| "I Wanna Be Free" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byThe Monkees | ||||
| from the albumThe Monkees | ||||
| B-side | "You Just May Be the One" | |||
| Released | May 1967 | |||
| Genre | Chamber pop[1] | |||
| Length | 2:27 | |||
| Label | RCA(Australia) Arista(Japan) | |||
| Songwriter | Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart | |||
| Producers | Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart | |||
| The Monkees singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"I Wanna Be Free" is a song written byTommy Boyce andBobby Hart that was first performed byThe Monkees and appeared on their debut albumThe Monkees in 1966. It was released as a single in some countries, reaching the Top 20 in Australia. It was also covered byThe Lettermen.
Boyce and Hart wrote "I Wanna Be Free" for the Monkees before the group was even put together.[2] Along with "(Theme from) The Monkees" and "Let's Dance On," it was one of the first songs written for the group.[2][3] It was also the only song written for the Monkees' first album which was not written under deadline pressure.[4] According toAllmusic critic Matthew Greenwald, the song was an attempt by Boyce and Hart to write a song likeThe Beatles' "Yesterday."[5] Like "Yesterday," the instrumentation for "I Wanna Be Free" incorporates astring quartet.[6][7] The instrumentation also incorporatesacoustic guitar andharpsichord.[7]Davy Jones sang the vocals.[5][7]
A faster version of the song was recorded withMicky Dolenz sharing the vocals with Jones.[7] This version appeared in the TV series and as a bonus track on some releases ofThe Monkees.[7]
The song appeared in a number of episodes ofThe Monkees TV series, including the pilot episode and "Success Story."[8] It was also included on the Monkees'debut album, in part to insure that the album included a gentle ballad.[2] Since then, it has appeared on many Monkees'compilation albums, includingColgems'The Monkees Greatest Hits,Barrel Full of Monkees,Arista Records'The Monkees Greatest Hits,Rhino Records'Greatest Hits,The Monkees Anthology andThe Best of The Monkees.[5] It also appeared on the live albumsLive 1967 andSummer 1967: The Complete U.S. Concert Recordings.[5]
Allmusic's Matthew Greenwald calls the song a "positively beautiful and wistful statement of teenage coming of age" and also praises itsmelody.[5] Greenwald also considers the song important in helping the Monkees gain a pre-teen audience, noting that Jones' "angst-filled" live performances of the song were especially effective at eliciting emotional responses from the girls in the audience.[5] Fellow Allmusic critic Tim Sendra finds the song "achingly sweet, even a little soulful in a very British way."[9]CMJ New Music Monthly author Nicole Keiper referred to the song as "heavenly."[10] However,Digital Audio and Compact Disc Review magazine referred to the song as an "inconsequential teeny ballad."[11]
According to Boyce, "I Wanna Be Free" wasJimmy Webb's favorite song and even inspired the song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," which Webb wrote forGlen Campbell and which became a top 10 hit on thecountry music charts in 1967.[12]
"I Wanna Be Free" was released as a single in some countries in 1967. It reached #17 on Australia'sGo-Set chart and #8 onBillboard Magazine's Australian "Hits of the World" charts.[13][14] The song also reached #7 in Singapore on Billboard's "Hits of the World" charts.[15]
French singerJean-Paul Vignon covered the song the same year it was first published.[16]Jimmie Rodgers covered the song in 1968, in a recording thatBillboard Magazine called "poignant ballad material...performed in first rate fashion."[17]The Lettermen covered "I Wanna Be Free" on their 1968 albumGoin' Out of My Head.[18] SongwritersTommy Boyce andBobby Hart covered the song themselves on their 1968 albumI Wonder What She's Doing Tonite?[19] The Manhattan Strings recorded an instrumental version of the song in 1967.[20] Andy Williams covered it for his 1967 LP Born Free. Ed Ames covered the song on the album "Who will Answer" (1968) with studio vocalists and musicians. The characterOmar White (portrayed by actorMichael Wright) sings the slow version of the song during a variety show in the Season 5 (2002) episode "Variety" of theHBO hit prison seriesOz.
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