"Wasn't Born to Follow", also known as "I Wasn't Born to Follow", is a song written by

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

. Goffin wrote the lyrics and King provided the music. The song was first recorded by

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

on their 1968 album, ''

The Notorious Byrd Brothers ''The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' is the fifth album by the American rock band the Byrds, and was released in January 1968, on Columbia Records. The album represents the pinnacle of the Byrds' late-‘60s musical experimentation, with the band blen ...

''. King's short-lived band the City also recorded the song for their 1968 album, '' Now That Everything's Been Said''. It has also been covered by many other artists, including

the Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

the Lemon Pipers The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s American psychedelic rock band from Oxford, Ohio, United States, known chiefly for their song " Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968. The song has been credited as being the first bub ...

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...

, and as a solo recording by King. The Byrds recording was featured in the 1969 film ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

'' and was released as a single in the UK and Germany in the same year as a result.

Lyrics and music

The lyrics of "Wasn't Born to Follow" celebrate the freedom that

hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

enjoyed in the late 1960s. They express the need for escape and independence. Music critic

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

describes the lyrics as an "evocation of pastoral freedom and the implicit desire to escape from the restrictions of conventional society." Music professor James E. Perone describes the singer as "a rugged individualist at one with nature." The song uses a

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

melody, which Perone regards as an authentic contribution to the country rock genre that was just getting started in the late 1960s.

The Byrds version

Byrds producer

Gary Usher Gary Lee Usher (December 14, 1938 – May 25, 1990) was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale. Usher also produced fict ...

acquired "Wasn't Born to Follow" before it was released or recorded by anyone else through his connections at the

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

production company and his personal acquaintance with Carole King. The Byrds recorded the song on November 30, 1967, as one of the last songs recorded in the sessions for ''The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' album. The band's lead guitarist

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a ...

sings the lead vocal, and the band are augmented by

Red Rhodes Orville J. Rhodes, better known as Red Rhodes or O. J. Rhodes (December 30, 1930 – August 20, 1995), was an American pedal steel guitarist. His mother taught him to play the Dobro at the age of five, but at the age of fifteen he switched to ...

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

and

Clarence White Clarence White (born Clarence Joseph LeBlanc; June 7, 1944 – July 15, 1973) was an American bluegrass and country guitarist and singer. He is best known as a member of the bluegrass ensemble the Kentucky Colonels and the rock band the Byrds, ...

on guitar. As Byrds' drummer Michael Clarke had left the group during the recording of the album, Jim Gordon, who also performed on the City's version, plays drums. The album recording ends with the sound of a door slamming. Rogan points out that the Byrds revamped King's melody and also added some "starting" effects, including the juxtaposition of White's country-style guitar playing and "a cascade of exotic phrasing." According to

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Thomas Ward, the Byrds play the song "with supreme modesty" in recognition of "beauty of the purest forms of American music." Perone regards the Byrds' recording as the "definitive version of the song." Perone suggests that "Wasn't Born to Follow" takes on extra poignancy on the album due to its placement right after the anti-military draft song "Draft Morning," suggesting that "the singer was not born to follow the sheep (draftees) into slaughter." While McGuinn was writing the theme song for the film ''

'', its star and producer

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

also wanted to include two songs from ''The Notorious Byrd Brothers'' in the film ("Wasn't Born to Follow" and "Draft Morning"). In the end, only "Wasn't Born to Follow" was used, accompanying the two bikers riding through the mountains and taking a hitchhiker to a commune. The song was used in the film to express "the search for America."

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

in the United Kingdom took advantage of the song's prominent use in the film and released "Wasn't Born to Follow" as a single on September 26, 1969, in the unfulfilled hope of scoring a fluke hit. It was also issued as a single in Germany. "Wasn't Born to Follow" was not released as the A-side of a single in the U.S., but it did appear on the B-side of some copies of the single release of the title song from the film, "

Ballad of Easy Rider "Ballad of Easy Rider" is a song written by Roger McGuinn, with input from Bob Dylan (although Dylan is not credited as a co-writer), for the 1969 film, ''Easy Rider''. The song was initially released in August 1969 on the ''Easy Rider'' soundt ...

Other versions

The City recorded the song under the title "I Wasn't Born to Follow" for their 1968 album '' Now That Everything's Been Said''. King sang the lead vocals and played keyboards.

Danny Kortchmar Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, ...

played guitar,

Charles Larkey Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

played bass and Gordon played drums with

Lou Adler Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of iconic musical artists, including The Grass Ro ...

producing. The City's version is longer and more meandering than the Byrds' version. Perone describes some of King's piano playing as

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-influenced." According to

critic Tim Sendra, as a vocalist King is "able to wrench all the emotions she can ... with her expressive amateurism." King recorded a solo version of "Wasn't Born to Follow" for her 1980 album '' Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King''. Perone describes this version as being more country music influenced than either the Byrds' or the City's versions. Perone also praises her multitracked vocal harmonies. The

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

band

recorded "Wasn't Born to Follow" on their 1968 album, ''Jungle Marmalade''.

recorded the song during the sessions for her ''

See All Her Faces ''See All Her Faces'' is the seventh studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, originally released on the Philips Records label in 1972. It contains a mixture of tracks from different recording sessions; some tracks were recorded with Jeff Barr ...

'' album, although it was not included on that LP and had to wait until the 1990s to be released on

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s. Paul Howes and

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

describe Springfield's version as being similar to King's, with its "undulating rhythm and urgent delivery." But they note that she changes the gender of the pronouns of the final verse from female to male.

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

covered the song on their 2016 album ''

Good Times! ''Good Times!'' is the twelfth studio album by American pop rock band the Monkees. Produced mainly by Adam Schlesinger (with some additional bonus tracks produced by Andrew Sandoval), the album was recorded to commemorate the band's 50th anniversa ...

'' in a version that Will Hodgkinson of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' said "rolls along with mellow ease." The recording was begun in 1968 and completed in 2016. English singer-songwriter

Beth Orton Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician, known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall, ...

included a cover of the song as one of three bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of her fifth studio release ''

Sugaring Season ''Sugaring Season'' is English singer-songwriter Beth Orton's fifth studio album, her first new work for six years. It was recorded in Portland, Oregon at the studio of producer Tucker Martine. It is her first release for the ANTI- record label ...

'', from 2012. American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...

released a cover of "Wasn't Born to Follow" as a single in August 2020.

References

{{Carole King The Byrds songs Carole King songs Songs with lyrics by Gerry Goffin Songs written by Carole King 1967 songs 1969 singles CBS Records singles Song recordings produced by Gary Usher Song recordings produced by Lou Adler Dusty Springfield songs The Monkees songs Songs about freedom