"We Weren't Born to Follow" is the first single released in August 2009 from

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John such qu ...

's eleventh studio album, '' The Circle''. The single premiered on radio on August 17, 2009. The single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Since then, the song has reached the peak position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 68.

Music video

The music video, directed by Craig Barry and edited by Brett Langefels for the song was released on October 14, 2009. It features the band performing on the roof of the Clinton Recording Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with skyscrapers visible behind them. Interspersed with these scenes are archive clips and pictures of important events and people in history. Designed and composited by Matthew Lucas-Valci, these scenes echo the themes of the song. The video includes images of: *Bringing down the Berlin Wall in 1989 * Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France * The Dalai Lama *A collection of the Wright brothers plane, a space shuttle and

Spaceship One SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3,000 ft/s (900 m/s, 3240 km/h), using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" ...

of Virgin Galactic *

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

owner Richard Branson *The Great Wall of China *The protests at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the famous Tank Man picture *Images of US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

in Africa *Patrick Thibodeau, a renowned basketball player of

Cumberland, Maine Cumberland is a town in Cumberland County, Maine. The population was 8,473 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland metropolitan area, Maine. Cumberland is one of the wealthiest municipalities in the state. History Cumber ...

, who suffers from Down's Syndrome, playing on the Greely High School boys' basketball team. * Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his August 1963 " I Have a Dream" speech *Protests about

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

*The late guitarist Les Paul *The successful emergency water landing of

US Airways Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport), to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds short ...

and pilot Chesley Burnett Sullenberger III *Scenes of the separation stage of a Saturn V rocket along with various astronauts in EVA *

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a c ...

and feminist demonstrations. * Robert F. Kennedy * Archbishop Desmond Tutu * 2009–2010 Iranian election protests For the week ending November 21, the music video for "We Weren't Born to Follow" reached number 1 on the VH1 Top 20 in the USA.

In popular culture

In 2009 TBS used the song in its commercials for that year's Major League Baseball playoffs. Jon Bon Jovi gave a copy of the song to his friend Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots, before its public release. The Patriots had initially planned to play it after touchdowns at

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Foo ...

, but ultimately chose to use " This Is Our House" instead.

Track listing

Personnel

;Bon Jovi * Jon Bon Jovi - lead vocals * Richie Sambora - guitars, backing vocals * Hugh McDonald - bass guitar, backing vocals *

Tico Torres Hector Juan Samuel "Tico" Torres (born October 7, 1953) is an American musician, artist, and entrepreneur, best known as the drummer, percussionist, and a songwriter for American rock band Bon Jovi. In 2018, Torres was inducted into the Rock ...

- drums, percussion * David Bryan - keyboards, backing vocals ;Additional musicians * Charlie Judge - additional keyboards and strings ;Technical personnel * John Shanks – producer * Jon Bon Jovi - co-producer * Richie Sambora - co-producer * Jeff Rothschild -

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

* Mike Rew - additional engineer * Obie O'Brien - additional engineer * Alex Gibson - additional engineer *

Lars Fox Grotus, stylized as G̈r̈oẗus̈, was an industrial rock band from San Francisco, active from 1989 to 1996. Their unique sound incorporated sampled ethnic instruments, two drummers, two bassists, and featured angry but humorous lyrics. Biogr ...

- Pro Tools editor *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a ve ...

- mixing engineer * Brandon Duncan - mixing assistant * George Marino - mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

"We Weren't Born to Follow" on the Official Bon Jovi website
*http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/837479/1/ {{DEFAULTSORT:We Weren't Born To Follow Bon Jovi songs 2009 singles Songs written by Richie Sambora Songs written by Jon Bon Jovi 2009 songs Song recordings produced by John Shanks Island Records singles American hard rock songs Post-grunge songs