daily prompt · music

I Will Not Give You Up

Amy
Daily writing prompt
What does freedom mean to you?
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I like this question. Shocking right?

I’m not going to answer with a controversial response. Freedom for me has taken on a new definition since early March. I would call it unsolicited liberation. But here it is: freedom. Freedom can look like a lot of things. To me it looks like autonomy and a new start.

And I’m not going to lie, probably my first reason for liking this prompt is the song it made me think of: Freedom! ‘90 by George Michael. The song was my jam when it was released, and believe it or not I like it even more now. With life experience comes a different understanding of certain song lyrics. I can’t say I know what it’s like to be George Michael, and I know this song was for him a personal statement, but putting those two facts aside, I feel it in my gut (and I sing along) when he belts out, “I don’t belong to you, and you don’t belong to me.” That line gets me every time. When the song was first released, that line didn’t stand out to me. I was more interested in George Michael‘s take. But now that I’ve lived and experienced much more than I did when this song was released, I’m understanding his lyrics in a different way. Freedom. Yeah, yeah. You got you gotta give what you take.

Freedom! ’90

Song by George Michael

I won’t let you down
I will not give you up
Gotta have some faith in the sound
It’s the one good thing that I’ve got
I won’t let you down
So please don’t give me up
Because I would really, really love to stick around
Oh, yeah

Heaven knows I was just a young boy
Didn’t know what I wanted to be (Didn’t know what I wanted to be)
I was every little hungry schoolgirl’s pride and joy
And I guess it was enough for me (And I guess it was enough for me)

To win the race, a prettier face
Brand new clothes and a big fat place
On your rock and roll TV (Rock and roll TV)
But today the way I play the game is not the same, no way
Think I’m gonna get me some happy

I think there’s something you should know
(I think it’s time I told you so)
There’s something deep inside of me
(There’s someone else I’ve got to be)
Take back your picture in a frame
(Take back your singing in the rain)
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me, yeah yeah

Freedom (I won’t let you down)
Freedom (I will not give you up)
Freedom (Gotta have some faith in the sound)
You’ve got to give what you take (It’s the one good thing that I’ve got)
Freedom (I won’t let you down)
Freedom (So please don’t give me up)
Freedom (‘Cause I would really)
You’ve got to give what you take (really love to stick around)

Heaven knows we sure had some fun, boy
What a kick just a buddy and me (What a kick just a buddy and me)
We had every big-shot goodtime band on the run, boy
We were living in a fantasy (We were living in a fantasy)

We won the race, got out of the place
Went back home, got a brand new face for the boys on MTV (Boys on MTV)
But today the way I play the game has got to change, oh yeah
Now I’m gonna get myself happy

I think there’s something you should know
(I think it’s time I stopped the show)
There’s something deep inside of me
(There’s someone I forgot to be)
Take back your picture in a frame
(Don’t think that I’ll I be back again)
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me, yeah yeah

Freedom (I won’t let you down)
Freedom (I will not give you up)
Freedom (Gotta have some faith in the sound)
You got to give what you take
(It’s the one good thing that I’ve got)
Freedom (I won’t let you down)
Freedom (So please don’t give me up)
Freedom (‘Cause I would really)
You got to give what you take (really love to stick around)

Well, it looks like the road to heaven
But it feels like the road to hell
When I knew which side my bread was buttered
I took the knife as well
Posing for another picture
Everybody’s got to sell
But when you shake your ass
They notice fast
And some mistakes were build to last

That’s what you get
(That’s what you get)
I say that’s what you get
(I say that’s what you get for changing your mind)
That’s what you get for changing your mind
(That’s what you get)
(That’s what you get) And after all this time
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don’t belong to you
And you don’t belong to me, yeah yeah

Freedom (Oh)
Freedom
(My) Freedom
You’ve gotta give for what you take
Freedom (I’ll hold on to my)
Freedom
(My) Freedom
You got to give what, to give what, give what you take
Yeah!
You got to give what, give to what, to give

May not be what you want from me
Just the way it’s got to be
Lose the face now
I’ve got to live

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: George Michael

Freedom! ’90 lyrics © Robobuild Limited, Songtrust Blvd

Official Video
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Published by Amy

I love words. And animals. Photography and fedoras. Welcome. And stay awhile.

