Songs of the Free

Songs of the Free
Studio album by Gang of Four
Released	1982
Recorded	Ridge Farm, Capel, Surrey, England, March 1982
Genre	Post-punk, new wave
Length	39:32
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Andy Gill, Mike Howlett, Jon King
Gang of Four chronology
Solid Gold (1981)Solid Gold1981 Songs of the Free (1982) Hard (1983)Hard1983

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	A−
Rolling Stone

Songs of the Free is the third studio album by Gang of Four, released in 1982. In 1996, Infinite Zero Archive/American Recordings label issued it on CD, with two bonus tracks, and with a slightly changed song order (swapping the positions of "Muscle for Brains" and "We Live as We Dream, Alone"), and mistitling "I Love a Man in a Uniform" as "I Love a Man in Uniform." EMI reissued the album on CD in 2008 with the original song order and no bonus tracks.

Pitchfork Media listed Songs of the Free as 99th best album of the 1980s.

Rhino Records re-released Songs of the Free in Limited edition of 6,250 on 180-gram blue, purple, and yellow splattered vinyl for Black Friday Record Store Day 2015.

Track listing

All songs written by Andy Gill and Jon King.

Side one

1. "Call Me Up" – 3:35
2. "I Love a Man in a Uniform" – 4:06
3. "Muscle for Brains" – 3:17
4. "It Is Not Enough" – 3:27
5. "Life! It's a Shame" – 5:06

Side two

6. "I Will Be a Good Boy" – 3:52
7. "The History of the World" – 4:40
8. "We Live as We Dream, Alone" – 3:37
9. "Of the Instant" – 4:58

1996 bonus tracks

10. "The World at Fault" – 3:38
11. "I Love a Man in a Uniform (dub)" – 4:48

Personnel

• Hugo Burnham – drums, percussion
• Andrew Gill – guitar, vocals
• Jon King – vocals, melodica
• Sara Lee – bass, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Stevie Lange – backing vocals
• Joy Yates – backing vocals

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1982	Billboard Pop Albums	175

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	"I Love a Man in a Uniform"	Billboard Club Play Singles	27
1982	"I Love a Man in a Uniform"	UK Singles Charts	65