Music
Free Will featured a format which divides the LP's two sides, musically. The first side is made up of five recordings done by Scott-Heron and the entire band, which once again featured Brian Jackson playing a major role as he did on the previous album, Pieces of a Man. Unlike that album, Free Will is shorter in length with tracks below the three and a half minute mark. The title track opens up the album with a meditation on personal responsibility. One of Scott-Heron's best known performances, "The Get out of the Ghetto Blues" is a moving ghetto warning and features bluesy instrumentation by pianist Brian Jackson and guitarist David Spinozza. The second side functions more as a live rap session with Brian Jackson on flute and a couple of percussionists. "Ain't No New Thing" emphasizes Scott-Heron's black pride, which he previously displayed on his debut album, by presenting an argument about the placement of black culture into the American mainstream:
We used to white people tryin' to rob us
Why don't they try stealing some of this poverty
It ain't no new thing … anything they don't understand
They try to destroy
We used to having black innovators
copied and sent back to us
We used to having people try to rob us,
it ain't no new thing
"Wiggy" is a haiku-like appreciation of natural black hair. The themes of police brutality, violence, and self-exploration are still present as they were on Scott-Heron's previous albums. "No Knock", a reference to a police policy whereby knocking is not required before entering a house, and "... And Then He Wrote Meditations", a tribute to John Coltrane, continue these themes.
The track "King Alfred Plan" treats the fictional King Alfred Plan as if it were an actual conspiracy; it is unclear whether Scott-Heron believed this.
Read more about this topic: Free Will (album)
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