Born Free (M.I.A. song)

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"Born Free"
Single by M.I.A.
from the album Maya
Released23 April 2010 (2010-04-23)
Recorded2009
Genre
Length4:10
9:06 (Video Version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
M.I.A. singles chronology
"Paper Planes"
(2008)
"Born Free"
(2010)
"XXXO"
(2010)
Music video
"Born Free" on Vimeo

"Born Free" is a song by English Tamil recording artist

Dave "Switch" Taylor, Alan Vega and Martin Rev
, with production by M.I.A. and Switch. The artwork for the single was released on 25 April 2010.

"Born Free" was her next release following the track "O... Saya" from the film Slumdog Millionaire and the birth of her son in 2009. The song is an organ and drum driven track based on a sample of Suicide's "Ghost Rider", and is considered more aggressive than the other songs of the album. High Contrast provided an official remix to the song. The song was praised for its lyrics and composition as statement-making and provocatively complementary to the artist's intentions for the piece, its artwork and accompanying video.

The

Tamil males by the Sri Lankan Army filmed on mobile phones in Sri Lanka, some of which had been broadcast by news outlets worldwide, inspired M.I.A.'s treatment for the film-video. The video's portrayal of military force, violence and brutality met with a positive critical reception but much controversy worldwide, including a temporary ban from YouTube in the US and UK, with some critics hailing its representation of oppression and political turmoil and others criticising the explicit material in the video. The way the film was shot and the themes it covered drew comparisons to previous works by the artist, and other writer-directors' films such as The Hurt Locker and Punishment Park. It earned a nomination for "Best Dance Video" at the 2010 UK Music Video Awards
.

"Born Free" debuted on the

UK Indie Singles Chart at number 13 despite no prior promotion for the song. NME ranked the song to be the eleventh best release of 2010 and positioned the video number thirteen on its 2011 list of the "100 Top Greatest Music Videos Ever Made". The same year, the video placed at number 2 on Time
magazine's list of the "Top 10 Controversial Music Videos" of all time.

Background

Written and produced by Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam and Dave "Switch" Taylor, "Born Free" opens with a frantic rhythm built around a sample from the song "

The Hour at the end of that year, "when Paper Planes happened, I was too busy to take note, I wasn't out there promoting it and doing any of this shit because, this 25-year-old civil war was coming to an end in my country, and I was making new understandings, new observations and new experiences that was happening to me which didn't add up to what was going on over here."[4]

Artwork

The single artwork depicts a still from mobile phone footage first obtained and broadcast by

war crimes committed in Sri Lanka
in 2009.

Composition

"Born Free" is an

electropunk and noise rock genres.[7] Carter Maness of Spinner notes that "Born Free" opens with a loose, free jazz drum-circle stomp that gathers momentum until the track explodes into a rapid-fire punk vamp with razor-saw bass tones. The song is built around the distorted synth riff from Suicide's "Ghost Rider". Consisting of echoing M.I.A. vocals, the singer's vocal style and delivery is considered more aggressive than usual and is at times reminiscent of Alan Vega's vocal delivery in "Ghost Rider".[8][9][10][11]

Lyrically, the first verse begins with the lines "Yeah man made power / Stood like a tower / Higher, higher, hello! / And the higher you go / you feel lower, Oh! / I was close to the edge / staying under cover / staying under cover / And with my nose to the ground / I found my sound" and ends with "Got myself an interview tomorrow / got myself a jacket for a dolla / ... /I don't wanna live for tomorrow / I push my luck today / I throw this shit in your face when I see ya / Cause I got something to say /" before repeating in the chorus "I was born free".[8][12] She references Utopia, Ethiopia and Slovakia in the song's second verse.[13] The song's coda sees the songwriter turn the scrutiny on herself, stating "I Don't wanna talk about money, 'cos I got it / I Don't wanna talk about hoochies, 'cos I been it / And I don't wanna be fake, but you can do it".[12]

Critical reception

universal declaration of human rights, is a kick to the gut or a wink and a nudge depending on how you look at it."[17]

Promotion, cover versions and media use

M.I.A. performing "Born Free" during the Maya Tour at the Brixton Academy in London

The song was debuted live at San Francisco's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in August 2009.[3] M.I.A. promoted the track with an appearance on the

Victoria Smith on drums and the latter with members of The Specials.[20][21]

Speaking more about touring in support of the album and the track at the

3 News at the beginning of 2011 how it felt "amazing" to perform for fans in Europe during her Maya Tour following the reaction to the video, negative press and how it "blew out of proportion" in 2010, saying "I felt that the fans that turned up to support that and support the video, they just meant more to me, and you know, it was me and my baby was on tour as well, so the whole thing was meaningful, cause they weren't just there cause they liked the shoes I was wearing in a magazine, but they were there because of a bigger reason. I think that was really important to go and see."[22]

The song has been covered by noise rock band Boogie Monster.

