The "thousand points of light" symbolize the American citizen's spirit and a shining example of giving selflessly to care for 1 another'.... icry

Rockin' In The Free World

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Lyrics, Tabs, And Chords for "Rockin' In The Free World" by Neil Young

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History and Commentary on "Rockin' In The Free World" lyrics by Neil Young

by Thrasher

[Note: This is one of a series of articles which provide an explanation of the meaning of Neil Young's classic song "Rockin' In The Free World". While the interpretation of lyrics presented here is composed of several viewpoints, there is little consensus on the exact meaning of Neil's songs. The themes and symbolism of Young's songwriting provide a rich tapestry on which to project various meanings and analysis.]

Neil Young's song "Rockin' In The Free World" from the album Freedom is one of his most popular, important and prophetic songs.

The song has become an iconic anthem and it's status continues to rise as more and more artists cover the song. Young's lyrics are considered to be an indictment of the politics of the 1980's. In today's post-9/11 world, the lyrics seem prophetic and even more meaningful than when originally written on the eve of the '90's.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine selected "Rockin' in the Free World" as one of the 500 greatest songs of all times.

"Rockin' In The Free World" was first performed live in concert on February 21, 1989 at the Paramount Theater, Seattle, WA with Neil Young's band The Restless. Since then, the song has been performed 368 times through the Greendale tour's conclusion on March 21, 2004 at the Mullins Center in Amherst, MA according to The Neil Young Tour Statistics page.

The song is prominent in director Michael Moore's film 'Fahrenheit 9/11' where "Rockin' in the Free World" runs over the closing credits. A re-release of the song and a new music video directed by Moore is scheduled for the Summer of 2004. (See more below on the film and song.)
Analysis of "Rockin' in the Free World" Lyrics

(Listen to clip of acoustic version of "Rockin' in the Free World" and electric version.)

The newspaper USA Today has called the song:

"a savage attack on the policies of Ronald Reagan and the first President Bush ... (and) anything but a celebration of democracy."

On the contrary, a strong case can be made that the song is NOT "anything but a celebration of democracy." In fact, an argument can be made that the song is very pro-democracy and is a protest song that has advanced the argument about inequities in society. The song is clearly the work of someone who could be called a courageous patriot.

The song's lyrics contain the lines:

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand

The lyrics are a direct reference to President George Bush's (#41) campaign pledge to create a compassionate citizenry volunteering to help cope with society's ills. The "thousand points of light" symbolize the American citizen's spirit and a shining example of giving selflessly to care for one another's neighbor and brother. Along with "a kinder, gentler hand", Bush believed that each American could contribute to helping make the United States -- and the world -- a better place to live and work.

The song is strongly democratic and with pro-American ideals in that it is a condemnation of the supply-side/trickle down politics of President Ronald Reagan. "Reaganomics" involved massive tax cuts in the wealthiest brackets which supporters claimed would trickle down to lower brackets. In fact, the policies led to huge federal deficits and exploding unemployment and social decay, particularly in large urban American cities.

The economic realities of the 1980's with increasing social problems -- such as homelessness and drug abuse -- made Young mock the campaign promises of President Bush as hollow rhetoric. The drug problems ("she's gonna take a hit") refer to the crack epidemic which swept large American cities during the 1980's.

The lyrics of "Rockin' In The Free World" also refer to the rampant consumerism of American culture and the rise of the disposable society based on waste and pollution.

We got department stores and toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.

The lyrics "Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive" refer to the Reverand Jesse Jackson's signature phrase to "Keep hope alive." Young contrasts President Bush's rhetoric and Rev. Jackson's religion as solutions to society's ills, when in actuality, they are nothing more than "feel good" slogans with little results to show.

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 due to the band's up coming European tour. Sampedro commented that 'whatever we do, we shouldn't go near the mideast. Its probably better we just keep on rockin' in the free world.' Then Young asked if he could make a song out of it. (source: Wikipedia)

China's Tiananmen Square Protests

On June 9, 1989, Chinese authorities confronted student protesters in Tiananmen Square, which led to the deaths of an untold number. From this event, the picture of a student standing before a line of tanks became the image that was broadcast around the world.

Neil Young, upon seeing this photo and video, began commenting before performing "Rockin' In The Free World" that the song was going out to that "Chinese boy in Tiananmen Square who stopped the tanks."

Similar to Young's '70's political protest anthem "Ohio", the song has become associated with peaceful, non-violent protest.

