mike hunt
The New York yankees, or was it freddie's stab at the critics and the media, That the band made it without their help?........
Thread
Posts in chronological order
Bo Rhap
Could be.Critics and the media that is.
Freddie always said that it was"a real winners song" and that he was surprised that nobody else had ever written a song like that before.
Freddie always said that it was"a real winners song" and that he was surprised that nobody else had ever written a song like that before.
coops
Freddie said to Brian "We are the champions" while discussing the success of their recent tour.
lalaalalaa
I hate it when people call it a "gay anthem"
I think they're just jealous.
I think they're just jealous.
queen79luca
..a FUCKING GREAT MIND !
rhyeking
Brian has said the band were always looking for ways to connect with the audience in live situations, which was a big reason "We Will Rock You" came into existence. "Champions" was written during "A Night At The Opera" sessions, but Freddie didn't present it until later, probably following the same train of thought as Brian (connect with the audience more).
As for inspiration, it was probably no one thing, just some different ideas that morphed and evolved into a song about triumphing over adversity. Freddie generally dismissed his songs as being autobiographical and I believe very few of his lyrics relate directly to him. Just as Stephen King can write dozens of books about supernatural things, just on sheer imagination, Freddie's imagination fueled dozens of songs and characters singing from different points of view.
As for inspiration, it was probably no one thing, just some different ideas that morphed and evolved into a song about triumphing over adversity. Freddie generally dismissed his songs as being autobiographical and I believe very few of his lyrics relate directly to him. Just as Stephen King can write dozens of books about supernatural things, just on sheer imagination, Freddie's imagination fueled dozens of songs and characters singing from different points of view.
mike hunt
lalaalalaa wrote: I hate it when people call it a "gay anthem"
I think they're just jealous.
Those people ar Just ignorant to the band. They know nothing about Queen other than the hits, and all think the whole band was GAY, ect. Another One Bites the Dust was another so called gay anthem, that one wasn't even written by freddie.
I think they're just jealous.
Those people ar Just ignorant to the band. They know nothing about Queen other than the hits, and all think the whole band was GAY, ect. Another One Bites the Dust was another so called gay anthem, that one wasn't even written by freddie.
rhyeking
You want a laugh, check this out:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/Rock-n-Roll/freddie_mercury.htm
You can practically see the author foaming at the mouth as he condemns Freddie and Queen.
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/Rock-n-Roll/freddie_mercury.htm
You can practically see the author foaming at the mouth as he condemns Freddie and Queen.
Tim June
There was recently a interesting interview with Brian... He talks a lot about the creation and inspiration of We Will Rock You and a bit about WATC.
Link to the interview-thread: http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1238746/brian-interview.aspx and heres for the transcribed interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=128935865.
... here is a short quote taken from the interview:
" GROSS: That's Queen's
"We Will Rock You," which was written by my guest, Brian May, who was
the lead guitarist for the band. So what inspired that song? I mean, it's been
played at so many sports stadiums over the decades. What were you thinking
about when you wrote it? Were you thinking of it as a sports anthem?
Dr. MAY: No, not really. I
was thinking of it more as a rock anthem, I suppose, and a means of uniting an
audience or taking advantage, you know, enjoying the fact that an audience is
united. And I didn't realize that it would transfer to sports games. This is
quite an amazing thing.
It's wonderful for me to
see what "We Will Rock You" has done. You know, "We Will Rock
You" and "We Are the Champions," of course, have kind of
transcended the normal framework of where music is listened to and appreciated.
They've become part of public life, which I feel wonderful about. It's
fantastic to me if I go to a, you know, a football game or a soccer game or
basketball or whatever or anyplace all around the world, and there it is.
And I think, my God. Most
people don't even realize that I wrote it. Most people don't realize that it
was written.
GROSS: That's right.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Dr. MAY: It's sort of
become one of those things that people think was always there. You know, it
sort of goes back into pre-history. So in a way, that's the best compliment you
could have for a song.
GROSS: Well, I think, you
know, that's - if people don't even realize it was written, it's in part
because it almost sounds like an old-school cheerleader cheer, you know,
because...
