Garth Brooks Debuts Never-Before-Seen Music Video for ‘We Shall Be Free’
Garth Brooks has released a never-before-seen music video for his song "We Shall Be Free." The country star debuted the clip during his Monday night (March 6) Facebook Live chat, Inside Studio G.
The newly released "We Shall Be Free" video, which readers can watch above, was originally put together for the 10th anniversary of the single's release, in 2002. The clip begins with audio and video from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and shows children in poverty, war and protests, homelessness and famine ... but it also includes celebrities such as Al Gore, Whoopi Goldberg, John Travolta, Dakota Fanning, Michael J. Fox, Jay Leno, Alex Rodriguez and more offering messages of love. The music video ends with the words "One people. One family. One world. Free."
“People have been requesting "We Shall Be Free" a lot more recently,” Brooks tells People. “Any time there is turmoil, any time there is division, we are looking for a safe place. This song is telling us, ‘We’ve all got our differences, but instead of letting it separate it, let’s revel in those differences and use them to our advantage as one.’"
Released as a single in August of 1992, Brooks co-wrote "We Shall Be Free" with Stephanie Davis after being in Los Angeles during riots in protest of the acquittal of the police officers accused of beating Rodney King. Its original music video, directed by Timothy Miller, also featured numerous celebrities and similar imagery, and won video of the Year at the 1993 ACM Awards.
“I didn’t think it would be controversial," recalls Brooks, "but when this song first came out, it was not welcomed with opened arms."
"We Shall Be Free" only reached No. 12 on the country charts -- Brooks' first single to miss the Top 10.
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