{"id":8403,"date":"2019-04-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=8403"},"modified":"2020-12-10T07:52:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T15:52:35","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-cover-me-freedom-cadence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/15\/roll-of-the-dice-cover-me-freedom-cadence\/","title":{"rendered":"Roll of the Dice\/Cover Me: Freedom Cadence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Some Say Freedom is Free&#8221; is a soldier&#8217;s marching cadence originally credited to Private First Class Roger L. Southard. With each generation, the cadence is passed down, its lyrics altered and (tragically) updated with each successive war.<\/p>\n<p>Search the Internet and you&#8217;ll find dozens of examples, like at the 3:52 mark below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8TsYsnsQIQo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>In 2017, Jason Hall wrote and directed a movie about Iraq War veterans suffering from PTSD. The movie was based on and shares its name with a book by David Finkel, <em>Thank You For Your Service,<\/em> based on the true experiences of Staff Sergeant Adam Schumann.<\/p>\n<p>While making the movie, Schumann recalled and recounted the cadence he&#8217;d sung in bootcamp, and producer Jon Kilik recorded it on his phone. Jon played it for his friend Bruce Springsteen, who loved both the cadence and the movie.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce asked Jon for the recording of the cadence, and asked Jon and Schumann to come and see him.<\/p>\n<p>They did, and that&#8217;s how Schumann ended up providing backing vocals (along with Kilik) on Bruce&#8217;s recording of &#8220;Freedom Cadence,&#8221; which played over the end credits of the film upon its release.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce didn&#8217;t alter the melody one bit, but he arranged it for pump organ and banjo, anchoring the song in its history, while carrying it forward through Ron Aniello&#8217;s drum loops and electric keyboards.<\/p>\n<p>The result is captivating and haunting:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4zwkklT8sR4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>In time-honored fashion, Bruce did adapt the lyrics however, and he did so with callbacks to &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/21\/roll-of-the-dice-born-in-the-u-s-a\/\">Born in the U.S.A.<\/a>&#8221; that can&#8217;t be accidental:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I say freedom is won through the barrel of a gun<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Had a brother in Iraq, he didn&#8217;t come back<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I ask why oh why do soldiers gotta die<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I say freedom is won through the blood of someone&#8217;s son<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I say freedom is won through the barrel of a gun<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Daddy died in Vietnam, he was killed at Khe Sanh<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I ask why oh why do soldiers gotta die<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I say freedom is won through the blood of someone&#8217;s son<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Some say freedom is free, but I tend to disagree<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I say freedom is won through the barrel of a gun<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Had a brother in Iraq, he didn&#8217;t come back<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I ask why oh why do soldiers gotta die<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The reference to a brother who didn&#8217;t come back, to a father who was killed at Khe Sanh&#8211;one can almost imagine the song is being sung by the son of the brother left in Khe Sanh in &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/21\/roll-of-the-dice-born-in-the-u-s-a\/\">Born in the U.S.A.<\/a>,&#8221; providing a through line that reminds us of our lasting duty to those who sacrifice for our freedom.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Freedom Cadence<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Recorded:<\/strong> 2017<br \/>\n<strong>Released:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Thank You For Your Service<\/em> (2017)<br \/>\n<strong>Never performed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Looking for your favorite Bruce song? Check our <a href=\"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/roll-of-the-dice-album-by-album\/\">full index<\/a>. New entries every week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part cover, part adaptation, part tribute, part reminder: Bruce&#8217;s &#8220;Freedom Cadence&#8221; connects the dots from &#8220;Born in the U.S.A.&#8217;s&#8221; Vietnam vet to today&#8217;s Iraq war veterans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2311,2313,2312],"class_list":["post-8403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-me","category-roll-of-the-dice","tag-freedom-cadence","tag-some-say-freedom-is-free","tag-thank-you-for-your-service"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/thankyou.png?fit=1080%2C793&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-2bx","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/05\/is-there-anybody-alive-out-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":8403,"position":0},"title":"&#8220;Is there anybody alive out there?!?&#8221;","author":"Ken","date":"January 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome! Let's get this out of the way: yes, this is yet\u00a0another Bruce Springsteen blog. Does the world really need any more of them? Probably not. So why am I writing this one?\u00a0 Mostly as an outlet for my own views and an opportunity to do some writing. I'm a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Bruce-Angry.jpg?fit=500%2C338&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42140,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/20\/roll-of-the-dice-rocky-ground\/","url_meta":{"origin":8403,"position":1},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Rocky Ground","author":"Ken","date":"March 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Rocky Ground\" may be wrapped in gospel trappings, but its themes are as Springsteenian as anything on Darkness on the Edge of Town.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/rocky.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/rocky.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/rocky.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/rocky.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/rocky.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5741,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/15\/roll-of-the-dice-everybody-wants-my-baby\/","url_meta":{"origin":8403,"position":2},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Everybody Wants My Baby","author":"Ken","date":"November 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Everybody Wants My Baby\" was on its way to being an edgy uptempo rocker before it went missing in action. Listen to a pretty well-formed demo inside.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mybaby.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mybaby.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mybaby.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mybaby.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/mybaby.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17359,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/15\/roll-of-the-dice-real-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":8403,"position":3},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Real Man","author":"Ken","date":"April 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In which we ask the question: is there any redeeming virtue in this widely scorned deep cut?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RealMan.jpg?fit=550%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RealMan.jpg?fit=550%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/RealMan.jpg?fit=550%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3131,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/18\/roll-of-the-dice-cover-me-chimes-of-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":8403,"position":4},"title":"Roll of the Dice\/Cover Me: Chimes of Freedom","author":"Ken","date":"July 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When Bruce announced his participation in the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour in 1988, his re-arrangement and performance of this Bob Dylan classic became the title track of an EP released the following month.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/SPRINGSTEEN_CHIMES_5X5_site-700x700-e1531677200408.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/18\/roll-of-the-dice-with-every-wish\/","url_meta":{"origin":8403,"position":5},"title":"Roll of the Dice: With Every Wish","author":"Ken","date":"January 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\"With Every Wish\" by Bruce Springsteen: a cautionary tale about caution.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/with-every-wish.jpg?fit=500%2C650&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8403"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23688,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403\/revisions\/23688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}