Dr. MAY: Yeah. It's become
part of the fabric of life.
GROSS: ...of that
stomp-stomp-clap thing and because it's a chant.
Dr. MAY: Yeah, that's
right. Well, the stomp-stomp-clap thing, yeah, people think it was always
there, but actually it wasn't. And I don't know how it got into my head.
All I can tell you is we
played a gig sort of the middle of our career in a place called Bingley Hall
near Birmingham. Now, Birmingham is the sort of home of heavy metal, as you
probably know. You know, Sabbath and Slade and people come from there.
And it was a great night. People
were just, the audience were just responding hugely, and they were singing
along with everything we did. Now, in the beginning, we didn't relate to that. We
were the kind of band who liked to be listened to and taken seriously and all
that stuff.
So, people singing along
wasn't part of our agenda. Having said that and then having experienced this
wave of participation of the audience, particularly in that gig in Birmingham,
we almost to a man sort of reassessed our situation.
I remember talking to
Freddie about it and saying, look, you know, obviously, we can no longer fight
this. This has to become something which is part of our show, and we have to
embrace it, the fact that people want to participate. And really, everything
becomes a two-way process now. And we sort of looked at each other and went,
hmm, how interesting.
And he went away that night
and to the best of my knowledge wrote "We Are the Champions" with
that in mind. I went away and woke up the next morning with this...
[...] "
Link to the interview-thread: http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1238746/brian-interview.aspx and heres for the transcribed interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=128935865.
... here is a short quote taken from the interview:
" GROSS: That's Queen's
"We Will Rock You," which was written by my guest, Brian May, who was
the lead guitarist for the band. So what inspired that song? I mean, it's been
played at so many sports stadiums over the decades. What were you thinking
about when you wrote it? Were you thinking of it as a sports anthem?
Dr. MAY: No, not really. I
was thinking of it more as a rock anthem, I suppose, and a means of uniting an
audience or taking advantage, you know, enjoying the fact that an audience is
united. And I didn't realize that it would transfer to sports games. This is
quite an amazing thing.
It's wonderful for me to
see what "We Will Rock You" has done. You know, "We Will Rock
You" and "We Are the Champions," of course, have kind of
transcended the normal framework of where music is listened to and appreciated.
They've become part of public life, which I feel wonderful about. It's
fantastic to me if I go to a, you know, a football game or a soccer game or
basketball or whatever or anyplace all around the world, and there it is.
And I think, my God. Most
people don't even realize that I wrote it. Most people don't realize that it
was written.
GROSS: That's right.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Dr. MAY: It's sort of
become one of those things that people think was always there. You know, it
sort of goes back into pre-history. So in a way, that's the best compliment you
could have for a song.
GROSS: Well, I think, you
know, that's - if people don't even realize it was written, it's in part
because it almost sounds like an old-school cheerleader cheer, you know,
because...
Dr. MAY: Yeah. It's become
part of the fabric of life.
GROSS: ...of that
stomp-stomp-clap thing and because it's a chant.
Dr. MAY: Yeah, that's
right. Well, the stomp-stomp-clap thing, yeah, people think it was always
there, but actually it wasn't. And I don't know how it got into my head.
All I can tell you is we
played a gig sort of the middle of our career in a place called Bingley Hall
near Birmingham. Now, Birmingham is the sort of home of heavy metal, as you
probably know. You know, Sabbath and Slade and people come from there.
And it was a great night. People
were just, the audience were just responding hugely, and they were singing
along with everything we did. Now, in the beginning, we didn't relate to that. We
were the kind of band who liked to be listened to and taken seriously and all
that stuff.
So, people singing along
wasn't part of our agenda. Having said that and then having experienced this
wave of participation of the audience, particularly in that gig in Birmingham,
we almost to a man sort of reassessed our situation.
I remember talking to
Freddie about it and saying, look, you know, obviously, we can no longer fight
this. This has to become something which is part of our show, and we have to
embrace it, the fact that people want to participate. And really, everything
becomes a two-way process now. And we sort of looked at each other and went,
hmm, how interesting.
