“In every part of the world – literally every country – women are degraded, subjugated and objectified as less than full human beings. I originally wrote this song in memory of the disappeared women of the border city of Juarez, Mexico where countless women and girls had been raped, mutiliated and murdered. Art is creative manifestation of metaphor. Within a work of art we can suspend disbelief and manipulate reality to capture an emotion, transmute a message and travel… to another place, another time, another reality.
With this song, I envisioned our sisters not as disappeared victims of a brutal and obsolete system of exploitation that belongs in the trash-heap of history but instead as empowered fighters and dreamers immersed in a magical spirit-dance in the the middle of the desert. A force of uplift and inspiration and revolution in the midst of a seemingly impossible place to live, these time-traveling women are messengers from a whole new world. It is my hope that this ensemble performance of Outernational’s “Free Women” lifts spirits and inspires people to dance and dream and fight. If this art inspires you, please forward along and share with others. A big hug and appreciation to all of the artists who gave their heart and passion to this revival.”
– Miles Solay, Outernational
“One way or another
I’m going to find you
I’m trying to
Beneath the surface
Where the well is deep and wide
Maybe they gather under moonlit skies
I know I’ve seen them on the other side
In that place where no one goes
The bottom of the desert, where the scorpions roam
Where did they go, are they still alive?
Have they been burnt by the fire outside?
Everybody’s been looking, wondering who took them
They were never ladies of the night
Free women walking side by side
There’s a revival tonight
These women and their little girls
Messengers of a whole new world
The darkness needs a harlot
A Mata Hari market, but
The sisters untethered
Shackles busted in the fight
Heads held high in the Southwestern sky
Spirit strong in flight, what was wrong is made right
They were never ladies of the night
Free women walking side by side
There’s a revival tonight
These women and their little girls
Messengers of a whole new world.”