Rockin' in the Free World

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“Rockin' in the Free World”
“Rockin' in the Free World” cover
Rockin in the Free World by Neil Young
Single by Neil Young
from the album Freedom
B-side "Rockin' in the Free World"
Released November 14, 1989
Format 45 RPM Record
Recorded June 14, 1989 at Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY
Genre Hard rock
Length Acoustic version: 3:38 Electric Version: 4:40
Label Reprise
Writer(s) Neil Young
Producer Neil Young
Niko Bolas

"Rockin' in the Free World" is a song by Neil Young, released on his 1989 record Freedom.[1] Two versions of the song were released, similar to the song "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" of Young's Rust Never Sleeps album, one of which is performed with a predominantly acoustic arrangement, and the other with a predominantly electric arrangement.

Contents

[edit] Context

According to Neil Young's biography Shakey, while on tour in the late '80s, Young and Frank "Poncho" Sampedro looked at photos in a newspaper of the Ayatollah Khomeini's body being carried to his grave. These images showed mourners burning American flags in the street, which incited fear in Poncho. Sampedro commented, "Whatever we do, we shouldn't go near the Mideast. It's probably better we just keep on rockin' in the free world." Then Young asked if he could make a song out of it.[2]

Released several months prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, because of its chorus, which just repeats the phrase "Keep on rockin' in the free world," it became a de facto anthem for the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The lyrics criticize Reaganomics[1] and make specific references to the administration of George H. W. Bush and the social problems of late Twentieth Century America. The first line of the song, "Colors on the street / red, white, and blue," while clearly intended to evoke the colors of the U.S. flag, can also refer to gang colors, or possibly homelessness in America. The second verse is a narrative of a drug-addict who abandons her newborn baby in a trash can before leaving to "get a hit." "We got a thousand points of light / For the homeless man" refers to Bush's use of the phrase "a thousand points of light" as a metaphor for individually initiated community service in place of government-sponsored public welfare programs. "We got a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand" is a cynical take on Bush's call for "a kinder and gentler nation" during the 1988 U.S. Presidential campaign.

Ironically, the song also received extensive radio play again shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, owing both to its (albeit cynical) celebration of "life in the free world" and for the lines "There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead / Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them," which overtly references Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini's epithet for the United States, "the Great Satan."

An edited version of the song accompanies the end credits of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11; the phrase "That's one more kid that’ll never go to school / Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool," which originally referenced the second verse's abandoned child now appears to reference a dead U.S. soldier in Iraq. The chorus is played through the end credits as a call to action to oppose President George W. Bush and his policies.

This song is rated number 214 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

[edit] Performances

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008)
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  • Pearl Jam regularly covers this song in concert, and along with "Yellow Ledbetter" is frequently played as the closer. The band played the song in their 1992 MTV Unplugged performance and also alongside Young at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. They have performed the song 205 times live as of August 5, 2007.[1]
  • Late 90s grunge band Local H have been performing the song at recent concerts.
  • Maroon5 performed it at Live 8, while the Canadian performance of Live 8 in Barrie closed with a group performance of the anthem.
  • Big Country have released the song twice as a b-side; a live version on the "Beautiful People" CD-single, and a studio version backing "Alone".
  • Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen recorded two live versions of this song while on the G3 '03 tour. The first can be seen in the G3 Live in Denver video/DVD, and the second is on "Rockin' in the Free World", a recording of a different concert on the tour.[2] Satriani, Vai and John Petrucci performed the song several times in Australia and Argentina in late November and early December 2006.
  • Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and John Petrucci also performed the song in late October, as G3/Latin America Tour
  • The Leningrad Cowboys performed a version of the song on their album Global Balalaika Show.
  • It was also covered by Jeffrey Walker of Carcass fame, and included on his solo album Welcome to Carcass Country, which was released on 9th May 2006.
  • The song is also the signature song of Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein's band Trauser and is performed by them at all performances including at the annual Hot Stove, Cool Music concerts put together by them in conjunction with ESPN Sports Analyst Peter Gammons.
  • This song was covered by The Almighty for the album Wild And Wonderful.
  • Atomic garden recorded an acoustic cover for the compilation Gasoline Rainbow.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Buckley, 1206
  2. ^ McDonough, J. (2002). Shakey: Neil Young's Biography. New York, Random House.

[edit] References

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
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