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Saturday Night Live Performance

On Saturday Night Live in September '89, Neil served notice that he was back with a vengeance with his legendary performance of 'Rockin'. Considered to be one of the most intense live television studio performances ever, Young seemed possessed as he throttled his Les Paul guitar and shredded its strings before the audience. Wearing a Elvis Presley T-shirt, Young seemed to be bridging his 1970's classic "Hey, Hey, My, My" with the lyrics "The King [Elvis] is gone but not forgotten, this is the story of Johnny Rotten" with the end of the 1980's and the impending advent of the grunge-alternative music explosion.

Later, Young commented that he worked with a trainer before going onstage to work himself up to the encore intensity level when he normally performs the song after 2 hours on stage. Neil came on the set as if he had just performed the concert of his life and went from there. The song was selected as one of the best of Saturday Night Live musical performances of all time in broadcasts later in the 1990's for the 25th anniversary.

Critics were ecstatic about Young's return to form based on just the single broadcast and it marked a critical turning point in Neil's career. Jimmy McDonough writes in a Village Voice interview:

"With the September 30 appearance on Saturday Night Live, Young arrested any signs of rust - at least for the moment. Backed by Charlie Drayton, Steve Jordan, and longtime sideman Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro - a new band Young's tentatively calling Young, CS&P - he was all over the stage, jumping on the drum stand, lunging out of camera range, whipping off earsplitting solos that sounded like falling power lines. It was the loudest thing I've ever heard on TV, the lyrics to 'Rockin' in the Free World' barely audible. This is easily his best band since Crazy Horse.

Just the look on his face was enough. He really seemed insane.

YOUNG: 'Yeah, well I was. I don't like TV. Never have. It always sucks and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't just walk on and do 'Rockin' in the Free World,' or you'll look like a fuckin' idiot. To perform that song the way it's supposed to be performed you have to be at peak blood level, everything has to be up, the machine has to be stoked. To do that I had to ignore Saturday Night Live completely. I had to pretend I wasn't there.'

So Young developed 'a brand new technique for doing TV' - a half-hour before going on he worked out with his trainer, lifting weights and doing calisthenics to get himself wired. "

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Freedom is Released

In October, 1989, the album Freedom was released to considerable critical acclaim. A review on Pagewise declared: "If 'Freedom' is the first true alternative album, 'Rockin' in the Free World' is the first true alternative song."

The album Freedom contains two versions of 'Rockin' in the Free World' - acoustic and electric, similar to Rust Never Sleeps and Tonight's The Night. In an album Review, Jeff Dove writes:

" 'Rockin' in the Free World,' which opens and closes the album in different versions, recalls Rust Never Sleeps. The parallel goes beyond the similar tactic, used in 'Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue) / My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Black),' but the styles of the two recordings on Freedom match Rust Never Sleep's live acoustic A-side and Crazy Horse-raging B-side. As with 'Hey Hey...,' and for that matter as with 'Tonight's the Night' on the album of the same name, the two versions have some lyrical differences. The opening version of 'Rockin' in the Free World' is a live solo acoustic version from a Jones Beach, Long Island, NY show, while the closer is an electric ripper that is right in there with the best of the Horse. "

At the Jones Beach, New York concert on June 14, 1989, Young performed an acoustic version of "Ritfw" with a third verse that was removed from the LP.

Little did critics and fans realize that the album's signature song soon would be heard around the world.

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Before the Fall: Neil writes "Love Is All We Need" on the Berlin Wall in 1982
Berlin Wall Falls

On November 9, 1989 The Berlin Wall fell and Young's song lyrics "Keep on Rockin' In The Free World" could be heard over newscasts of the historic occasion. The song has since been established as a beacon of hope for repressed people throughout the world and a soundtrack for freedom - in it's every manifestation.

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"Rockin' In The Free World" Video

In the music video for "Rockin'", directed by Julien Temple, the performance footage is intercut with scenes of Neil as a homeless person pushing a shopping cart through city streets. As a homeless person, Neil encounters numerous pitiful situations but manages to inject some humor. For example, at one point as he pushes his worldly possessions along a sidewalk, he encounters an elderly woman who he gives money.

The music video also has a montage of television news footage of a variety of current events such as police busting drug dealers and other criminal activity interspersed with Wall Street dealers. The "Rockin' In The Free World" video also includes footage of China's Tiananmen Square protests.

Among the many bands performing "Rockin' In The Free World" are Pearl Jam who have covered the song over 100 times in concert, often as final encores.

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Pearl Jam & Neil at the MTV Music Awards

Neil joined Pearl Jam onstage at the MTV Music Awards on September 2, 1993 to play an incendiary version of "Rocking in The Free World". After the broadcast, MTV commentator Kurt Loder observed that the interplay between Young and Pearl Jam was probably one of the most memorable live MTV performances ever.

