#and out dance track‚ it's also perhaps the most openly and brazenly personal track‚ at least lyrically. on one level GM was making his
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Infinite list of favourite lyrics: 212/?
George Michael - Freedom! '90 (1990)
"But today the way I play the game
Is not the same, no way;
Think I'm gonna get myself 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."
#favourite lyrics#george michael#freedom!#freedom! '90#1990#listen without prejudice vol. 1#known variously as just Freedom! or with the '90 addition to differentiate it from the Wham track by the same title#an absolute anthem from Michael which became one of his signature tracks in live performance (he'd perform it at the 2012 Olympic closing#ceremony‚ among other high profile moments). the third single from Listen Without Prejudice‚ the song is an outlier on that album#there's a lot to take into account contextually here so forgive me if i go off a little. in 1990 George was still (as unlikely as it may#seem in 2022) publicly recognised as a straight pop idol and sex idol for teen girls everywhere. although his homosexuality was well known#in the industry he wouldn't be outed until the end of the decade (against his choice). privately tho here was a gay man dealing with the#fallout of the AIDS epidemic‚ still at its height. he was losing friends and colleagues. the following year he'd meet Anselmo Feleppa and#fall in love; the next year Feleppa would discover he was HIV positive‚ and the year after that he would die. these were dark‚ awful times#and gay culture was reflecting that. after the pop disco triumph of 1987's Faith‚ Listen was a sombre reckoning with modern life‚ with the#state of George's career‚ with his conflict over his personal life and his fears and guilt around AIDS and the rock star life he'd been#living. the album is a stripped down largely acoustic affair which reflected the artist's subdued mood; Freedom is the exception. an out#and out dance track‚ it's also perhaps the most openly and brazenly personal track‚ at least lyrically. on one level GM was making his#statement on his future and his art: Wham was dead‚ the easy pop rocker was dead‚ George Michael was here to stay. with barbed shots at MTV#and a pointed message to the mourning Wham fans to get over it and move on‚ this is a mission statement and a fuck you rolled into one#you don't like it? i don't care. this is me‚ sings George‚ and I want to be me. it's also very much a coming out song only a coming out#song that works in secret; again‚ publicly‚ GM was straight. it's hard not to be moved by his lyrics ('I think it's time I told you so') as#he nakedly equates honesty with happiness; he talks about the early years ('I guess it was good enough for me') but also his need to move#forwards; a very literal and metaphorical change of outfits. there's no direct allusion to his sexuality but the hints are there#('the way i play the game is not the same'). it's a powerful‚ deeply personal assertion of self‚ and all the sadder for the fact that it#couldn't (or wouldn't) be the whole truth. lyrically GM keeps a tightly wound rhyme scheme that at times becomes almost hypnotically#rhythmic ('toDAY the WAY i PLAY the GAME is not the SAME') and take on an almost prayer like chant quality. George wrote and produced the#entire album almost single handed and never was his wealth of talent or breadth of ability clearer. this was an artist at their very prime#who nonetheless was struggling with issues of identity and personality and place within popular culture; but who translated all that doubt#and pain and worry into one of the best albums and one of the all time greatest queer anthems of a generation. rip George.
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