Freedom Cadence
2017 · Not On Label none · Freehold, New Jersey
- Artist
- Bruce Springsteen
- Title
- Freedom Cadence
- Release
- Thank You for Your Service (film, 2017)
- Year
- 2017
- Label
- Not On Label # none
- Format
- Unreleased · Unreleased
- Language
- English
- Country
- Freehold, New Jersey, USA
- Songwriter
- Bruce Springsteen (adapted from the cadence "Some Say Freedom Is Free", Roger L. Southard)
- Genre
- Rock · Americana
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation — Bruce Springsteen Songs
The song "Freedom Cadence" written by Springsteen for the 2017 film Thank You for Your Service - about Iraq War veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event. It's apparently an adaptation of a marching cadence called "Some Say Freedom is Free", credited to Private First Class Roger L. Southard.1 It played over the film's closing credits. It presented a patriotic perspective, with the narrator arguing that "freedom is won through the barrel of a gun". It noted that he "had a brother in Iraq, he didn't come back... daddy died in Vietnam, he was killed at Khe Sahn" - another example of Vietnam being used as the key reference point for comparison in contemporary songs about war. Sources1Springsteen Lyrics: Freedom Cadence↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree I say freedom is won through the barrel of a gun Had a brother in Iraq, he didn't come back I ask why oh why do soldiers gotta die Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree I say freedom is won through the blood of someone's son Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree I say freedom is won through the barrel of a gun
Notes
Written for the film "Thank You for Your Service" (2017), played over the closing credits; adapted from the marching cadence "Some Say Freedom Is Free". No record release found on Discogs.
About the artist
Born Freehold, New Jersey, USA (23 September 1949). Currently Rumson, New Jersey.
Themes
Iraq War · K.I.A. · Khe Sanh · Patriotic · Family Vet