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Cover of Permanent Waves by Rush
Cover: Permanent Waves

Song · Rush

“Freewill” by Rush

From the album Permanent Waves (1980)

“Freewill” by Rush appears on 82 radio countdowns from 29 stations between 1980 and 2026. It was first released in 1980 on the album Permanent Waves. Its best result is #22 on the KISW 25 Greatest Rock Songs from 1980. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #253 classic rock song of all time.

82countdowns
29stations
#22best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1980–2026years charted

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Rush - Freewill (Audio)

Video from YouTube (RushVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Freewill" sits second on Rush's 1980 album Permanent Waves, and it's the sound of the Canadian trio squeezing prog-rock brains into something a radio could handle. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson wrote the music, Neil Peart wrote the words, and the band produced it with Terry Brown, with Paul Northfield recording. Lee works bass, synthesizer and Minimoog at once, Lifeson flips between 12-string, acoustic and electric guitar, and Peart surrounds his kit with timbales, crotales, tubular bells and more. By the last verse Lee is pushed to the very top of his range, and it sounds like it.

It was never a single, yet album-rock radio adopted it anyway, and it keeps turning up on the band's compilations. Rush made it one of the six songs in their set at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, the show everybody calls SARStock.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1980 22 KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA KISW 25 Greatest Rock Songs from 1980 25

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 273 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1990 227 Z-Rock Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) 1000
1991 314 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) 500
1994 574 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 424 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 305 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1996 495 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 883 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1997 355 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1998 382 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 411 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2002 280 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2004 911 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2010 206 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2011 417 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2011 898 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 942 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 278 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2013 231 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 465 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2013 468 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 479 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 635 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 367 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2015 479 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 199 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 371 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 241 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2016 115 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 328 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 261 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2016 287 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2017 142 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2017 254 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2017 383 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2018 248 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2018 216 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2019 262 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2019 80 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 232 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 209 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 247 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 302 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2020 259 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2020 276 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 168 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 278 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 282 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2021 267 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 236 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 416 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2021 392 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 619 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2022 210 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 221 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 213 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 38 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 401 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 747 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 290 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 231 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2023 439 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 226 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 204 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 207 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 332 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 192 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 231 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 301 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2024 349 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 187 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 277 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 130 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 334 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2025 194 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 201 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 239 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 329 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2026 382 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) 499
2026 414 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 189 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 1980

Best songs of 1980 →
  1. 1And the Cradle Will RockVan Halen
  2. 2Another One Bites the DustQueen
  3. 3Whip ItDevo
  4. 4Don't Stand So Close to MeThe Police
  5. 5Once in a LifetimeTalking Heads
  6. 6You Shook Me All Night LongAC/DC

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