What can you get for free these days?

Depending on whether we mean "no cost" as in free gratis or "unrestricted", "liberated" or even "absence of" (as in sugar free), the word free can mean different things to everyone and in different contexts. There's no such thing as a free lunch, was once a popular expression meaning nothing comes for free or that there are hidden costs to things, which might not always be financial.

The term "FREE" is often misused in advertising which can lead to the public being misled, when something is being sold and things are described as being 'free' that usage of free should be replaced with 'included', i.e. the cost of the free item is absorbed or allocated elsewhere. FREE is shorter and catches people's attention as something free seems to be a bit of a bonus or give a feelgood factor. However, it can also leave people thinking 'what's the catch?', as we are trained by life to be synical and never expect a free lunch or other freebie to come without a cost to someone.

Enough philosophising about terminology. Let's consider some freechoice song choices which incorporate free in the lyrical content. Most of these are likely to be on the unrestricted, liberated side of free than the no-cost side of things.

1. Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World


Clearly not referring to the world where everything costs nowt.

2. R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe

I used to ponder this one and wonder if it was refering to the absence of cost, restrictions or absence of radio itself.

3. The Soup Dragons - I'm Free

Although originally released by the Rolling Stones, I personally became aware of the cover version first - so for me this is the seminal version.

4. Tom Petty - Free Fallin'


Just being Petty so Tom is.

5. Free - Free Me
For a free overload, the act is called Free and the track is called Free Me. Better known for the track Alright Now, this one is a bet less catchy by full of free.

6. Kenny Loggins - I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)
Delving into the depths, I discovered this track from the 1980s most prolific sound track adorning cheese machine. I hadn't heard it before. Not sure what I think about this track.


All of the above was brought to you for free by me. We'll see in the future if the links are still working then we will still be free to watch it otherwise the page may be music-free instead of having free music. You are now free to leave this page. 

As someone who used to pronounce the number 3 in the same way as free, this page is somewhat a catharsis for the author.