"Rockin' in the Free World" is a song by Canadian-American singer, musician and songwriter Neil Young, released on Young's seventeenth studio album Freedom (1989). Two versions of the song bookend the album, similarly to "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" from Young's Rust Never Sleeps album, one of which is performed with a predominantly acoustic arrangement, and the other predominantly electric. Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Rockin' In the Free World" number 214 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"
Context
Young wrote the song while on tour with his band The Restless in February 1989. He learned that a planned concert tour to the Soviet Union was not going to happen and his guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro said "we'll have to keep on rockin' in the free world". The phrase struck Young, who thought it could be the hook in a song about "stuff going on with the Ayatollah and all this turmoil in the world.” He had the lyrics the next day.
The lyrics criticize the George H. W. Bush administration, then in its first month, quoting Bush's famous "thousand points of light" remark from his 1989 inaugural address and his 1988 presidential campaign promise for America to become a "kinder, gentler nation". The song also refers to Ayatollah Khomeini's proclamation that the United States was the "Great Satan" and Jesse Jackson's 1988 campaign slogan, "Keep hope alive". The song was first performed live on February 21, 1989, in Seattle with The Restless, without the band having rehearsed it.
The song is included on Young's Greatest Hits (2004) release. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Saturday Night Live
Young would perform the song live in September 1989 for the television show Saturday Night Live. For the performance, Young played with Poncho Sampedro, Charley Drayton and Steve Jordan. In concert, Young would typically play the song well into the set, when the band's energy is at a high. To achieve the same level of energy, Young worked out with his trainer 30 minutes prior to the performance. He explained to author Jimmy McDonough:
Comedian Dennis Miller would later say that "Rockin' in the Free World" was the single greatest performance on the show in its history.
Charts
Cover versions
"Rockin' in the Free World" has been recorded by numerous other artists. A version by The Alarm appears on their album Raw (1991). Pearl Jam, joined by Neil Young, performed the song at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards and has frequently performed it live in concert. Suzi Quatro covered it on her 2005 album Back To The Drive. It was also done by Swiss hard rock band Krokus on their 2017 covers collection Big Rocks. Roots rock duo Larkin Poe released a cover on their 2020 album Kindred Spirits. American nu metal band Soil released a cover in 2022. Numerous bands and artists have covered this song live including: Simple Minds, Bon Jovi, Joe Satriani among others.
Use of the song in US politics
An edited cut of the electric version of the song was used over the final credits of Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 and the song was re-released as a single at the time of the film's release.
Since its release the song has been used a number of times at different US political events.
In 2015 and 2016, the song was played during Donald Trump's grand entry preceding his formal announcement that he would run as a Republican candidate for the 2016 presidency. Young, a longtime supporter of Bernie Sanders, said that Trump's use of "Rockin' in the Free World" was not authorized. The contention, later determined to be a licensing issue, was resolved, and Trump's campaign used the song. Young explained to Rolling Stone that he had no issue with the campaign using the song.
Bernie Sanders also used the song at rallies for his 2016 presidential campaign.