The story of this song is inseparable from a self-respecting club release in the late 1990s and early next decade. Everyone says it’s a feminist song, but at first it’s not, says Gala, an Italian-born singer who lives in America and now lives in Paris.

At age 13, a doctor in Italy diagnosed her with a back problem, guaranteeing her life’s dream of becoming a dancer. But later in America, when she studies photography, another doctor tells her that nothing can stop her from dancing. At the time, “I was also in love with a Senegalese artist who had lived a little in the USA (ie, freed from materialism, editor’s note) and I got this energy back, developing the forties. “Freed from Desire” is a song about energy and resilience. , I understand that it has to do with the desire to score a goal. »

Not just in football, but in rugby… and paddle

Gala holds no grudges: Too bad her native Italy doesn’t compete in the World Cup. “I’m happy that the French players sing it, because France has always received me well, I’m a diamond here, I’m there now, but this song has many other lives, united many people. , that’s what makes me happy,” she continues.

Speaking only about sports, his tube has been adopted by supporters of the Northern Ireland football team at Euro 2016, from English club Wigan and AC Milan. It also served as the soundtrack for English boxer Tyson Fury. Not forgetting France’s XV who made the song their national anthem for two years. Gala also admitted that he was delighted that Fabian Galtti’s band played it in celebration of his Grand Slam last spring.

“It’s not just the song of the winners, it’s the song of the outsiders, and I’ve even seen supporters of Paquito Navarro, who lost in the paddle, take it up, the singer remembers. “Supporters of two Australian rugby teams who should hate each other sing at the same time. »

From Gloria Gaynor to Vegedream

It’s not the first time that the French team Edition 2022 brings up to date a good old tube that has been stored a bit in the closet, but it clicks immediately when you come out of it. In 1998, Zidane, Deschamps (the player), Lizarazu and Co.’s song was “I’ll Survive,” and in 1978, Gloria Gaynor had a hit, a little doped up on Vitamin C. There again, footballers took on the idea of ​​rugby players, in this case the Stade Française.

During the last World Cup in Russia in 2018, the Blues’ national anthem was framed with a small onion, with Vegdream and the premonition “bring the cup home”.

However, Gala’s text resonates in a very different way and doesn’t go deeper… As she lists this hymn to liberation and freedom, “feminists, the LGBTQIA + community or environmentalists have accepted because of race. Because consumption is driving the planet to its destruction.”