Talk:Free Bird

Dedicated to Duane Allman
The article says that they dedicated it to Duane Allman. when they played in Macon, GA in 1976 (I think it was 76), they dedicated it to Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, and Otis Redding. I don't have a reference for that, but I was there and a friend has it on tape. Bubba73 (talk), 05:12, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Power ballad?
The definition of "Free Bird" as a "power ballad" in the introduction is inconsistent with the main text, where the song is described as "half ballad, half up-tempo guitar boogie." Clearly, something that it half/half something cannot be defined only by the one half. Why not the more neutral "song"? Also, the "power ballad" entry says that "Free Bird" only "vaguely fit[s] the power ballad aesthetic."


 * I agree. Free Bird is not a power ballad and never will. I saw that information when it was there, I think that they took it out now, though. Whiffle Ball Tony 18:58, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Origin of first line
I've got the book written about the band, I can't remember the name of it, but basically the first and most definitive textual Skynyrd biography. It was said that Allen Collins' girlfriend at the time asked him the question, "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" Should this be added? & song was not written in 1973, it was recorded in 1973. It was played at high school proms before that. Before Billy Powell even joined the band, he was first noticed when setting up for a gig and played a piano intro to Free Bird, and he was in the band before 1973, so the song was at least a couple years old before it was recorded. Zchris87v 07:28, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Popular culture cliche
Would it be fair to say that yelling "Free Bird!" during concerts is an American popular culture cliche? Down here in Australia, the cliche is to yell out "play some Chisel!" If this is so, please rectify the article to mention the USA. Stuart mcmillen 05:50, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, I guess that would make sense, on account of I've never heard of Cold Chisel, so there might be some Australians who have never heard Free Bird. I mean, it is called an American classic, so do what you must. Whiffle Ball Tony 23:13, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

I,though I consider my self a LS fan. like to refer to Free Bird as the song that's playing in the waiting room to hell.To put in to perspective I was a big Eagles fan in the early 70's but would rather rip my own lungs out than hear Hotel California again. I thought it was "Whipping Post" that got yelled out regardless of the performer. I saw Jackson Browne have a little fun with it.

I think Modest Mouse's rant on live album "Baron Von Bullshit Ride Again" takes the cake here:"I know I've said this before, but the odds of us actually playing Free Bird...there are no odds, it is not gonna happen. I'll start with the first reason: we have no idea how to play Free Bird. The second reason is, in the Love Bug's natural habitat...I mean that would just fucking kill him, wouldn't it?  You wouldn't want that, I mean he's adorable.  He is cute.  Thirdly, even if some picker-diety came down from the heavens, or the hills, or wherever their deity lives and shit, and blessed us with just this vast knowledge of Free Bird, and we could play it backwards, we could sing backwards, we could do all that crazy shit...we still just wouldn't do it.  If this were the Make A Wish Foundation, and you were gonna die in 20 minutes, just long enough to play Free Bird...we still wouldn't play it. And here's the end reason, the end reason is life is too fucking short to play or hear Free Bird."

In Canada (in the Praries for sure) at punk/metal/hardcore shows (maybe other styles of music as well) you will always get someone yelling 'Slayer' as a request. The one time I heard a band oblige with a Slayer song it did not impress so I think its along the same thing as yelling Free Bird.

The musical collective Bomb the Music Industry! has a song on their first album entitled " " mp3, yes, including the quotes in the song title, on Album Minus Band, and it's obviously a reference to the cliché, just not sure where to put it/how i should put it, or if I even should at all. Anyone interested? SCC 07:34, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

I think this could be accurately described as a meme. Why not use this word? 60.240.207.146 (talk) 07:40, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Plagiarism?
Is it just me, or does a lot of this bear more than a passing resemblance to this Blender article? Shmuel 21:29, 12 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, no question that's the source of the history section. -- *Spark* 21:17, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Cars Reference
I ended up here because of the CARS film and wanted to know why the line was in there. After reading this it makes a lot more sense. I belive it is MAC, his friend, in the background shouting Free Bird to prompt Lightening into performing his contracted Rust-eze speech which he is fed of doing. So perhaps use in this context means "Perfom what is expected of you - even 'tho you hate it through over repeation."

