Released: April 15, 1995
Songwriter: Joi Dallas Austin
Producer: Diamond D Dallas Austin
[Vanessa Williams:]
We will not bow down to, uh huh, racism
[SWV:]
We will not bow down to injustice
We will not bow down to exploitation
[Vanessa Williams & SWV:]
I'm gon' stand, I'm gon' stand
[Patra:]
Now this is time for free your mind and your soul
Yo, half the story has never been told
Ladies, you got to demand what you want
And what we want is respect, right?
[Meshell NdegeOcello:]
Come and take a walk with me
Closer walk with thee
See what only I can see
[Patra:]
Sisters, check this
Watch this
[Mary J. Blige:]
Turn us loose, set us free from all the chains that bind me
[Zhane:]
Let us run in our own direction
[Chilli of TLC:]
Let us go, set us free from all this propaganda and lies
[T-Boz of TLC:]
That your people try to teach us
I know why you would like to bring us down
[Aaliyah:]
Because we have all the dirt on you
You try to tell us that our lives don't mean a damn
[Caron Wheeler:]
But we know so much better
So we're gonna take our freedom
CHORUS:
[Ad-libs: Mary J. Blige]
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
[Ad-libs: T-Boz]
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
Freedom for my spirit
[Pebbles:]
All this time you been tellin' us these lies
[Xscape:]
But now we finally figured out your game
[Missjones:]
You thought that we would never wise up
[Brownstone:]
But we showed you how a Black female can do her thing
[Karyn White:]
But still you continue to keep us oppressed
But no, we ain't goin' out like that
[Tanya Blount:]
All these lies and all this propaganda
You want us to take
We're gonna take out
CHORUS:
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
Freedom for my spirit
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
Freedom for my spirit
[Amel Larrieux:]
Freedom for my heart and my mind and
My freedom for my soul
[N'Dea Davenport:]
I see the fear in your eyes
Surprise!
Your cover's been blown
[Tanya Blount]
I know just who I am and what I wanna do
[Monica:]
I can make you run
Make you hide from all your ancestors' transgression
That you hold inside
[Queen Latifah:]
Sisters rising up and seeing that our time is here
We're taking back what's been ours for years
[Meshell NdegeOcello:]
Let the heaven of a sister embrace you
And praise some other gods
[Joi:]
All these lies and all this propaganda
You want us to take
We're gonna take out
VAMP: [Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Maxine Jones of En Vogue:]
Free, free, free, freedom
Freedom, ooooooooh BOP!
We will not bow down to, uh huh, racism
[SWV:]
We will not bow down to injustice
We will not bow down to exploitation
[Vanessa Williams & SWV:]
I'm gon' stand, I'm gon' stand
[Patra:]
Now this is time for free your mind and your soul
Yo, half the story has never been told
Ladies, you got to demand what you want
And what we want is respect, right?
[Meshell NdegeOcello:]
Come and take a walk with me
Closer walk with thee
See what only I can see
[Patra:]
Sisters, check this
Watch this
[Mary J. Blige:]
Turn us loose, set us free from all the chains that bind me
[Zhane:]
Let us run in our own direction
[Chilli of TLC:]
Let us go, set us free from all this propaganda and lies
[T-Boz of TLC:]
That your people try to teach us
I know why you would like to bring us down
[Aaliyah:]
Because we have all the dirt on you
You try to tell us that our lives don't mean a damn
[Caron Wheeler:]
But we know so much better
So we're gonna take our freedom
CHORUS:
[Ad-libs: Mary J. Blige]
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
[Ad-libs: T-Boz]
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
Freedom for my spirit
[Pebbles:]
All this time you been tellin' us these lies
[Xscape:]
But now we finally figured out your game
[Missjones:]
You thought that we would never wise up
[Brownstone:]
But we showed you how a Black female can do her thing
[Karyn White:]
But still you continue to keep us oppressed
But no, we ain't goin' out like that
[Tanya Blount:]
All these lies and all this propaganda
You want us to take
We're gonna take out
CHORUS:
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
Freedom for my spirit
Freedom for my body
Freedom for my mind
Freedom for my spirit
[Amel Larrieux:]
Freedom for my heart and my mind and
My freedom for my soul
[N'Dea Davenport:]
I see the fear in your eyes
Surprise!
Your cover's been blown
[Tanya Blount]
I know just who I am and what I wanna do
[Monica:]
I can make you run
Make you hide from all your ancestors' transgression
That you hold inside
[Queen Latifah:]
Sisters rising up and seeing that our time is here
We're taking back what's been ours for years
[Meshell NdegeOcello:]
Let the heaven of a sister embrace you
And praise some other gods
[Joi:]
All these lies and all this propaganda
You want us to take
We're gonna take out
VAMP: [Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Maxine Jones of En Vogue:]
Free, free, free, freedom
Freedom, ooooooooh BOP!