"That devil that brought this hard luck to me
is gone, he's vanished like foam on the sea
like a dream that dissolves at the dawning of day
he's gone- the delusion is fading away!
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And I'm Free, I'm Free- I've broken the chains!
maybe you had me but never again
And I'm Free, I'm Free- I've broken the chains!
maybe you had me but never again !!
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He had me thinkin' that he is so real,
and I could thank him for the way that I feel
bound by beliefs while I think I am-
he's only a shadow and I'm more than a man
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He had me feeling so lonesome and blue,
but I could blame him for the things that I do
no longer chained to his ego and greed
stop from my wantin' and now I'm free..
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shadows must take their place in the night
darkness must flee from the face of the light
look to the LIGHT and the shadows will flee
change how I'm thinkin' and now I'm free
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no one must tell the sun to be bright
snow geese don't bathe to turn themselves white
reach in the river and that's how I AM-
the first of what is and the last of what's been
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the face in the mirror that I thought was mine
is only a screen to project the divine
that fallen angel cast down from above
got trapped in this image to learn about Love"
The first version I heard of "I'm Free,I'm Free" was on a scratchy old 78 rpm 'Uncle' Dave Macon record entitled "I'm Free, I'm Free, I've Broken The Chains". I fell in love with the melody and what I could make out
of the words- which besides the chorus wasn't much. I wanted very much to include it on a project like
"A Touch of The Past" or "A Glad Reunion Day" . After months of unsuccessfully struggling to understand
the words, I took the record to John Hartford's house to see if he could understand any of it. He didn't have
much more luck with it than I'd had, but a solution came completely natural to him, and was simple and logical;
if I liked the song that much- I should just write my own song based on the melody and use the parts of the original version that I could discern and relate to- a totally far-fetched and unthinkable approach for me at the time...
I contacted the great scholar Charles Wolfe to see if he knew the words. He was in the process of compiling materials for the book he was writing that now accompanies the 'Uncle' Dave Macon box set on Bear Family records- a magnificent, meticulously researched and compiled work (as is everything Mr. Wolfe
has had a hand in). At the time he hadn't been able to decipher the words either, nor did he know anything about
the origin or authorship of the song. (in classic Charles Wolfe style and with the help of a newly discovered acetate he was eventually able to make a transcription of the words, and they appear in the aforementioned book)..
As a result of the experience described on the "If I Be Lifted Up" page a few years later- I determined that
it was beneficial for me to rid myself of some personal possessions that, in my mind at the time, I had become
too attached to and were in some way an impediment to some peace of mind and freedom I was craving;
among the things I felt had to go was the record collection I had been assembling for years....
"I'm Free, I'm Free, I've Broken the Chains" gradually slipped deeper and deeper into the back of my mind
and soon was forgotten..
Just about the time we were celebrating John Hartford's amazing life with an incredible funeral my Dad was diagnosed with cancer, and soon I moved back to Kannapolis to be with my family. After living in Nashville
for so long it was strange being back home again. One of the strangest things about it was that I was suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to write; it became like a bodily function that had to be attended to- it wasn't a
matter of wanting to; it was something I had to do...
Thoughts, poems and songs magically and wonderfully began appearing- lots of words, sometimes words
with a melody. Among the first to reveal itself was "I'm Free, I'm Free", which had miraculously survived amid
all the deteriorating brain cells and made it's way to the light of a new day complete with totally new verses
that I had no trouble whatsoever understanding and writing down.
Our version is melodically nearly identical to 'Uncle Dave's' version, and there are a couple of lines the two versions share in the chorus. What a relief and joy it is after all these years to finally know and be able to
share this old/new song here now.....