86.29.84.232

Problem With a Link
The link for the live performance of Free Bird has been tampered with, and now the link leads to a Spanish version of the opening for Sailor Moon. Anyone care to fix this? I'm not so good with links and such, but I saw this and I thought I should mention it. Kokuha Seishin 01:09, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

guitar duel
I think someone should put up a section that talks about the 5-minute long guitar duel. I would put it up, but I'm too lazy. 71.200.98.184 18:05, 18 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I went ahead and wrote that section for you. Hope everyone enjoys it!

What type of citation do you need?
Where it is talking about "AND THIS BIRD YOU CANNOT CHANGE!" in guitar hero II, THIS IS TRUE. I'm just not sure what im supposed to do. --72.86.73.84 15:10, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree, is a screen shot needed or something? I don't think a citation is needed, ask any guitar hero player. The citation needed tag should be removed, it's in there, why would we lie?


 * There is no question of lies here. The source should be cited. In this case it should probably be the game. I am unsure how to cite games but there may be someone who has the correct format somewhere. It's just a matter of llokning for it. Candy 12:06, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Free Bird vs. Freebird
The title of the article has a space while many spellings in the article itself lack a space. If my memory serves me well, I've seen it spelt both ways on some Skynyrd albums, although the spelling with a space seems overwhelmingly prevalent. Basically, a decision needs to be made about how to spell it in the article and then make that choice be the only one used. Any thoughts?OSU871316 04:26, 28 May 2007 (UT)

It should be included in the article; I asked everyone at my school how it's spelled; a lot of people say it should be spelled "Freebird" and others "Free Bird". It's the former that should be really spelled. Whatever way Lynyrd Skynyrd spelled it first, that should be the correct spelling. 18:53, 08 June 2007 (JG)


 * No way. Asking people "at your school" is absolutely no way to do this.  I bet 3/4 would put an apostrophe in the word "its" (making it "it's") for the possessive, e.g. "The name of the song is on it's album cover.", which would be catastrophically incorrect, just as any silly claim that the song's title can be spelled "Freebird" is.  The song is entitled "Free Bird".  Any other spelling is incorrect, and propagating such an embarrassing mistake is irresponsible.  All Lynyrd Skynyrd albums and singles spell the title "Free Bird". Adding "sometimes spelled..." is just dumb.  Should we put the common misspellings of words and phrases next to every entry in Wikipedia?  "Duct tape (sometimes spelled 'duck tape')"?  "Franklin Roosevelt (sometimes spelled `Rosevelt')"?
 * — Preceding unsigned comment added by Donnymo (talk • contribs) 23:12, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

"Freebird" -> http://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/index.php?module=discography&discography_item_id=23&discography_tag=STUDIO+ALBUMS 83.36.73.26 (talk) 18:11, 28 December 2008 (UTC) rubiobarga


 * Um... The graphic on the article says "Freebird".  Do we need a new graphic? Nat (talk) 17:21, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Seriously, if the cover of the single (which is what the current graphic is) spells it as "Freebird" that should be canonical, regardless of what other versions showed up later. Since this article appears in the chronological series of Lynyrd Skynrd singles, we should evaluate the title spelling in the similar way. i.e. "Freebird (later spelled "Freebird")..." since it's really the record label that is responsible for title canonicity. Cowbert (talk) 00:30, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Quite. I've appended a comment to the first sentence drawing attention to the absurdity of calling it "Free Bird". Ericoides (talk) 16:06, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Lighter Swaying During Performance in Guitar Hero II?
I have noticed that, in the entry, it states that the crowd sways their lighters during the Free Bird performance in Guitar Hero II. However, this is only when the player's rock meter is in the green; the lighter swaying is noticable in every other encore during the beginning, as the player starts with the rock meter in the green. Metroidhunter777 01:54, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * then again does something that trivial need mentioning in the article? 67.162.10.70 15:48, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I think so. It is a very important aspect of the game and important in free bird. Someone might think we are lying to them if they play free bird on guitar hro and there is no light swaying. It would add more value to this piece.

plagiariasms (again?)
68.101.194.158 07:24, 9 July 2007 (UTC): I noticed the Pop Culture Cliche lifted the text from this article directly: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB111102511477881964-ZkAKwALO87RaHLbFJrSJSA_i9xg_20050415.html?mod=blogs

This isn't policy, is it?

