“Freedom” Rings With Richie Havens’ Stunning 2008 Performance

The Look On Sean Penn’s Face Is Priceless

Few artists have made the cultural impact that Woodstock alumni Richie Havens did with his groundbreaking performance of ‘Freedom.’ Inspired by the Negro spiritual ‘Motherless Child,’ Richie Havens’ ‘Freedom’ has been described as everything from “riveting” to having “made an indelible mark on contemporary music” and has inspired countless artists over the decades, including actor and director Sean Penn. In 2008, newly elected President of the Cannes Film Festival Sean Penn received the shock of a lifetime when, after being honored for his contributions to the film world, hero Richie Havens stepped onstage with an acoustic guitar and began to sing ‘Freedom’ – a song that for decades, Penn has raved about and hailed as one of the greatest songs ever written.

Fun Fact: No one loved Woodstock or its cultural impact more than Richie. He loved it and believed in it so fervently that after his death in 2013 at the age of 72, his ashes were spread over the festival’s original site.

As with Woodstock, Richie was as magnetic as ever; strumming furiously and chanting his feelings of being rootless, he absolutely stunned the audience into silence with the conviction in his voice! They say lightning never strikes twice, but Richie’s performance that night in 2008 proved to be just as electrifying as the Woodstock appearance that would define his entire legacy!

+ Freedom lyrics +

Freedom freedom freedom freedom
Freedom freedom freedom freedom

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long way from my home

Freedom freedom freedom freedom
Freedom freedom freedom freedom

Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone
Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone
A long, long, long, way, way from my home

Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Hey, yeah

I got a telephone in my bosom
And I can call him up from my heart
I got a telephone in my bosom
And I can call him up from my heart

When I need my brother, brother
When I need my mother, mother
Hey, yeah