From the recording Being Well
“Condemned to be Free” draws on Sartre’s existentialism. Authenticity demands that we embrace the crushing responsibility of our choices: “you want somebody willing to own you, but they’re not / you are condemned to be free.” Radical freedom only becomes an intelligible “self” through intersubjective tension and being seen by the Other; our self-conception is therefore inextricably linked to other people. The song also references bad faith (“when you’ve been a friend you wouldn’t trust yourself”), the self-deception that denies our freedom by blaming others. Its opposite, what we might call Sartrean happiness, involves willing the freedom of others and thereby fully embracing our own.
Lyrics
When, you’ve been a friend
You wouldn’t trust yourself
Who did you let in?
When you’ve been afraid
You couldn’t trust yourself
Who did you let in?
You want somebody to show you
Someone to tell you it’s over, you had no choice
Someone who’s willing to own you
They’re not, you’re condemned to be free
When, you’ve been a friend
You wouldn’t trust yourself
Who did you let in?
When you’ve been afraid
The choices that you made
Are who you are today
You want somebody to show you
Someone to tell you it’s over, you had no choice
Someone who’s willing to own you
They’re not, you’re condemned to be free
You’re nothing, but what you choose to be
When, you’ve been a friend
Who did you let in
You’ve been afraid
Who did you let in
They’re nothing, you’re condemned to be free
You’re nothing, but what you choose to be
They’re nothing, you’re condemned to be free
You’re nothing, but what you choose to be