, who got inspiration for Jim from the slaves his parents had while he grew up, and their stories. 
2) Ron Richardson won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his origination of the role of Jim. 
3) Composer Roger Miller has stated that the inspiration for this song came from the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.