Get Free
| "Get Free" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Vines | ||||
| from the album Highly Evolved | ||||
| Released | 17 June 2002 | |||
| Format | single | |||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, garage punk, post-grunge, punk rock | |||
| Length | 2:06 | |||
| Label | EMI/Capitol Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Craig Nicholls | |||
| Producer(s) | Rob Schnapf | |||
| The Vines singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Get Free" is a song by the garage rock band The Vines from their debut album Highly Evolved. The song was released in late 2002, and remains the Vines' highest charting single (#7 Billboard Modern Rock, #24 UK Singles Chart).[1] The song was written by Vines' frontman Craig Nicholls. It was covered by "Weird Al" Yankovic in his polka medley "Angry White Boy Polka" from his 2003 album Poodle Hat. It was featured in the pilot episodes of Fastlane and Shameless, as well as the 2006 movie School for Scoundrels. The song can be heard in several video games including the introduction video for Topspin, the Nintendo DS version of Band Hero and as a playable track on Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. "Get Free" along with "Ride" appeared in the documentary Warren Miller's Impact.
CD Single track list
- "Get Free" (02:06)
- "Down at the Club (Zen Demo)" (02:54)
- "Hot Leather (Zen Demo)" (01:57)
7" Vinyl track list
- "Get Free" (02:06)
- "Blues Riff (Zen Demo)" (03:43)
Song
Whereas previous Vines songs were driven by chord structure riffs, this one has Nicholls strumming the 5th and 3rd frets for the main riff. The song opens with the resounding riff, a drum-build up and then the song breaks in. However, the song does not follow a verse-chorus-verse structure, going from verse-chorus-solo-verse-bridge-middle-verse-chorus. Get Free was playing at the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Music videos
"We got these dirt bombs in our hair. It was like, whoa. I mean, I thought I didn't want to be a rock star before, but when I did that video and the explosions were going off, something inside me just [changed]."
—Craig Nicholls on the making of Get Free Music Video[2]
There were two promotional videos shot for "Get Free". The more commonly known music video, directed by Roman Coppola, shows the band standing, surrounded by huge spotlights, on a hill with a lightning storm brewing above. As the video develops, lightning bolts begin to strike the ground with increasing intensity. Eventually, during the final chorus, lightning strikes the drummer Hamish Rosser's cymbal, bassist Patrick Matthews and then Nicholls sending Matthews and Nicholls flying in different directions while the drummer sits behind his set.
Live performances
There have been vast numbers of 'Get Free' live performances, though the most infamous was on a 2002 Late Show with David Letterman on which Nicholls came on stage and performed under the influence of marijuana. During the solo, Nicholls rolled around on the floor with feedback squealing out from his guitar, causing the instrument to detune. At the climax of the show, Nicholls jumped onto drummer Hamish Rosser's kit, dismantled it (much to Rosser's dismay) before tumbling over an amp, grabbing the mic and doing a long, loud 'Whoooooooo!' as Rosser and bassist Patrick Matthews left the stage. He then tumbled offstage. A similar incident occurred early the following year on Australian show Rove, as well as, during a performance in the Seattle Paramount Theater.
Awards and accolades
"Get Free" was nominated several times for awards in 2002 and 2003. It won Best Song at the NME Awards 2003. It was ranked at No 10 on the NME's best songs of 2002 as well as No 49 on Kerrang's chart of Moshpit Kings.