"Born to Be Free" is a song by Japanese rock band

X Japan was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...

, released on November 6, 2015. It reached number 21 on the

Billboard Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

. It topped the

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rock charts in France, Sweden, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan.

Background and release

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportu ...

said that he wants listeners to interpret "Born to Be Free" as a reflection of their own personal journey: "All of us are born free to dream what we want without any limits." It was recorded in

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at Yoshiki's own recording studio, which was formerly known as Larrabee East, and mixed by

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

. The song was first unveiled on July 1, 2010, at

Club Nokia Club Nokia was a mobile internet digital distribution portal, similar to an App Store, operated by Nokia to provide special offers, paid-for ringtones, picture messages and game content directly to members. Following resistance from its mobile ope ...

in Los Angeles during the filming of its music video, which took place following an acoustic set by the band. It was played live by X Japan for the next five years. The final recording made its debut as an audio stream, limited to 24-hours, on ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

''s website on October 13, 2015. The web-traffic caused the site to crash several times. "Born to Be Free" was made available for download on November 6, marking its official release. It was the second single from X Japan's unreleased album. It was used in a television commercial for the film ''

Last Knights ''Last Knights'' is a 2015 action drama film directed by Kazuaki Kiriya and written by Michael Konyves and Dove Sussman, based loosely on (and Westernizing, for the most part) the Japanese legend of the forty-seven rōnin. The film, a joint prod ...

''. In an interview with ''Metal Hammer'' on November 8, 2017, Yoshiki said that "Born to Be Free" was his favorite X Japan song. He said, "That's the song I really enjoy playing. A lot of songs like X, or Kurenai, were very hard for me to play. They're fast, and heavy. So when I'm playing, I'm enjoying them, but I'm also suffering at the same time. But 'Born To Be Free' makes me very happy."

Music videos

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

of the band performing "Born to Be Free" in front of a live audience was filmed at Club Nokia on July 1, 2010. The video was directed by Yoshiki and, with cooperation of

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

, was shot using a new prototype 3D camera in addition to regular 2D cameras. Comic book creator

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

makes a cameo appearance as

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

. The footage and music video have not yet been officially released. A second music video, created using various live footage of the band and testimonials from fans, was premiered on ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

''s website on November 19, 2015.

Personnel

X Japan * Toshi – vocals *

Sugizo , born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo care ...

– guitar, violin * Pata – guitar * Heath – bass *

– drums, piano Additional musicians and production * Katie Fitzgerald – spoken word *

– mixing

Charts

References

External links

* * {{authority control X Japan songs Songs written by Yoshiki (musician) 2015 singles English-language Japanese songs 2010 songs