Bodeans – Closer to Free

Take a little Americana and mix it with a little jangle and you get this song. The Bodeans were a great band in the 80s and 90s but never got to the masses consistently. However, this song did reach a big audience.

In 1977 Sophomores Sam Llanas and Kurt Neumann meet in study hall at Waukesha South High School and bond over a shared love of music. The two later end up playing music together. In 1980 At Neumann’s urging, Llanas dropped out of college to pursue music full-time. The group pursues gigs at small bars, clubs, dances, and events. Llanas comes up with the name, Da BoDeans.

Llanas and Neumann added drummer Guy Hoffman (Oil Tasters, Confidentials, later the Violent Femmes) and bass player Bob Griffin (The Agents) to fill out their sound in 1983.

Upon its release, “Closer to Free” did not achieve huge chart success. However, its fortunes changed when it was selected as the theme song for the Fox television drama Party of Five, which premiered in 1994.

The song was on their 5th studio album called Go Slow Down. It was produced by the legendary T-Bone Burnett in 1993. The album peaked at #127 on the Billboard Album Chart.

The song peaked at #16 on the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1993.

Closer To Free

Everybody wants to live how they wanna live and
Everybody wants to love how they wanna love and
Everybody wants to be closer to free

Everybody wants respect, just a little bit
And everybody needs a chance once in a while
Everybody wants to be closer to free

Everybody one, everybody two, everybody free
Everybody needs to touch, you know now and then and
Everybody wants a good good friend
Everybody wants to be closer to free

I said everybody one, everybody two, everybody free
Everybody wants to live like they wanna live
And everybody wants to love like they wanna love
And everybody wants to be closer to free

Closer to free
Closer to free
Closer to free

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

20 thoughts on “Bodeans – Closer to Free”

  2. I guess for some bands its good to get a song on TV as I’m sure its good for the revenue stream. The Rembrandt’s as well which I read about somewhere on the blog world a few days back…was that here? lol

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  4. BoDeans? I only know Bo Derek!

    On a more serious note, to me, “Closer to Free” is the kind of song where I only need to hear the first few bars and I can almost be 100% sure I’m gonna dig it. I totally love the BoDeans’ sound. I wanna say I heard their name before but can’t remember the context.

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    1. I agree with you…not my favorite song either by them but…saying that…I’m glad they reaped some rewards anyway. I’ve covered them before and really like their more alt music.

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  10. yep, this one isn’t showing up on my reader but glad I saw it. Very catchy song, which perhaps does sound a bit like ‘I’ll be there for you’. Band name seems well-known but not their music…if this is a representation of their sound, that’s too bad. At least this one got to #1 in Canada,eh!

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  12. Pingback: Bodeans – Closer to Free – MobsterTiger

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