Song · The Cranberries
“Free To Decide” by The Cranberries
From the album To the Faithful Departed (1996)
“Free To Decide” by The Cranberries appears on 14 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1996 and 2023. It was first released in 1996 on the album To the Faithful Departed. Its best result is #35 on the WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #76 alternative song of 1996 and #3,899 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (VideosMusicaVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Free to Decide" was the second single from the Cranberries' third album, To the Faithful Departed, released in the summer of 1996, and it's Dolores O'Riordan planting her feet and refusing to budge. She wrote it alone, sings lead, and plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, keyboards and whistle alongside Noel Hogan, with Mike Hogan's bass and Fergal Lawler's drums driving it hard. Bruce Fairbairn produced with the band, and the sound is big and brawny.
The video, directed by Marty Callner and shot in a desert, has O'Riordan escaping the press in a jeep and singing in a birdcage. It barely registered in Europe, but went to number two in Canada and 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 81 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 | 107 |
| 1996 | 64 | Q101 Chicago, IL | Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 | 101 |
| 1996 | 35 | WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD | WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 | 99 |
| 1996 | 75 | WBCN Boston, MA | WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 | 104 |
| 1996 | 59 | Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) | Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 | 96 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 724 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 1999 | 1735 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1735 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1735 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1725 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1710 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1710 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2021 | 270 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2023 | 867 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
Also listed as: Free to Decide.
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