1994 single by Rage Against the Machine
| "Freedom" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Rage Against the Machine | ||||
| from the album Rage Against the Machine | ||||
| Released | August 23, 1994 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 6:06 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Tim Commerford, Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Brad Wilk | |||
| Producer(s) | Garth "GGGarth" Richardson, Rage Against the Machine | |||
| Rage Against the Machine singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Freedom" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released as the fourth and final single from their self-titled album in 1994.
Music video
The video for "Freedom" was directed by Peter Christopherson and produced by Fiz Oliver at Squeak Pictures. It premiered on MTV's 120 Minutes on December 19, 1993. According to CVC Broadcast & Cable Top 50 chart, "Freedom" was the Number 1 promo in January 1994.
Synopsis
The video is focused on the case for Leonard Peltier, who was one of the leaders of the American Indian Movement (AIM). The band is performing live in a small venue throughout the video. During the video, footage from the Peltier case is examined and detailed with shots of Peltier and other members of AIM. There is also a reenactment of what took place on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The footage of this reenactment is from Michael Apted's 1992 documentary Incident at Oglala.
During most of the video, quotes from Sitting Bull and general AIM information taken from Peter Matthiessen's 1983 study of the Peltier case, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, scroll along the bottom of the screen. The video ends with a plea for Peltier to be released, followed by picture of Peltier in prison and the phrase "justice has not been done".
Over 30 years after this video, Joe Biden answered the band's plea by commuting Peltier's sentence from life imprisonment to home confinement during the second inauguration of Donald Trump as President on January 20, 2025.
Track listing
- "Freedom"
- "Freedom" (Live)
- "Take the Power Back" (Live)
References
- "Bio". Rage Against The Machine Official Site. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
- Blistein, Jon (January 21, 2025). "Rage Against the Machine Celebrate Leonard Peltier's Freedom". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
See also
| Rage Against the Machine | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | |
| Live albums | |
| Demo albums | |
| Video albums | |
| Singles | |
| Other songs | |
| Concert tours | |
| Related articles | |