Song about the restrictions of modern life. Do money and security bring real freedom?
Uk-based male singer-songwriter
UK-based male singer-songwriter. Piano and guitar-driven songs in the Rock/Acoustic/A.C. genre.
Story behind the song
The lyrics tell us what modern everyday life can be like. I'm sure many can relate to this world. What is the meaning of true freedom? I think this song will strike a chord with many.
I've got my Tom Petty influence on this one. I've tried hard over the years to make songs simpler, use less chords. I've long admired songs where there seem to be so little to them, yet they sound so effective.
Chris and I were remarking on how the chorus starts on the same chords as the verse, how the sections roll into one another. I like the idea of singing in more of a chant too, less emphasis on flowery melody. Get the message across as simply and clearly as possible.
So with Petty in mind, on went the acoustic guitars including the gorgeous 12-string! Then I added my Chapman Stick sample for the bass, after seeing Jackson Browne do this live it was must. As the arrangement grew, I couldn't resist playing with the idea of 'Freedom' in a different context. Remember 'Free Nelson Mandela?', well I thought a bit of kalimba wouldn't go amiss, so in the spirit of Paul Simon I've made this a 21st century freedom song, for the free man in us all.
Lyrics
Chained to a desktop
Part of the machine
Key in your soul now
Wipe the memory clean
I should be grateful
There?s some money to spend
But I see the cost of livin?
When the days they won?t end
Free freedom; ?cause freedom ain?t free
But free freedom?s what I really need
Free - free - freedom; and let me be free
?Cause real freedom?s where I want to be
Chained to your partner
Till the end of time
Wake in the mornin?
Tired of all the lines
I should be grateful
It?s hell being alone
But a little piece o? Heaven
Is what I?d love to own
Chained to some morals
And genetic code
A man-made god walks
Where there?s nowhere to go
And should I be grateful
Of this hell built on Earth?
From a page or two of Heaven
Hidden in some book?s words
Wherever I look, whatever I do
The same reason keeps on shining through
There?s only one freedom and it comes from within
And the only question is when to begin?
Lyrics ? Chris Breen, November 2005
