Songfacts®:

• Alternative rock singer-songwriter Ben Harper's tenth studio album, Give Till It's Gone, was released in Italy on May 10, 2011 and worldwide on May 17, 2011 by Virgin Records. The LP was preceded by this single, which was released as a free download on March 22, 2011.
• The song is full of exhortations to grab life in the face of adversity. Harper told The Huffington Post that its origins lie in a rock concert. He explained: "I was standing sidestage at a Neil Young concert - we had opened up for him at Hyde Park, in London, which is a great concert series overseas every summer. He launched into 'Rockin' In The Free World,' and it was one of those moments where time starts to bend and things start to slow down around you - that usually starts to happen when I write a song, as everything tunes out except that moment of focus. The song came in one bolt. He was singing, '...keep on rockin' in the free world,' and all I kept hearing was, 'rock and free, rock and free,' and that translated to me as rock is free because that's kind of the modern day sentiment of 'Rockin' In The Free World,' in a way."