Time flies. It hardly seems possible that it’s been 35 years since George Michael shouted what every artist eventually needs to say: Freedom! It wasn’t an empty cry — and certainly not the same kind of freedom he once sang about back in his Wham! days.

No, this time the cry was truly his own — no longer a cheerful, youthful refrain, but an adult, melancholic, and liberating outpouring. The first “Freedom,” released in 1984 by Wham!, was pure British pop: bright, catchy, carefree. It was the soundtrack of youth — of innocence, of that unshakable optimism that defined the 1980s. George Michael, still riding high alongside Andrew Ridgeley, wrote about independence in love but sang as someone who still believed freedom was just the ability to choose who to dance with. Six years later, in Freedom! ’90, that idea of freedom had transformed into something deeper, heavier, more human.

By the time the song came out, George was one of the biggest artists in the world, but he was exhausted from being a product on display. The David Fincher–directed video remains one of the boldest statements in pop history: George chose not to appear at all. Instead, five of the decade’s top supermodels — Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, and Tatjana Patitz — “sing” in his place, embodying the many faces that fame forces an artist to wear. It’s a visual poem about identity and erasure: Michael literally destroys his own symbols — the leather jacket, the jukebox, the “Faith” guitar — to show that the old persona has been burned away.

Freedom! ’90 is more than a protest against the music industry; it’s an intimate lament disguised as an anthem. “I won’t let you down, I will not give you up… I just hope you understand, sometimes the clothes do not make the man.” That one line captures the torment of someone trapped inside his own image. George Michael wanted to be heard, not just seen. His refusal to appear was, paradoxically, the most powerful performance of his life.

Compared to Wham!’s “Freedom,” the difference is almost philosophical. In youth, freedom was conquest; in maturity, it became renunciation. The first song celebrated opening one’s wings; the second, the courage to shed them. That’s why Freedom! ’90 still resonates — it’s about the bravery to say no, to begin again, to admit that growing up means letting go.

Thirty-five years later, its impact endures. The video remains a milestone in both fashion and music — a time capsule of the shift from the glitzy 1980s to the introspective 1990s. The song has outlived trends, decades, and even George himself. It reminds us that real freedom is rarely loud; sometimes it’s the quiet act of disappearing so you can truly be yourself again.

Freedom! ’90 hasn’t aged — it has matured alongside us. And even today, when it plays, we feel the same impulse George felt: to break the chains and finally breathe, as if for the very first time.