David Coverdale “The Last Note Of Freedom” – A Long Lost Song From The “Days Of Thunder” Soundtrack (1990)
DAVID COVERDALE – As I was rummaging through some used CD’s at a thrift store this past week, I came across the Days Of Thunder soundtrack. At first glance, I was totally disinterested. I believe I saw bits and pieces of this Tom Cruise movie over the years, nonetheless I wasn’t banking on this soundtrack to impress me enough to buy it for the 97 cent asking price. (I know, 97 cents is dirt cheap). Once I took a gander at the artists and track list, (which is on the front cover), I changed my mind and decided 97 cents is worth paying for this 22-year-old soundtrack CD.
Hello, Hard Rockin’ legend David Coverdale and The Last Note Of Freedom. In all Metal honesty, I never knew David Coverdale sang a song for the Days Of Thunder soundtrack. Seriously, I find this to be an obscure song from him. Unless you’ve owned this soundtrack anytime since 1990 or are a David Coverdale expert, who would really know off the top of their head that this song even existed? Besides, Stone doesn’t know all either. I obligingly paid for this used and near vintage CD. Then, I headed straight to my car to give The Last Note Of Freedom a listen for my five-minute drive home.
David Coverdale sounds like, well, himself on this song. In other words, David’s vocals are excellent. There is a bounty of keyboards happening throughout the song, which was written by the legendary composer Hans Zimmer. Ready for this? The lyrics were written by… Billy Idol. How cool is that? There is a valid music connection between David Coverdale, Hans Zimmer and Billy Idol, always and forever. Metal be thy name. The liner notes do not state any songwriting credits to David Coverdale.
Overall, is The Last Note Of Freedom a good song? Yes, it’s a good melodic song. This song definitely overflows with that late 80’s movie soundtrack vibe. Towards the end of the song is when David Coverdale starts singing with increased passion and intensity, you know, Whitesnake style. Despite some notable guitar parts and David’s vocals, I couldn’t see this song fitting on a Whitesnake album then or now. I feel confident calling The Last Note Of Freedom a mid-paced ballad, there are a few tempo shifts happening and it keeps this song interesting. At the end of my Metal day, I dig this remote David Coverdale song.
Days Of Thunder was released on Geffen and my used copy of this CD appears to be an original issue and not a re-release. After researching this song, I’ve found it to be only available on the Days Of Thunder soundtrack. Check out the other artists and songs heard on this soundtrack below. I found this soundtrack to be quite diverse and rather cool to finally discover. Not too shabby for 97 cents after all.
Days Of Thunder Track Listing:
The Last Note Of Freedom – David Coverdale
Deal For Life – John Waite
Break Through The Barrier – Tina Turner
Hearts In Trouble – Chicago
Trail Of Broken Hearts – Cher
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – Guns N’ Roses
You Gotta Love Someone – Elton John
Show Me Heaven – Maria McKee
Thunderbox – Apollo Smile
Long Live The Night – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Gimme Some Lovin’ – Terry Reid
LONG LIVE DAVID COVERDALE.
Stone.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
December 2, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Always liked this Coverdale oddity Stone. The album is also noteworthy for the appearance of underrated Terry Reid covering Gimme Some Lovin’ – check out Rich Kid Blues by him – it’s awesome.
December 2, 2011 at 6:37 pm
I was never very familiar with Terry Reid until I got my ears on this soundtrack. I’ll definitely check out that song by him.
It’s so fun to stumble upon a soundtrack like this, making me aware of some music that I never knew about.
December 2, 2011 at 5:17 pm
I never new there even was a soundtrack to Days of Thunder. I only saw the movie once and that was on a trans Atlantic flight. Back then movie soundtracks were pretty diverse, this post immediately gave me memories of the soundtrack for the film Visionquest where Sammy Hagar (I Fall in Love Again) and Dio (Hungry for Heaven) appear on it along with Madonna’s “Crazy for You.” I think they probably did that back then to try to appeal to all musical tastes.
December 2, 2011 at 6:43 pm
I never knew this soundtrack existed either! Sure, “Top Gun” and “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” were basically in our faces back in the day, yet this one went under the radar it seems.
Maybe due to it’s release year of 1990, the “push” by the record company wasn’t huge for it? I do remember that “Visionquest” movie and soundtrack being for sale… I never bought the soundtrack though.
Cool commentary you shared Metal buddy \m/
November 29, 2012 at 5:38 pm
I just bought the 7″ single of this second hand. I never knew about this either… I googled for info and who should pop up but yourself! Haha. It’s a good song, Coverdale’s voice is great on this. I’ve been trying to find out who the guitar player is on it but I don’t have a clue. Any ideas?
November 29, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Very cool you scored the 7″ single for this song! This is great info, regarding how this song was released as a single.
Does it have a sleeve with movie artwork as well… or a plain sleeve?
I’ll go dig out this CD and look inside the liner notes for “any” guitarist info on “The Last Note Of Freedom”… stay tuned! \m/\m/
November 30, 2012 at 6:57 am
If you’d like to see it I’ve put a photo of the single up at: http://heavymetaloverload.com/2012/11/29/single-of-the-week-david-coverdales-the-last-note-of-freedom-7-single/
It’s just the same image as your album cover with a different title though really! It’s an edited down version of the song compared to the album, think it might have been remixed too.
(Sorry for the shameless blog plug)
December 30, 2017 at 2:21 pm
The instrumental soundtrack of the movie uses “Last Note of Freedom” throughout. In addition, there are two versions of the song available. Geffen changed the soundtrack at some point. The original release has Last Note of Freedom about a minute longer.
June 12, 2018 at 12:47 pm
Who played guitar on the song? I know Jeff Beck played on the film score, but not sure if he played on David’s song…
June 12, 2018 at 5:11 pm
Off hand, I honestly don’t know… I will dig out my CD to see if this info is in the liner notes. 😎
June 12, 2018 at 7:50 pm
I asked David Coverdale directly… he said: Trevor Rabin. 😃🤘🏻
August 1, 2021 at 4:39 pm
Same shock here. Says of thunder on some channel. bored i watched it. Didn’t change channel as usual during the credits , and heard my favorite voice belting this out. I jumped on utube to the shock of my life. Wow how I love this song