The Velvet Underground – I'm Set Free

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  General Comment:I don't think it has anything to do with drugs. It sounds more like a new nation being liberated from their dictators, looking for answers in a new government or something. But I don't think that's it either. This song was recorded in late '68, not long after the assassination of Martin Luther King. It could be something like "Blackbird," a track the Beatles released while VU were recording this album. Shit, I wouldn't be surprised if Lou was influenced by it directly. That would be a trip. Crazy, but it might be true.

  Flag mussman717on March 25, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:just ending a platonic friendship with a domineering person as I write this, and I do indeed feel set free to find a new illusion. Everything is illusion, after all. Things come to be, and then they pass. when your third eye opens, you do see yourself as if from above your body, "head laughing on the ground".
  
  yo la tengo does a beautiful cover of this song btw.

  Flag lovecatspiracyon December 05, 2011   Link

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    Hey, I'm with you on that. At least she wasn't a lying ever-so-easy opportunist slut. Oh, I guess my situation is somewhat different as she wasn't ever a friend. Good luck to you. You should join me in celebration tonight :D

    Flag spinachsaladon December 05, 2011  

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    GOOD band, BTW :)

    Flag spinachsaladon December 05, 2011  
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  General Comment:The line "I saw my head laughing, rolling on the ground" always reminds me of the infamous "pencil factory" scene from David Lynch's film "Eraserhead." As a result, this song kind of creeps me out, despite the beauty of the music. In fact, I get an Eraserhead-ish vibe from the entire album, at least in the original "closet mix." It's a great album for listening to late at night.

  Flag HyperBullyon June 15, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I want this at my funeral.

  Flag sloathyon May 06, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Although it is probably about drugs and if so...I agree with mr. v that it could be about having a moment of clarity. Maybe reaching bottom and at a turning point to change.
  
  But for some reason when I listen to it and before knowing about the drug use....I thought it was about coming out of a bad relationship. "Set free"...single again. And being "bound" in a committed relationship. Like one that you keep working on and it never gets better but you just can't break free from...until one day...you finally break free mind, body and soul. And you realize you are over them and able to move on....finally. Maybe they hurt you so bad that you can't see them the same way ever again or perhaps they've just thru in the towel as well and you just are off the hook about keeping on trying. Which would explain using the words "set free" rather than "I am free"..."to set" implies that someone else held you prisoner and gave you the gift of freedom. But seems to have a jaded perspective about relationships because of the line "find a new illusion"...everybody seems perfect when you fall in love at first, but soon they have problems, issues, that always seem to tear a relationship down. IDK...I could be way off...or just where my mind is at when I listen. BTW...I love the Beck/Thom Yorke cover of this alot.

  Flag UNsweetTon April 16, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:i think the song is about perhaps not a full "recovery" but more like a moment of clarity between fixes. he looks back at his experiences and now finds himself at the juncture wehere he can get more drugs or remain sober to find a new illusion...he's set free to do what he wants

  Flag mr.von February 25, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:I hope not too. I think the song could be about drugs because when you're addicted to them and you get them you feel really good but it doesn't last for too long before you start wanting another fix, or another illusion of satisfaction. I think jabe05 has some good ideas and the death/reincarnation interpretation fits. I also think it might not be about physical death, but just when you come to the end of a project or you come to a transition in life and all of a sudden you have perspective on what you've been doing (Now I can see what in the world has happened to me) and it's like you're looking at yourself from the outside and you see the absurdity of the thing you've been caught up in (I saw my head laughing, rolling on the ground). In that moment there's an opening and you have a chance to be set free but by the force of habit you "find a new illusion" and do the same thing all over again. I think Lou Reed was well aware of this vicious cycle and that's why the song is sad because people are always missing opportunities to be set free. I really like this song. Even though it's sad it doesn't depress me because it's just so true.

  Flag thebodiesobtainedon February 14, 2008   Link

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  General Comment:I think this song is about dying. Set free to memories of yesterdays clouds sounds like he/she was set free from some depression.
  
  A new illusion sounds like a new body, our bodies are just illusions of our souls.
  Prince of stories - maybe death. And I saw my head laughing makes me think of a soul floating away from its body, watching the body from the outside, and in this case, death came as a release, because his body is laughing.
  
  Guess the song is bittersweet, because if an illusion is a new body, it should be about reincarnation, you get a second chance to live a happy life. The person in this song obviously didn't have a nice life, so he/she decided to go for a new life :)
  
  Has Lou really ever written anything happy? Hope not..

  Flag jabe05on August 26, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:As to saying it makes you feel free: you do realize that each chorus ends with the upturn/downturn from Em to A and from "I'm set free......." "........to find a new ILLUSION"? Right?
  
  The aesthetic experience may make you feel "free", but the lyrics don't "mean" anything of the kind.

  Flag babydoll07on January 12, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:i would definetly agree with [gratefate].
  
  "I've been set free and I've been bound
  Let me tell you people
  what I found
  [I saw my head laughing
  rolling on the ground] "
  
  id say he was on something.

  Flag fry cook on venus Xon June 24, 2003   Link

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