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Paul McCartney wrote an anthem after 9/11. He now won’t play it live because the message has been “hijacked”
Paul McCartney wrote “Freedom” after witnessing the 11 September attacks in New York, intending it as an uplifting song for Americans. Its message later became associated with a more forceful form of patriotism, and McCartney has said he no longer performs it live because that meaning was “hijacked”.
He first performed the song at the Concert for New York City on 20 October 2001, a benefit that raised $35 million. McCartney insisted it be added to his already completed album *Driving Rain* as an unlisted final track. The article links his later reluctance to perform it to the way patriotic feeling was used to support the US government’s wars and discourage dissent.
In short
- McCartney wrote “Freedom” after the 9/11 attacks.
- The song premiered at a New York benefit concert.
- He stopped performing it after its message was hijacked.
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The case for
McCartney’s decision can be seen as a reasonable response to a message changing in public life. He wrote “Freedom” as an expression of solidarity after a traumatic attack, but if it came to signify forceful patriotism or support for wars he did not intend to endorse, declining to perform it lets him avoid reinforcing that association.
The case against
The song’s later political associations need not erase its original meaning as an expression of grief, solidarity and resilience. Continuing to perform it could reclaim that meaning for listeners and honour the people affected by the attacks, while allowing audiences to interpret it for themselves rather than ceding it to more forceful forms of patriotism.