Pachelbel's Canon
The harmonic structure of this song follows the ubiquitous Canon in D. 141.157.110.8 15:39, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

It doesn't. Actually, the chord progression is very different. Alvabass (talk) 02:39, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

removed text
I removed the following text from the article: Note: After playing and completing the song about 10-15 times on any difficulty, the loading screen for the song says: "You must really like Freebird." (this was in relation to Guitar Hero II) This is false. I got this message the second time I played the song.

David Stahl
The claim referring to David Stahl and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra is utterly false and meritless. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.180.8.168 (talk) 22:24, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

What About Guitar Hero II?
Just wondering, shouldn't there be even one sentence in this article stating that this song was featured in Guitar Hero II? If you need a source for that, a reliable source that mentions what songs are featured in GH2 should suffice. I don't see why it's use in a popular video game shouldn't be mentioned in the article.-- Al max  999  06:56, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Because it is called cruft..trivia (and virtual trivia at that) that doesn't lend anything to an article..it is a tangent that takes the reader off focus. The video game factoid is only relevant to a very small minority of readers and its importance falls below this article. You can mention that stuff in the articles on Guitar Hero but we don't elevate the importance of Guitar Hero by plastering factoids in any song article that they happen to use. See WP:TRIVIA. Cheers, ⋙–Berean–Hunter—►  ((⊕)) 14:27, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure how Guitar Hero has anything to do with the song, or its place in history. It seems like this is more of a trivia component than actual encyclopedic information. 68.5.247.159 (talk) 05:47, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

There should be a mention of this song being featured in Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. It shows how popular this song was and is. Why can't we include a sentence about it when many of the other songs featured in the Guitar Hero series have mentioned it in their articles. It is an important piece of information. RG104 (talk) 00:44, 3 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree as well. Placement of "Free Bird" in a notable video game like Guitar Hero should be enough to warrant a mention in the article. Since when is this not encyclopedic enough? --FlyingPenguins (talk) 08:46, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I also agree - for many people (and I'm one of them), Guitar Hero II was the first time we heard Freebird. The game made the song famous to a whole new demographic and therefore is notable enough to be mentioned in this article. Cpc464 (talk) 11:25, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

I have mentioned the song being included in the game in the Reception section. If this is not the right section to put the information in, please move it to the appropriate section. I noticed that in the edit window, there is a whole section titled Cover 'n' other versions that has been programmed to not appear in the article. The section mentions Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. I don't know why it is like that. RG104 (talk) 20:00, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Cover versions
I'm removing some of the lesser related covers from the Cover versions section. If anyone objects to this, please feel free to notify me and let me know why there is objection to this.-- Disturbed Nerd999   (Delete!)  18:45, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Song Structure section
There is a long section called "Song Structure" that has been commented out. I don't see a reason in the comments as to why it was commented out. I'm not sure if this was done on purpose, or if it was the result of vandalism. TakingUpSpace (talk) 04:38, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Bill Hicks - I'm Sorry Folks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Bird#.22Play_Free_Bird.22 might be expanded with a reference to Bill Hicks' I'm Sorry Folks bootleg: it's an old recording of a live show (Chicago 1989, it's here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4624904446100493364#). The song is mentioned and the cheering for FreeBird turns into an impromptu leitmotiv. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Burt777 (talk • contribs) 13:14, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

length of Free Bird single
I read the article and saw that the length of the song is 9 minutes 6 seconds long in the album while in the single version it's 4 minutes 41 seconds long. However, I couldn't find anything on iTunes or on YouTube of this Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird that was only a bit over four minutes long. If, however, the single is really about half the length of the actual song, someone needs to find a source for this. In addition, listening to the song itself, 4:41 is about the point where the song suddenly goes faster from a slow vocal rock ballad to a very fast instrumental rock music. November Hotel Romeo Hotel Sierra Two Zero One Zero  ✈  21:44, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