Some of the other bands that have covered "Rockin'" include:

Van Halen
Patti Smith
Vines
Slobberbone
David Byrne
Phil Lesh & Friends
Indigo Girls
Richard Thompson

The song became a standard during the 1991 tour with Crazy Horse which began as the Persian Gulf war began. At the end of "Rockin' In the Free World" (listen to San Francisco, CA. 1991-04-06) segues into a homage to Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" for a most majestic feedback drenched finale.

Again, during the second war with Iraq, Young featured the song "Rockin' In The Free World" prominently during encores for the 2003 Greendale tour. The lyrics to the song were altered in the Greendale concerts to: "Boys are dying everyday because we didn't have a plan". The additional lyrics were censored for the Farm Aid 2003 broadcast on PBS on Thanksgiving Day.

Also during the Greendale tour, the feedback drenched finale of "Rocking in the Free World" segued into "Taps", Neil's gesture to the soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq.

In the post 9/11 world, the lyrics take on a sinister new meaning:

'There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead.
Don't feel like Satan but I am to them.'

It is very hard to listen to these words today and think about what they mean to people of various religious beliefs. How could Neil have possibly known the prophetic power which these lyrics hold today?

In an analysis of "Rockin'" called "The Advantages of Using Rock and Roll in Teaching Social Studies by James Lane at the Orange High School he writes:

"The tune warns us of the complacency of our own lives and the lack of empathy we express for people who are not blessed with the benefits and cushy lifestyle the majority of Americans enjoy. The song is a musical signpost telling us not to lose sight of the problems our society and its less fortunate members face. It is a song of insight attempting to awaken us to the reality of a culture seen on a wider screen, one with 'a thousand points of light / For the homeless man / ...a kinder, gentler / Machine gun hand.'"

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Michael Moore's Film Fahrenheit 9/11 Soundtrack

In June 2004, filmmaker Michael Moore and Neil Young reached agreement to use Young's song 'Rockin' in the Free World' for the controversial film 'Fahrenheit 9/11''s closing credits. (For more, see June 2004 News page and Neil News page for updates.) From Thrasher's Wheat Guestbook, Bill posted:

"Michael Moore inexplicably edited out the most telling line - "Don't feel like Satan but I am to them" - which could be applied flexibly to Osama's hatred of the U.S. or the Right Wing's demonization of everyone they disagree with. Instead, he combined the beginning of the first verse with the end of the second verse, the one about the crack-addict and her child, so they came out:

'There are colours on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
That's one more kid that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love never get to be cool

A new video for "Rockin' In The Free World" directed by filmmaker Michael Moore was released in November 2004. The video intercuts footage from the film Fahrenheit 9/11 and performance footage of Neil Young and Crazy Horse performing the song on the 2003/4 Greendale tour.
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"There's one more kid that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love,
never get to be cool."
Conclusion

The song "Rocking in The Free World" continues to be a standard encore for Neil Young's concerts and most likely will continue as long as there is a need to rock in the free -- or more or less free -- world.

The use of the song "Rockin'" undoubtably put Young and his music in the political spotlight. In the summer of 2004, we asked what folks thought of a Moore's use of the song. The question was whether the use of the song in the film was a good idea? Or was it going to create trouble for Neil?

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About 70% thought it was a good idea, 27% thought it would cause trouble, and less than 3% didn't much care about music & politics.

In November 2004, a music video for "Rockin' In The Free World" directed by Michael Moore was released.

So what did folks think of the video for "Rockin"? With nearly 600 votes, here are the results when the polls closed:

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77% (455 votes) voted "Yes, I like both the song and the video"
10% (58 votes) voted "No, I can't stand Young and Moore"
13% (78 votes) voted "Not sure because politics and music make me feel uneasy."

Please comment and add your thoughts on "Rockin' In The Free World" in the guestbook.

Also, check out the other Neil polls, so get off that couch, turn off that MTV and VOTE!

Lastly, here's a song parody by Skisics Surus:

"We got more failing stores and worthless paper
Got new coal burning for the ozone layer
Got a man who screws the people, helps his friends all thrive
Expensive fuel to burn, try not to drive

Bush keeps mockin' the free world"

"Rockin' In The Free World" lyrics by Neil Young

(Listen to clip of acoustic version of "Rockin' in the Free World" and electric version.)

See inside reference book pages of Music and Social Movements : Mobilizing Traditions in the Twentieth Century by Cambridge Cultural Social Studies for more on music relating to China's Tiananmen Square protests and the fall of Berlin Wall.

Also, see Gone Mild Blog article "Neil Young Keeps On Rockin' In the Free World".

Play and watch the video of "Rockin' In The Free World" here.

Freedom - Album Reviews

Neil Young Lyrics Analysis

Thrasher's Wheat - A Neil Young Archives