Freedom

This song is about George Michael asking the music industry to “have faith in the sound” instead of the image he has presented for his entire career. He confesses, “I was every little hungry schoolgirl’s pride and joy, and I get it was enough for me to win the race, a prettier face, brand new clothes and a big fat place on your rock and roll TV.” And now things will be different, he’s coming out of the closet — both as a gay man and as a refreshed, more “himself” musician. “I just hope you understand, sometimes the clothes do not make the man.” And the chorus, “Freedom” rises in celebration. He’s a free man, no longer constrained by the inner desire to keep being this thing that people used to want. Now he can be himself.