[7] The text was adapted from Whitman's Leaves of Grass (the Drum-Taps section), and Swayne (2011) describes it as the last of Schuman's pieces as, "a self-styled occasional progressive".
[8] Written during World War II (after being rejected for service[7]) according to Schuman, "The first movement is a kind of requiem but more than just a prayer for the dead–it points a lesson.
"[7] Though Arthur Berger privately criticized the selection of poetry on aesthetic grounds, Wannamaker (1972) praises a A Free Song for avoiding jingoism: "A Free Song...combines lines from 'Long, Too Long, America' and 'Song of the Banner at Daybreak,' poems which have elements of the same patriotic fervor.
By careful editing of phrases and lines, Schuman achieves a text that expresses only a desire for freedom for all mankind.
[7] Berger also called the piece, "a real low",[7][9] while Elliott Carter said it was, "well-intentioned enough but not convincingly realized"[7] Meanwhile, Walter Piston admired the work.