Some important (in my opinion) additional info about the song
Since I'm not sure about editing the main article page (specially about the correct way of citing the source), I'm posting here this link with some noteworthy info about the song, specially the fact that Ronnie Van Zant asked the rest of the band to add a long instrumental section for him to take a break. Someone knowledgeable about article editing, please add this info. Alvabass (talk) 03:06, 8 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I just wrote the info in as a rough opening paragraph in "Origins." BTW, in case you find it useful, I found this citation wiki-code generator at Help:Citation tools, and it works really well.  ☺ —Xyzzy☥the☥Avatar 11:59, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

Official website shows it as "Freebird"
I checked the discography at the band's website out of curiosity, and the official spelling as shown on their initial album "Pronounced..." is "Freebird" without a space, matching both the single-version cover image we're using and the decision that appears here on the talk page a few years ago. I was going to just change it, but decided to bring it up here, as I realized the page title needs to be corrected as well -- if there's no solid reason for using the inaccurate spelling, I'd vote firmly in favor of fixing the error. —Xyzzy☥the☥Avatar 09:56, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the proposal was not moved. --BDD (talk) 18:53, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Free Bird → Freebird – its the right thing to do:) ? Why http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRzEPYeoUFU#aid=P-SHZQUcK4Y 24.0.133.234 (talk) 02:34, 11 April 2014 (UTC)


 *  Support now neutral, but if moved then preferably to Freebird (song). Given that there are other uses at Freebird (disambiguation) and that it is a song. Ideally Freebird (disambiguation) would move over the base topic too. In ictu oculi (talk) 04:29, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Do you have a rationale for your support of a move to a one word title or why the song is not primary? —  AjaxSmack  02:22, 13 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, despite the 2:1 or 3:1 prevalence of the gap, the fact that the cover artwork and the derivative Freebird The Movie (no article yet) Freebird (film) etc. follow it indicates that the gap isn't needed. The issue of primary, well, if we must have a primary this would be it, but must we. In ictu oculi (talk) 04:58, 14 April 2014 (UTC)
 * hmm. Now neutral. In ictu oculi (talk) 05:21, 14 April 2014 (UTC)


 * I disagree This article about the song is certainly the superior usage of the name.  I added the pluralized version.  Several other usages of the name are in honor of the song, The Fabulous Freebirds and Freebirds World Burrito; plus there is a "stoner" movie, a "stoner" indie record label, a second rate airline and a couple of kit airplanes.  Nothing of the weight of the song.  It doesn't merit the categorized downgrade of calling it a (song) either. Trackinfo (talk) 07:42, 12 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Support as proposed because that's how the artists themselves stylized it (ngrams are inconclusive). But strong support that this is the primary topic. There are other uses but this is clearly the main one. Red Slash 18:50, 12 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Do you have any evidence that Skynyrd styled it as one word? The cover picture in the article is for a UK 12" single release as the original US single had no custom sleeve. —  AjaxSmack   02:22, 13 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Good point. Neutral except for the primary topic concern. Red Slash</b> 23:25, 13 April 2014 (UTC)


 * Oppose per WP:UCN (use common names). (Plus, there is no rationale in the nomination.)  A similar case of "Paint It Black" was discussed here and here.
 * However, unlike in that case, the current title (with two words) is far more common in primary and quality secondary sources than the single word version. Except for the sleeve pictured in the article (which was for a UK 12") and this one (also a re-release), other releases seem to all use two words including the original album's sleeve, label, and liner notes, the original single's label, other reissues such as this, this, and this.  Subsequent releases in compilation albums also use two word including Gold & Platinum, Skynyrd's Innyrds, the 20th Century Masters Series' The Best Of Lynyrd Skynyrd , and a 1994 compilation named for the song is "Free Bird - The Very Best"
 * The song charted on Billboard as "Free Bird" in both of its chart appearances and the article's source for this (Whitburn) uses the same form. Most of the article's other published sources (e.g., Guitar World and Rolling Stone) also use two words.  — <span style="border:1px solid #000073;background:#4D4DA6;padding:2px;color:#F9FFFF;text-shadow:black 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em"> AjaxSmack   02:22, 13 April 2014 (UTC)


