Breaking Free

"Breaking Free"
Single by Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Drew Seeley
from the album High School Musical
Released June 8, 2006
Format
Recorded 2005
Genre Pop
Length 3:27
Label Walt Disney
Songwriter(s) Jamie Houston
Producer(s) Jamie Houston
High School Musical singles chronology
"Breaking Free"
(2006)		 "What Time Is It?"
(2007)

"Breaking Free"
(2006)		 "What Time Is It?"
(2007)
Vanessa Hudgens singles chronology
"Breaking Free"
(2006) Breaking Free2006		 "Come Back to Me"
(2006) Come Back to Me2006
Drew Seeley singles chronology
"Breaking Free"
(2006) Breaking Free2006		 "Get'cha Head in the Game"
(2006) Get'cha Head in the Game2006

"Breaking Free" is a song from the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical. It also appears on the soundtrack of the same name. It is sung by Drew Seeley,[1] Zac Efron, and Vanessa Hudgens. It was also released as a single on June 8, 2006.[2] On June 21, 2006, it was certified as a Gold single by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000.[3]

The song subsequently appeared on Vanessa Hudgens' compilation album, A Musical Tribute and appears on the Disney compilation album, Disney Channel Playlist, which was released on June 9, 2009.

Context

While Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez face prejudice from the basketball and scholastic teams, respectively, they both decide that they can pursue their secret dream of performing in a high school musical. The song is sung during the film's climax when Troy and Gabriella participate in the callbacks in front of the entire student body. In-universe, the duet is written and composed by Kelsi Nielsen for the second act of the Twinkle Towne school musical.

Composition

The song, performed at the film's climax, is a "chirpy slow-jam".[4]

Saled

In its second week on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, the single jumped from #86 to #4, the largest jump in the chart's history up to that point. The single went platinum.[5]

Track listings

US and UK single
  1. "Breaking Free"
  2. "Start of Something New"
  3. "Bop to the Top"
Italian single
  1. "Breaking Free"
  1. "Start of Something New"
  2. "Se Provi a Volare" (Performed by Luca Dirisio)
Mexican single
  1. "Eres Tú" (Performed by Belanova)
Portuguese single
  1. "Breaking Free"
  2. "O Que Eu Procurava" (Performed by Ludov)
  3. "Só Tem Que Tentar"
French single
  1. "Breaking Free"
German single
  1. "Breaking Free"
  2. "Breaking Free" (Instrumental)
  3. "Breaking Free"
Asian single
  1. "Breaking Free" (Performed by Vince Chong, Nikki Gil, and Alicia Pan)
Chinese single
  1. "Breaking Free (Mandarin Version)"

Charts

Chart (2006)[6][7] Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[8] 13
Dutch Single Top 100 36
German Singles Chart 46
Irish Singles Chart 17
New Zealand Singles Chart 4
Scottish Singles Chart[9] 6
UK Singles Chart[10] 9
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 4
US Billboard Pop 100 6

Music video

The music video for this song was a clip from the movie and musical High School Musical. It was not released to any video countdowns in the US, because it was the climax song of the movie and Disney did not want it to be released. Germany's music video channels took it into the normal music video rotation. However, the remix version's video will be released onto the High School Musical Remix Edition DVD.

Cover versions

British pop-duo Same Difference who came third on series 4 of The X Factor were due to release a cover version of "Breaking Free" on April 21, 2008. However, this was later cancelled as the pair started working with Stock Aitken Waterman and recorded a 21st-century version of the Kylie Minogue Japanese hit "Turn It Into Love". The duo did, however, include a studio version of the song on their debut album, Pop.

Kayla Oldenburg also has plans to do a cover version of the song. The song is purported to be recorded in a live outtake from her impending marriage and will be released on a "pay as you see fit" model online. A physical release of the track is planned on 8-track as well.

American rock group The Faded covered a version of "Breaking Free" for the High School Musical Goes Punk compilation on Skunk-Ape Records. The video for the single is available on YouTube. "The original song is beautiful and sweet – there's absolutely nothing wrong with it," says vocalist, Gene Blalock, "but I think the message of the song – being yourself and breaking free from others' expectations and demands – gets lost on a wider audience who only hear this pretty duet. Reworking the song makes the message more accessible." The Faded's version replaces the duet, with Blalock doing the primary vocals, and members Micheal Diamond and Freddy Maciel offering backing harmony.

The rock band Porter Block also recorded a cover for the Ending Room Recordings cover compilation Guilt by Association Vol. 1.

It was also covered by English teenager Skyla in June 2009.

References

  1. ↑ Green, Kris; Wilkes, Neil (2006-09-21). "High School Musical". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 2006-11-18. Retrieved 2007-01-21. To set the record straight, the majority of what is sung in the movie is definitely sung by someone else. His name is Drew Seeley
  2. ↑ "High School Musical Cast - Breaking Free". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  3. ↑ "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  4. ↑ Breihan, Tom (2006-03-24). "High School Musical: The Cult Success of the Year". Village Voice. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  5. ↑ "Walt Disney Records' ``High School Musical Soundtrack #1 on Billboard's Top 200; Both Soundtrack and ``Breaking Free Single Are Platinum; ``Get'cha Head in the Game Single Goes Gold" (Press release). Burbank, California: Walt Disney Records. Business Wire. 2006-03-01. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  6. ↑ "Cast Of High School Musical - Breaking Free". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  7. ↑ "Breaking Free by High School Musical Cast featuring Troy and Gabriella". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  8. ↑ "Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  9. ↑ "Top 40 Scottish Singles Archive". The Official Charts Company. 1 October 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  10. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  11. ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
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