"I'm Free" is a song by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

written by

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

, first released as the final track on their album ''

Out of Our Heads ''Out of Our Heads'' is the third studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in two editions with different covers and track listings. In the US, London Records released it on 30 July 1965 as the band's fourth American ...

''. It was also released at the same time as a single in the US and later included on the American ''

December's Children (And Everybody's) ''December's Children (And Everybody's)'' is the fifth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1965. It is primarily compiled from different released tracks from across the band's recording career ...

'' album.

Release

The Rolling Stones recorded a re-worked acoustic version for their 1995 album '' Stripped'', and performed a live version in the 2008 film '' Shine a Light'', which was included on the accompanying

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

. The song was also performed at the free concert in Hyde Park, London, on 5 July 1969, released on the DVD ''

The Stones in the Park ''The Stones in the Park'' was a free outdoor festival held in Hyde Park on 5 July 1969, headlined by the Rolling Stones and featuring Third Ear Band, King Crimson, Screw, Alexis Korner's New Church, Family and the Battered Ornaments, in f ...

'' in 2006. In 2007, a

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed version of the original recording was used in a television commercial for the Chase Freedom credit card and in 2008 it was used in a UK commercial for a

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

SUV. The original vinyl bootleg '' Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'' included a live version recorded in Oakland, California, in November 1969. It appears on the Rolling Stones live album ''Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!'' as a re-release bonus track, following "Under My Thumb" without a break.

Music and reception

''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked "I'm Free" as the 78th greatest Rolling Stones song, saying: "A tambourine-spangled folk rocker with chime-y,

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) being the sole consisten ...

-like guitar, this offhandedly libertarian tune wasn't a big hit, but it's one of the Sixties' most pliant anthems." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' identified the song as an example of the improving songwriting of Jagger and Richards at the time, describing the song as "gleefully hymning the arrogance of youth." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as a "raunchy, hard-driving emotion-packed romancer."

Personnel

– lead vocals, backing vocals *

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

– rhythm guitar, organ *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

– bass guitar *

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

– drums * James W. Alexander – tambourine

The Soup Dragons version

Scottish alternative rock/dance band

the Soup Dragons The Soup Dragons are a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television series ''Clangers'', the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song " I'm Fre ...

rearranged the song in 1990. Their version interpolates

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

's 1969 song "Barabajagal" and contains a toasted verse by

Junior Reid Delroy "Junior" Reid (born 6 June 1963) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. From 1986 to 1988, he served as lead vocalist for the reggae band Black Uhuru on three albums: '' Brutal'' (1986), '' Positive'' (1987), and ''Black Uhuru Live i ...

. The single became the band's biggest hit, reaching the top ten in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and charted in other countries as well. The Soup Dragons' version was featured in the films '' Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even'', '' The World's End'' and ''

Renfield R. M. Renfield is a fictional character who appears in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''.

''.

Critical reception

Reviewing the single, David Giles of ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' stated that the Soup Dragons "have fashioned a thoroughly contemporary piece of music that could well pay off at a commercial level".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

Pitbull Pit bull is an umbrella term for several types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American B ...

heavily interpolated "I'm Free" in his song "Freedom" from the album ''

Climate Change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

'', which was featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the 2017 film ''

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

''. *

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

sang a special version in a TV commercial for Yves Saint Laurent 2019 (released 2021).

References

{{authority control 1965 songs 1990 singles The Rolling Stones songs The Soup Dragons songs London Records singles Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Andrew Loog Oldham