"Freedom '90," George Michael

These days, George Michael is known more for his scandals than the massive hits he produced in the 80s and 90s.  Indeed, it’s quite easy to forget how great some of those songs were because they’re just not played as much anymore.  It’s been years since I’ve heard “Freedom ‘90” played anywhere – and then, this past weekend, I heard it blaring from a bar jukebox and I was instantly hooked back in.

I was too young at the time to know any of the behind-the-scenes politics at play in the song.  I couldn’t relate to the disillusionment Michael expresses about the music business – in particular, his solo superstardom following 1987’s Faith.  Nor could I have guessed that the song was, in many ways, a veiled coming-out for the then-closeted singer. All I knew was the song had a great hook and chorus and made lip-synching and dancing around an abandoned apartment look like a lot of fun.

Rewatching the video now, it’s interesting to see just how well it was done.  While most videos would suffer without their star, David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club) expertly directs the top supermodels of the era, bringing out sides of them we’ll probably never see again.  (When was the last time you saw Naomi Campbell genuinely smiling?)  The video itself becomes iconic through these images while simultaneously destroying the jukebox, guitar, and leather jacket from Michael’s “Faith” video.  It can all seem a bit like a first-world problem rant (“Oh, I’m so famous. Poor me!”), but the song and video together create a universally appealing anthem that remains one of the best of the early 90s.