We Shall Be Free - Misplaced Pages

"We Shall Be Free" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in August 1992 as the first single from his album The Chase and also appears on The Hits, The Limited Series, Double Live, and The Ultimate Hits. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks in 1992, becoming his first single to miss the Top 10 on that chart due to an airplay ban from some radio stations. "We Shall Be Free" peaked at #22 on the Billboard Christian Songs charts through a marketing deal with Rick Hendrix Company, and earned Brooks a 1993 GLAAD Media Award. This song was written by Brooks and Stephanie Davis.

Content

An ordinary man imagines a world where all human beings are free from earthly oppressions. Topics covered in this social commentary include: world hunger, freedom of speech, homelessness, homophobia, racism, and freedom of religion. Brooks would go on to perform this song on a 1996 episode of Muppets Tonight with The Muppets, at Equality Rocks, a gay rights march in Washington, D.C. in 2000, and at the We Are One Concert, a concert held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. during the Obama inaugural celebration in January, 2009.

Background and production

According to Brooks, he was inspired to write this song after being in Los Angeles where the ACM Awards were being held during the 1992 L.A. Riots:

"The night the riots hit we watched it all on TV on the bus leaving LA. And as you drove out of LA you could see the buildings on fire. It was pretty scary for all of us, especially a bunch of guys from Oklahoma. Ya know this is intense out here."

Garth provided the following background information on the song in the CD booklet liner notes from The Hits:

"'We Shall Be Free' is definitely and easily the most controversial song I have ever done. A song of love, a song of tolerance from someone who claims not to be a prophet but just an ordinary man. I never thought there would be any problems with this song. Sometimes the roads we take do not turn out to be the roads we envisioned them to be. All I can say about 'We Shall Be Free" is that I will stand by every line of this song as long as I live. I am very proud of it. And I am very proud of Stephanie Davis, the writer. I hope you enjoy it and see it for what it was meant to be."

Garth provided additional information in the 2019 documentary "Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On":

Garth was scheduled to sing the National Anthem at the 1993 Super Bowl and had an agreement with NBC to play the video for "We Shall Be Free" immediately after. On the day of the Super Bowl NBC network executives told Garth that the song was too controversial and they weren't going to play it. Garth refused to sing unless the video was played and left the stadium. NBC caved and agreed to play the video.

Music video

The music video for "We Shall Be Free" was directed by Timothy Miller, and premiered on CMT on January 26, 1993. The video is filled with much powerful disturbing to some imagery. The video ends with the text reading onscreen: This video is dedicated to the human spirit. Unbreakable. Relentless. Free. The music video for "We Shall Be Free" won Video of the Year at the 1993 Academy of Country Music awards.

Celebrities

In the introduction, numerous celebrities (including Brooks) are depicted in a matter of seconds and appear throughout the video. They include:

Reba McEntire – country music artist
Harry Belafonte – singer, actor, civil rights activist
Michael W. Smith – Gospel singer
Jay Leno – comedian, former host of The Tonight Show
General Colin Powell – former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, later US Secretary of State
Whoopi Goldberg – actress/comedian
Amy Grant – Christian music artist
Joan Rivers – comedian and host of The Joan Rivers Show
Craig T. Nelson – actor, star of Coach
John Elway – Broncos quarterback
Boomer Esiason – Bengals quarterback
Elizabeth Taylor – actress
Warren Moon – Oilers quarterback
Bernie Kosar – Cleveland Browns/Dallas Cowboys quarterback
Eddie Murphy – actor and comedian
Patrick Swayze – actor
Kristi Yamaguchi – Olympic figure skating champion
Burt Bacharach – pop music/jazz composer and artist
Martina Navratilova – Czech tennis star
Michael Bolton – pop music star
Paula Abdul – pop music star
Lily Tomlin – actress and comedian
Julio Iglesias – Spanish singer
Marlee Matlin – actress
Mother Teresa – nun
Martin Luther King Jr. – civil rights activist
Rodney King
Nelson Mandela

Chart positions

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)	12
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)	12

References

^ Nadine Hubbs (22 March 2014). Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music. Univ of California Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-520-28065-6.
"Gay Today: Entertainment". Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
Phillips, Chuck (September 30, 1992), "Cut To The Chase, Garth Brooks Stands Alone at No. 1", The Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on April 2, 2015, retrieved 2007-05-29. Archived from the original Archived 2012-06-21 at the Wayback Machine on 21 March 2017.
20 Protest Songs That Matter Archived 2019-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, Spinner, July 13, 2007
"Transcription from "The Garth Brooks Story" (1995)". Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
Garth Brooks - The Hits: transcription from the CD booklet (bar code 7-2438-29689-2-4)
"Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 1920." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. November 7, 1992. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
"Garth Brooks Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

v t e Garth Brooks singles
Garth Brooks	"Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" "If Tomorrow Never Comes" "Not Counting You" "The Dance"
No Fences	"Friends in Low Places" "Unanswered Prayers" "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" "The Thunder Rolls" "Wild Horses" (released in 2000)
Ropin' the Wind	"Rodeo" "Shameless" "What She's Doing Now" "Papa Loved Mama" "The River"
The Chase	"We Shall Be Free" "Somewhere Other Than the Night" "Learning to Live Again" "That Summer"
In Pieces	"Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)" "American Honky-Tonk Bar Association" "Standing Outside the Fire" "One Night a Day" "Callin' Baton Rouge" "The Red Strokes"
Fresh Horses	"She's Every Woman" "The Fever" "The Beaches of Cheyenne" "The Change" "It's Midnight Cinderella" "That Ol' Wind"
Sevens	"Longneck Bottle" "She's Gonna Make It" "Two Piña Coladas" "You Move Me" "Do What You Gotta Do" (released in 2000)
The Limited Series	"To Make You Feel My Love"
Double Live	"It's Your Song"
Scarecrow	"When You Come Back to Me Again" (released in 2000) "Wrapped Up in You" "Squeeze Me In" (with Trisha Yearwood) "Thicker Than Blood" "Why Ain't I Running"
The Lost Sessions	"Good Ride Cowboy" "Love Will Always Win"
The Ultimate Hits	"More Than a Memory" "Workin' for a Livin'" (with Huey Lewis)
Man Against Machine	"People Loving People" "Mom"
Gunslinger	"Baby, Let's Lay Down and Dance" "Ask Me How I Know"
Fun	"All Day Long" "Stronger Than Me" "Dive Bar" (with Blake Shelton) "Shallow" "That's What Cowboys Do"
Guest singles	"Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy" (with Chris LeDoux; uncredited) "In Another's Eyes" (with Trisha Yearwood) "Burnin the Roadhouse Down" (with Steve Wariner) "Where Your Road Leads" (with Trisha Yearwood) "Katie Wants a Fast One" (with Steve Wariner)
Other songs	"Hard Luck Woman" "Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy"

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