And he went away that night
and to the best of my knowledge wrote "We Are the Champions" with
that in mind. I went away and woke up the next morning with this...
[...] "
mike hunt
Tim June wrote: There was recently a interesting interview with Brian... He talks a lot about the creation and inspiration of We Will Rock You and a bit about WATC.
Link to the interview-thread: http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1238746/brian-interview.aspx and heres for the transcribed interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=128935865.
... here is a short quote taken from the interview:
" GROSS: That's Queen's
"We Will Rock You," which was written by my guest, Brian May, who was
the lead guitarist for the band. So what inspired that song? I mean, it's been
played at so many sports stadiums over the decades. What were you thinking
about when you wrote it? Were you thinking of it as a sports anthem?
Dr. MAY: No, not really. I
was thinking of it more as a rock anthem, I suppose, and a means of uniting an
audience or taking advantage, you know, enjoying the fact that an audience is
united. And I didn't realize that it would transfer to sports games. This is
quite an amazing thing.
It's wonderful for me to
see what "We Will Rock You" has done. You know, "We Will Rock
You" and "We Are the Champions," of course, have kind of
transcended the normal framework of where music is listened to and appreciated.
They've become part of public life, which I feel wonderful about. It's
fantastic to me if I go to a, you know, a football game or a soccer game or
basketball or whatever or anyplace all around the world, and there it is.
And I think, my God. Most
people don't even realize that I wrote it. Most people don't realize that it
was written.
GROSS: That's right.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Dr. MAY: It's sort of
become one of those things that people think was always there. You know, it
sort of goes back into pre-history. So in a way, that's the best compliment you
could have for a song.
GROSS: Well, I think, you
know, that's - if people don't even realize it was written, it's in part
because it almost sounds like an old-school cheerleader cheer, you know,
because...
Dr. MAY: Yeah. It's become
part of the fabric of life.
GROSS: ...of that
stomp-stomp-clap thing and because it's a chant.
Dr. MAY: Yeah, that's
right. Well, the stomp-stomp-clap thing, yeah, people think it was always
there, but actually it wasn't. And I don't know how it got into my head.
All I can tell you is we
played a gig sort of the middle of our career in a place called Bingley Hall
near Birmingham. Now, Birmingham is the sort of home of heavy metal, as you
probably know. You know, Sabbath and Slade and people come from there.
And it was a great night. People
were just, the audience were just responding hugely, and they were singing
along with everything we did. Now, in the beginning, we didn't relate to that. We
were the kind of band who liked to be listened to and taken seriously and all
that stuff.
So, people singing along
wasn't part of our agenda. Having said that and then having experienced this
wave of participation of the audience, particularly in that gig in Birmingham,
we almost to a man sort of reassessed our situation.
I remember talking to
Freddie about it and saying, look, you know, obviously, we can no longer fight
this. This has to become something which is part of our show, and we have to
embrace it, the fact that people want to participate. And really, everything
becomes a two-way process now. And we sort of looked at each other and went,
hmm, how interesting.
And he went away that night
and to the best of my knowledge wrote "We Are the Champions" with
that in mind. I went away and woke up the next morning with this...
[...] "
I guess that sums it up!.......Freddie and Brian really did feed off each other in their prime, the 70's.
Link to the interview-thread: http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1238746/brian-interview.aspx and heres for the transcribed interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=128935865.
... here is a short quote taken from the interview:
" GROSS: That's Queen's
"We Will Rock You," which was written by my guest, Brian May, who was
the lead guitarist for the band. So what inspired that song? I mean, it's been
played at so many sports stadiums over the decades. What were you thinking
about when you wrote it? Were you thinking of it as a sports anthem?
Dr. MAY: No, not really. I
was thinking of it more as a rock anthem, I suppose, and a means of uniting an
audience or taking advantage, you know, enjoying the fact that an audience is
united. And I didn't realize that it would transfer to sports games. This is
quite an amazing thing.