 * Oppose as per AjaxSmack. (One might add that the song is also referred to as "Free Bird" in the credits to Freebird: The Movie.) The only rationale offered in the proposal is that somebody on YouTube uploaded a video and styled it as one word. That is not a good reason for moving a page. — Shmuel (talk) 17:12, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * You might have hit on something. The people who misuse the name in homage to the song, might just be using the slightly different spelling to avoid copyright/trademark conflict in their own entities. Trackinfo (talk) 21:42, 15 April 2014 (UTC)


 * Oppose I also agree with Ajax. He has clearly evidenced the band's usage of the name is two words, both words capitalized, on all their albums.  Who better to know how the song title was intended, than the people who wrote the song?  The other usages as one word are popularized mistakes, equivalent with generalized trademarks.  Its fine to create a redirect to the song, which already exists, because the public is confused.  We are wikipedia are supposed to be correct. Trackinfo (talk) 21:36, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Take a look at a popular film. The popular name might be Talladega Nights, we redirect users to the proper name:  Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Trackinfo (talk) 21:37, 15 April 2014 (UTC)


 * Support(ip who added request)--Adding (song) is fine with me as well, but "Free Bird" isn't right even if it were to remain-wouldn't it be Free bird?-or maybe not since it is a title. I only included the youtube link because I liked that version of the performance, not as 'evidence". This has been requested at least twice already here on the talk page by other editors (with supporting good evidence). Although I am about a hundred percent sure that Freebird is the correct usage, I am concerned about how a title move would affect the article (aside from making it correct imo), if at all, and also i looked-up page views for each version and I am curious why the incorrect version has so many more views, if that is only because it is where the article is currently located?24.0.133.234 (talk) 19:05, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

And this bɛɛɛɛɛrd you cannaught chayeeaaayngee
When this comes back up again, put me down in support of a move to the song's actual name. is to keep Bill Clinton where people are looking for him; meanwhile, when the single and the official website of the actual originating artists are spelling this "Freebird"... the name of the song is "Freebird" and "Free Bird" is just an understandable misspelling, not a replacement "common name". In any case, the phrasing of the lead should not be pretending that "Freebird" is the misspelling.

Pace Ajax, the move should be to "Freebird" tout suite. This is the and already serves as a hard redirect here; there's no competing sense deserving a dabby title.

Pace editors, it's obviously an issue. Kindly be careful not to change the usage of your sources. Someone "corrected" the WSJ article from "Freebird" to "Free Bird". Don't do that. — Llywelyn II   11:29, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

Is the outtake version a different take?
On the album "Skynyrd's Innyrds", is the "outtake version" of Free Bird actually the same take as the original album version, just with no fade-out at the end? I see an unsourced statement that it is the same take. However, the album itself says "outtake version" right in the track name.

Can anyone find an actual source? I certainly can't hear any difference, but the album says "outtake".Fluoborate (talk) 08:38, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Steve Gaines
How Steve Gaines played guitar there, when this song was recorded before he joined the band. He was absent on album with this song. 185.28.251.102 (talk) 20:52, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

Lyrics
Can there be lyrics? The article is all about the techs & specs of the song without a description of its import or lyrics. Thanks Manytexts (talk) 11:38, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Adding verbatim lyrics is a copyright violation, so the answer to that is no. If by "description of its import or lyrics" you mean your personal interpretation, no because of WP:NPOV and WP:RS. Sundayclose (talk) 13:57, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
 * So... it's not possible to give the equivalent of a plot summary? Manytexts (talk) 15:47, 31 October 2016 (UTC) By the way, I do not mean what you are saying. I've seen you do that before. I'm not saying anything about my personal interpretation, but just something so that we can identify the song as such. I came to this page from another WP article as a reader who knows nothing of this song and I am not proposing I should contribute, but that identifying the song's gist or whatever, is relevant.