
They continued to work on the song while creating the album, and the nine-minute “Free Bird” was picked up. It lasted seven and a half minutes, but they still didn’t feel like it was over. When the band first recorded “Free Bird” in 1972, there were no guitar solos at the end. It wasn’t anything heavy, just a love song about leaving town, It is time to move on. “After about 20 minutes Ronnie started singing ‘If I Leave By Tomorrow’, and it was going great. “We were seated, and asked Allen to play those chords again,” Rossington recalled in an interview. When frontman Ronnie Van Zant heard Collins and Gary Rossington play it one night, he ended up writing the rest of the lyrics. Goodbye, goodbye, baby, it’s been sweet love, yeah yeahĪlthough this feeling that I can’t changeĭespite the finality of the lyrics, Collins and Johns eventually married in 1970.Ĭollins worked on the song for about two years before the band first performed it. His girlfriend Kathy Johns actually asked him the question, If I leave here tomorrow, will you still remember me? He wrote his lyrics and used them as inspiration for the song. These words were inspired by a real-life experience of Skynyrd guitarist and songwriter Allen Collins. He expresses that he doesn’t want to hurt her, but there are too many things he wants to do before committing to a relationship. The lyrics tell the story of a man who leaves a woman because he can’t bring himself to settle down with her. While the band sometimes dedicated the song to Allman during performances, “Free Bird” was actually written years before his death. The guitar riffs at the end are reminiscent of those of Allman, making people think it was him. When “Free Bird” was released, some fans speculated that it was a tribute to Allman Brothers Band guitarist Duane Allman, who died in 1971. ‘Cause there’s too many places I need to seeand Lyrical meaning

In Lynyrd Skynyrd’s massive discography, “Free Bird” marks one of their greatest musical accomplishments. Although the lyrics end around the five-minute mark, the song continues for four more minutes with one of the most notable guitar parts in rock history. The lyrics carry the emotional depth that Lynyrd Skynyrd is known for, capturing both the liberation and the loneliness of freedom. The song was first released in 1973 as the closing track of the band’s debut album Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd).

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” is nine minutes long, but its cultural and musical impact is endless.
