History Music / FreedomOfChoice

''Freedom of Choice'' is the third album by Music/{{Devo}}, released in 1980. Together with their debut ''Music/QAreWeNotMenAWeAreDevo'' (1978) it is seen as their best album, most notable for their SignatureSong "Whip It".

* WhipItGood: {{Trope Namer|s}}.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: The song most people thought was about masturbation, "Whip It," was actually intended as an encouraging song for UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter's re-election campaign, according to Mark Mothersbaugh. Jerry Casale also told that he wrote the lyrics {{in the style of}} ''Literature/GravitysRainbow'', as he liked the way it parodied the American view on self-help. And no, not ''that'' kind of self-help.

** Casale wrote the lyrics of "Whip It", which were intended to satirize American optimism, by taking inspiration from ''Literature/GravitysRainbow'' by Creator/ThomasPynchon, a 1973 novel that contains satirical limericks about capitalist can-do clichés. Casale incorporated lyrics that would sound like motivational clichés if taken out of context.

** The lyrics of "Snowball" reference Music/NancySinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and the myth of Sisyphus

* RefrainFromAssuming: Their biggest hit is just "Whip It," not "WhipItGood" in spite of the trope name.

* NiceHat: The Energy Domes were introduced by this album. They claim the domes are "orgone collectors" that gather energy released out of the top of one's head and redirect it back into the body. Mark once said that they don't wear them all the time, but some people do and will [[BlatantLies probably live 150 years because of it.]]

** The lyrics of "That's Pep!" where swiped from a poem written by ''Grace Bostwick'' around 1919 for American Magazine (re-published in [[https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/33638/OS_ENG_v07_i04_014.pdf?sequence=4 the May 1924 edition]] of ''Ohio State Engineer''), and then transformed by the band's arrangement into massive SarcasmMode.

** The lyrics of "Whip It" are written in the style of ''Literature/GravitysRainbow.''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/devo_freedom_of_choice_5720.jpg]]

* NewSoundAlbum: On this album their music evolved into SynthPop.

* LoveMakesYouDumb: Another common theme, employed especially in "Ton o' Luv,"
* NewSoundAlbum: On this album their music evolved into synthesizer pop.
* NewWaveMusic: One of the defining albums of the genre in the Eighties.
* NiceHat: The Energy Domes were introduced by this album. They claim the domes are "orgone collectors" that gather energy released out of the top of one's head and redirect it back into the body. Mark once said that they don't wear them all the time, but some people do and will [[BlatantLies probably live 150 years because of it]].
* OneWordTitle: "Snowball"
* PepTalkSong: On this album they were pretty generous with the pep talk songs, whether sarcastic or not: "Whip it", "Freedom of Choice", "Gates of Steel", and "That's Pep!"

* PoesLaw: One of their T.V. appearances was cancelled when the host deemed the "Whip It" video to be offensive to women. Jerry explains in a 1981 [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5SQbFkiTf0 interview]] that "Whip It" is in fact "the opposite of sexist." And while pointing at Mark's dorky suit, he remarks, "I mean, does this guy look like a sexist?"
* RecordProducer: Robert Margouleff.
* RefrainFromAssuming: Their biggest hit is just "Whip It", not "WhipItGood" in spite of the trope name.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: "Whip It" was intended to encourage UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter to "whip" his opponents in the presidential race.
* ShoutOut:
** Their trademark "energy domes" are a shout-out to Wilhelm Reich, who developed a theory about this.
** The lyrics of "That's Pep!" where swiped from a poem written by Grace Bostwick around 1919 for American Magazine (re-published in [[https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/33638/OS_ENG_v07_i04_014.pdf?sequence=4 the May 1924 edition]] of ''Ohio State Engineer''), and then transformed by the band's arrangement into massive SarcasmMode.
** The lyrics of "Whip It" are written in the style of ''Literature/GravitysRainbow''.
* SafeSaneAndConsensual: BDSM is glorified in the music video for "Whip It"
* TitleTrack: "Freedom of Choice"

* WhipItGood: {{Trope Namer|s}}
* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Girl U Want" and "Ton o' Luv".

'''''Freedom of Choice''''' is the third album by Music/{{Devo}}, released in 1980. Together with their debut ''Music/QAreWeNotMenAWeAreDevo'' (1978) it is seen as their best album, most notable for their SignatureSong "Whip It".

* LoveMakesYouDumb: Another common theme, employed especially in "Ton o' Love,"

** Their trademark "energy domes" are a shout-out to Wilhelm Reich.

* XtremeKoolLetterz: "Girl U Want", "Ton o' Luv".

* AlbumTitleDrop: "Freedom of Choice"
--> ''A victim of collision on the open sea''
--> ''Nobody ever said that life was free''
--> ''Sank, swam, go down with the ship''
--> ''But use your freedom of choice''

'''Freedom Of Choice''' is the third album by Music/{{Devo}}, released in 1980. Together with their debut ''Music/QAreWeNotMenAWeAreDevo'' (1978) it is seen as their best album, most notable for their SignatureSong "Whip It".

'''Tracklist'''

# "Freedom Of Choice" (3:28)

* AlbumTitleDrop: "Freedom Of Choice"

* RefrainFromAssuming: Their biggest hit is just "Whip It," not "WhipItGood" in spite of the trope name.

!! Whipped tropes

* RecordProducer: Robert Margouleff.
* NiceHat: The Energy Domes were introduced by this album. They claim the domes are "orgone collectors" that gather energy released out of the top of one's head and redirect it back into the body. Mark once said that they don't wear them all the time, but some people do and will [[BlatantLies probably live 150 years because of it]].

** "Love Without Anger" could qualify as a pep talk song for people going through a breakup.
* PoesLaw: One of their T.V. appearances was cancelled when the host deemed the "Whip It" video to be offensive to women. Jerry explains in a 1981 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5SQbFkiTf0 interview]] that "Whip It" is in fact "the opposite of sexist." And while pointing at Mark's dorky suit, he remarks, "I mean, does this guy look like a sexist?"

'''Freedom Of Choice''' is the third album by Music/{{Devo}}, released in 1980. Together with their debut ''Music/QAreWeNotMenWeAreDevo'' (1978) it is seen as their best album, most notable for their SignatureSong "Whip It".