‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ Is the Vintage Rock Song of the Year: Watch 5 Great Versions

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Neil Young and the Restless, which included Crazy Horse guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro, were touring America in early 1989 when a proposed cultural exchange with the Soviet Union — which would have sent the rock band into the repressive communist nation and the Russian ballet into America — fell apart.

“Neil was like, ‘Damn, I really wanted to go,'” Sampedro recalled to Rolling Stone in 2013. “I said, ‘Me too. I guess we’ll have to keep on rockin’ in the free world.’ He was like, ‘Wow, that’s a cool line.’ Then I said it again later and he said, ‘That’s a really good phrase. I wanna use it.'”

Days later, on Feb. 21, 1989, Young and the Restless debuted “Rockin’ in the Free World” during a show at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. The lyrics are deeply rooted in that exact moment in time, referencing George H.W. Bush’s “thousand points of light” speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention, Jesse Jackson’s “Keep Hope Alive” slogan from his failed attempt to secure the Democratic nomination that year, and Iran’s repeated proclamation in the Eighties that America was the “Great Satan.”

But it quickly turned into an all-purpose anthem after appearing on Young’s 1989 LP Freedom. Within just a couple of years, everyone from Pearl Jam to Van Halen was playing the song at their shows. Its popularity reached the point this summer that seemingly half the major rock acts on the road added it to their shows all at once — at a time when we’re once again in conflict with Iran, and American leadership is lacking, to put it mildly. (A very similar thing happened in 2003-04 when the entire rock world simultaneously realized that George W. Bush was the living personification of John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son” and added the CCR classic into their sets.)

Here’s a look at five different versions of “Rockin’ in the Free World” from the past couple of weeks alone, and then five of the most noteworthy versions from the past.

• Roger Daltrey (Sept. 25 at Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania)

  Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

  With a handful of exceptions like “Baba O’Riley” and “Who Are You,” Roger Daltrey is largely skipping Who songs on his summer solo tour in favor of covers like CCR’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?,” Paul Simon’s “The Boy in the Bubble,” and the Kinks’ “Days.” Near the end of every show, he’s been breaking out “Rockin’ in the Free World.” “I was listening to this Neil Young song since he does write great songs,” Daltrey told the crowd at the Parx Casino. “He’s a good singer, Neil Young, but he wrote this song that the times have caught it up. He sings it shit since he’s not a rock singer, really. He’s a kind of…I don’t know what he is. He can work on my farm any time he wants. Anyway, so I thought this could be really good if it had a bit more bite, a bit more anger.” At New York’s Town Hall two days later, he compared Young’s original version to a “wet fart.” Roger, with all due respect, and we say this with a great deal of love, we’re going to have to go ahead and disagree with you there. Perhaps you only listened to the acoustic version that kicks off Freedom. Skip ahead to track 12 for the electric one. It’s quite incredible, even if Young’s voice isn’t for everyone. But there’s nothing fart-like about it, wet or otherwise.