89 thoughts on “I Will Not Give You Up”

  1. I love that song too! Great that you found a prompt you like. I’m tempted to answer this one too, but I’d probably schedule it for sometime next week instead if I do.

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    1. lol, the video is all due to George Michael refusing to appear in the video. Instead, he cast supermodels. I thought it was quite ironic because MTV aired this video and George Michael was making a statement about MTV and the music industry.

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    1. Great song, and if you read all of the lyrics, it’s hard to pick just one that is powerful. The other one that stands out is “ when you shake your ass they notice fast, some mistakes were built to last” George Michael was a really good songwriter, now that I have some hindsight.

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      1. True. There’s so many layers and complexity in the lyrics. George was a stellar songwriter. And he had a big heart.

        Turns out after his death, that he’d donated money to random people he met throughout his life, to help them out of a rough patch or pay a loan off.

        And the best thing was, that he never talked about it. Came all out after his death, when people started to tell these stories.

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      2. I heard about that and I thought, “Now that is a great guy. To move in silence and to give back without anyone knowing is truly giving of oneself, in my humble opinion.

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  11. Might be controversial, but for me that song is about not being dependent on you partner. Someone said a marriage (partnership) should be like a basecamp, but both of you can still go off and climb your own mountian.

    ‘Freedom’ I think has a special meaning in the US. When I lived there for a year way back (Cleveland OH), it seemed to be a ‘core value’ word (as well as the notion of ‘bigger in america’) for what America was meant to be. Choosing your own path, and no-one has the right to take that away from you. I lived in the UK for 3 years, and they have more a sense of ‘justice’ and doing the right thing by others, as their civic duty. Being totally fair on others, even if that fairness is slightly harsh. But they are also a society that I think gets caught up in ‘fads’, and everyone HAS to think the same way about certain things. Maybe countries that are small do this. Imagine if the State you lived in was it’s own country with its own pride and core value. What would it be… you would be closer aligned in thought I think.

    Europeans are bit like that, what looks to me like ‘fads’, you could see it in the Netherlands at the Formula 1 Grand Prix. The entire crowd, from 5 to 70 year old’s are into the ‘rave culture’. 70yo’s dancing around pretending on some drug. To us it seems weird, but they are caught in a culture of ‘validating youth’, which is probably a good value, but maybe it gets a bit out of whack every now and then. Maybe that’s why they have so ‘free’ drug laws.

    Being Australian, it’s a bit hard for me to see from the outside (but living outside Australia and seeing this phenomenon has helped), but our core concept is more about ‘mateship’, or looking after people and being totally dependable for them. Maybe because we are so far apart and away from anything, that you really need your friends to be dependable and not let you down.

    Just thoughts, always off track a bit!

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    1. Oh, and just thinking about Australia’s value, this is why we have followed the US (and UK) into just about every war. We want to be a dependable ‘mate’, because we know that one day we will need your help also.

      So unlike George Micheals’ ‘Freedom’, we are more ‘dependent’ on others, so perhaps we are the ones without freedom.

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    2. Thanks for your comments! Very interesting interpretation. I like your interpretation of the song. Everyone has their own way of thinking about it and how it speaks to them. 😊

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  15. This is a great tune Amy!

    And the really wonderful thing about art is that I can be something very personal for its creator and yet I can still speak to other people, even if it says something different to them.

    “ all we have to do now is take these lies and make them true”

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    1. It is a great tune isn’t it, Rob?

      Yes, Art is subjective, and it fascinates me how people can interpret it different differently, and all of the interpretations make sense.

      That’s another great line. The song is filled with them, really.

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  31. Dear friend of mine who was in her upper 70s now. when she was first married and they had peonies. And she wanted to do everything just right. She’s never had such a gorgeous plan before. but it had ants and she didn’t know that the ants are what make it a beautiful plant.

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  32. I hate the fact that my response is vanished before I’m done editing. so my friend got bug spray and killed all the ants that year the bulbs never opened it’s the ass that open the bulbs by eating the wax you see. the bulbs in the ants work hand and hand to make that flower beautiful.

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    1. Yes, the ants eat the sugary sap which makes the blooms open. My mom taught me that from a young age. Nature works together. People are the ones who mess it all up.

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