It's wonderful for me to
see what "We Will Rock You" has done. You know, "We Will Rock
You" and "We Are the Champions," of course, have kind of
transcended the normal framework of where music is listened to and appreciated.
They've become part of public life, which I feel wonderful about. It's
fantastic to me if I go to a, you know, a football game or a soccer game or
basketball or whatever or anyplace all around the world, and there it is.
And I think, my God. Most
people don't even realize that I wrote it. Most people don't realize that it
was written.
GROSS: That's right.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Dr. MAY: It's sort of
become one of those things that people think was always there. You know, it
sort of goes back into pre-history. So in a way, that's the best compliment you
could have for a song.
GROSS: Well, I think, you
know, that's - if people don't even realize it was written, it's in part
because it almost sounds like an old-school cheerleader cheer, you know,
because...
Dr. MAY: Yeah. It's become
part of the fabric of life.
GROSS: ...of that
stomp-stomp-clap thing and because it's a chant.
Dr. MAY: Yeah, that's
right. Well, the stomp-stomp-clap thing, yeah, people think it was always
there, but actually it wasn't. And I don't know how it got into my head.
All I can tell you is we
played a gig sort of the middle of our career in a place called Bingley Hall
near Birmingham. Now, Birmingham is the sort of home of heavy metal, as you
probably know. You know, Sabbath and Slade and people come from there.
And it was a great night. People
were just, the audience were just responding hugely, and they were singing
along with everything we did. Now, in the beginning, we didn't relate to that. We
were the kind of band who liked to be listened to and taken seriously and all
that stuff.
So, people singing along
wasn't part of our agenda. Having said that and then having experienced this
wave of participation of the audience, particularly in that gig in Birmingham,
we almost to a man sort of reassessed our situation.
I remember talking to
Freddie about it and saying, look, you know, obviously, we can no longer fight
this. This has to become something which is part of our show, and we have to
embrace it, the fact that people want to participate. And really, everything
becomes a two-way process now. And we sort of looked at each other and went,
hmm, how interesting.
And he went away that night
and to the best of my knowledge wrote "We Are the Champions" with
that in mind. I went away and woke up the next morning with this...
[...] "
I guess that sums it up!.......Freddie and Brian really did feed off each other in their prime, the 70's.
rhyeking
I've heard that interview.
And I agree that the fed of each other, at least in this case. I'm sure the whole band did.
Freddie, though, very specifically says he wrote "Champions" during ANATO on the 30th Anniversary DVD commentary, obviously taking the clip from a previous interview. I'll try to get the exact quote.
Not saying Brian is wrong, but he does say to the best of his memory. What probably happened was after that conversation, Freddie came back with "Champions" (already written years before) and it fit with the theme.
And I agree that the fed of each other, at least in this case. I'm sure the whole band did.
Freddie, though, very specifically says he wrote "Champions" during ANATO on the 30th Anniversary DVD commentary, obviously taking the clip from a previous interview. I'll try to get the exact quote.
Not saying Brian is wrong, but he does say to the best of his memory. What probably happened was after that conversation, Freddie came back with "Champions" (already written years before) and it fit with the theme.
mike hunt
Other cases freddie and brian fed off each other are Bo Rhap and the prophet song...........Flick of the wrist and now I'm here.......Obviously We will rock you and we are the champions........and Fat bottomed girls and Biycle races......They inspired and brought the best out of each other.
GratefulFan
Not just fed off each other, but pushed each other to sometimes uncomfortable places, to great effect. Brian has spoken about being shocked by the lyrics to 'Champions' at first, and a bit troubled by what he perceived as their arrogance. Of the four only Freddie could have written those words I think, and seen in them a rousing anthem that would not translate as self aggrandizing, but make everybody feel like a champion. And to his credit, that "we' never has felt like 'they'. Quite something to pull off when you think about it.
scollins
why does we are the champs always been seen to be have written after the bingley show, DIDNT ROGER once say that fred had the song from the same time they were making sheer heart attack album??? same as the song sheer heart attcak why do they keep changing their story,?
Genine Hopkins
Just watched that horrible website slamming Mercury and his religion. Wow, some people have way too much time on their hands!