"It's Fun to Be Free" was the ubiquitous theme song for the

World of Motion World of Motion, presented by General Motors Corporation, General Motors,"GM's World of Motion Exhibit opens in Epcot Center at the Walt Disney World Resort. Before the year is out, the one millionth visitor to the exhibit is recorded." http://ww ...

pavilion at

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

's Epcot theme park. Composed by Disney staff musician Norman "Buddy" Baker with lyrics by Xavier "X" Atencio, it is notable among Disney Theme Park music for the sheer number of variations created for the ride, and the song's infectious

earworm An earworm or brainworm, also described as sticky music or stuck song syndrome, is a Catchiness, catchy or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person's mind even after it is no longer being played or spoken about. In ...

quality.

Lyrics

The lyrics are written in verse pairs, with heavy rhyming patterns within that structure. Though they vary from version to version, the lyrics of the first and second verses, especially when they're the only verses sung, remain largely consistent.

Variations

The ride itself used a one-minute underscore loop, which plays almost uninterrupted from the beginning scenes through the present day. Over this are played harmonies and arrangements befitting different locations (e.g.

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China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and

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) and time periods (like the Wild West,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Italy, and 1960s

surf culture Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish ...

). The ride also utilized minimalistic sound effect segments, frenetic uptempo "speed tunnels", and a swelling orchestral finale. All of these were arranged by Buddy Baker. Around the pavilion, and in the World of Motion's queue, load, and unload areas played a loop of eccentric versions of "It's Fun to Be Free" punctuated by vehicle noises. Musical styles represented in this loop include

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

tack piano,

dixieland jazz Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

, Broadway showtune, 1920s

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, Copland-esque rodeo, and

kazoo The kazoo is a musical instrument that adds a ''buzzing'' timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (itself a membranophone), one of a class of instruments that modify the player's v ...

. The melody of the song also made an appearance in the Concourse Themes medley, the set of bombastic orchestra and synthesizer tunes that played around Epcot Center's entrance from 1982 to 2001.

References

Disney songs Theme music Disney theme park music Songs with music by Buddy Baker (composer) Songs with lyrics by Xavier Atencio Epcot Future World (Epcot) Songs about transport {{Disney-stub he:רוחות אפלות מצחקקות