Example and Ed Sheeran. The song was also featured during the E3 2010 teaser trailer for Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit,[24] but it was replaced with "Tainted Love" in the YouTube version of the same trailer.[25]

Featured in the film Triangle of Sadness. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7322224/soundtrack/

Awards and accolades

"Born Free" ranked number 45 on

Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll of the top singles of 2010, and ranked number 11 on NME's list of the Top Tracks of 2010.[28] German music magazines Intro and Musikexpress placed the song at number 33 in their lists of the best singles of the year while Heineken España named "Born Free" the seventh best song released in 2010.[29] The song's music video was nominated in the category "Best Dance Video" at the 2010 UK Music Video Awards. In 2011, NME ranked the song's music video number thirteen on the list of the 100 Top Greatest Music Videos ever made. It was listed number 2 on Time's 2011 list of the "Top 10 Controversial Music Videos" ever made.[30]

Music video

The music video for "Born Free" was directed by Romain Gavras. The video, which depicts a genocide against red-haired people, was filmed in California and directed by Romain Gavras as a nine-minute short film without the prior knowledge of M.I.A.'s record labels. Several incidents relating to the extra-judicial killing of Tamil males by the Sri Lankan Army filmed on mobile phones in Sri Lanka, some of which had been broadcast by news outlets worldwide, inspired M.I.A.'s treatment for the film-video. The video's portrayal of military force, violence and brutality met with a positive critical reception but much controversy worldwide, including a ban from YouTube in the US and UK, with some critics hailing its representation of oppression and political turmoil and others criticizing the explicit material in the video. The way the film was shot and the themes it covered drew comparisons to previous works by the artist, and other writer-directors' films such as The Hurt Locker and Punishment Park. It earned a nomination for "Best Dance Video" at the 2010 UK Music Video Awards.

Credits and personnel

Source:[31]

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Swedish Singles Chart[32] 58
UK Singles Chart[33]
156
UK Indie (OCC)[34] 13

References

  1. NPR
    .
  2. ^ M.I.A [@MIAuniverse] (4 November 2010). "Born Free! No Freedom! No Free !" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^
    Rap Up
    . 18 April 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  4. ^ Stroumboulopoulos, George (Interviewer), M.I.A. (Interviewee) (15 January 2011). "M.I.A.". The Hour (TV-Series). Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 9:04 minutes in. CBC Television.
  5. Green Left
    . Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  6. ^ "S Lanka execution video 'authentic'". Al Jazeera. 19 December 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  7. ^ "The Iron Maiden". Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2015.. The Indian Express.
  8. ^ a b "M.I.A. Releases New Track, 'Born Free'". Spinner. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  9. ^ "M.I.A.: 'Born Free' – Music Singles Review". Digital Spy. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  10. ^ a b Brown, August (23 April 2010). "Snap Judgment: M.I.A. drops new track, "Born Free" (and gets Suicide paid)". Los Angeles Times. Pop & Hiss blog.
  11. ^ Farley, Christopher John (14 July 2010). "M.I.A., 'Maya': After All the Talk, What's the Music Like?". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. ^ a b "Pop & Hiss". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ "M.I.A Song Born Free Leaks". Mtv.co.uk. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  14. ^ Matthew Cole (24 April 2010). Track Review: M.I.A.'s "Born Free". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  15. ^ Levine, Nick (26 April 2010). "M.I.A.: 'Born Free'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  16. ^ Dombal, Ryan (23 April 2010). "New M.I.A.: "Born Free"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  17. ^ Douglas Haddow (1 May 2010). The real controversy of MIA's video The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  18. ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (14 July 2010). "M.I.A. brings 'Born Free' to Letterman: Awesome or irritating?". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  19. ^ Litowitz, Drew (14 July 2010). "Watch: 10 M.I.A.s Play 'Letterman' for Album Release". Spin. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  20. Pitchfork Media
    . 3 November 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  21. ^ "Video: M.I.A. makes U.K. TV debut". Rap-Up. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  22. TV3. Archived from the original
    on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  23. ^ "Boogie Monster – "Born Free" (M.I.A. cover) • Click Hear •". Exclaim.ca. 25 October 2011. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  24. ^ "Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Trailer - E3 2010". YouTube. IGN. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Need for Speed Hot Pursuit - E3 Reveal Trailer". YouTube. Electronic Arts. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  26. ^ "Best songs of 2010 | Our 50 favorite tracks of 2010, from LCD Soundsystem, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Cee Lo Green, Janelle Monae and 44 other artists (Kanye made the list twice) | Photo 1/51 | Metromix New York". Newyork.metromix.com. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  27. ^ "The Best Tracks of 2010 – Rhapsody: The Mix". Blog.rhapsody.com. 7 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2 June 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  28. ^ "New York Pazz N Jop Singles". Villagevoice.com. 28 April 1967. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  29. ^ "Die Intro Charts: Das sind die Songs des Jahres 2010: Intro Magazin" (in German). Intro.de. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  30. ^ "Top 10 Controversial Music Videos". Time. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011.
  31. M.I.A. XL Recordings. 2010.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
    )
  32. ^ M.I.A. – Born Free (Song). SwedishCharts.com. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  33. ^ Chart Log UK: New Entries Update. Zobbel.de. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  34. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7322224/soundtrack/

Further reading

External links