By Mike Sain't Louis ·
Free Britney: a respectful tribute to the princess of pop
A whole generation grew up dancing to her songs. And almost nobody stopped to think about what was behind the spotlights. Free Britney is born from that question.
The song looks at Britney Spears as a girl trapped behind the lights. Someone who only wanted to dance, who became the voice of millions of teenagers and who, as the song sees it, was silenced for something as simple as being too human. For making mistakes, for being sad, for not being the perfect doll the show demanded.
I think it's very important to say where it comes from: respect. No mockery, no morbid curiosity. There's admiration for someone who survived the show itself, and also pain for everything that was demanded of her.
Freedom as a necessity
The idea holding the song up is that freedom isn't a luxury. It's survival. It may sound like a big phrase, but anyone who has lived under other people's control, or under the constant gaze of others, knows it's literal. Without freedom there's no life, only performance.
For many queer people, Britney was much more than a pop star. She was a refuge, she was choreography in the bedroom, she was the soundtrack to being different at school. That's why this tribute touches me so closely. There's something many of us recognise: being judged in public for being who you are.
The title takes up the cry that so many fans shared and turns it into a song. Because freedom, and this is the idea I like most in the whole track, can also be pop.
Listen to it loud and think of all the times someone decided for you what you could or couldn't do.
Dedicated to Britney, with affection and respect. And to all the girls who just wanted to dance.