Discuss the lyrics and the composition - "Liar"

Hello people, long time no see.
I wanted to start a topic about Queen's lyrics.
Let's start with one of Queen's very first song: what about Liar ?

Lyrics can be found here : http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/songs/queen.htm#Liar
Or in the CD you have on the shelf. Or in Queen's new book. Or on Internet. Or wherever !


Can you please share your thoughts about the lyrics and the way the music is written ?
Remember that the song existed, in a way or another, in Freddie's pre-Queen band.
Replacing the song in the album. What does this song make you think about ? What is its strength, or its weakness ? What would you say about this song ? With your musician's eyes or with with your music lover's heart ?
What does this song express ?


Kind Regards,

Olivier,
Belgium.

An absolute giant and constant highlight of each concert when played live. Not a fan of The Works tour version though.

The best example of this is the Houston '77 performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YaNnuM7GEU

The solo section before All Day Long in this performance is probably one of my absolute favorite live moments ever in a Queen concert.

Love the drumming, dig the bass and some brilliant guitar in it along with good vocals. By far the best song on the debut album.

Interesting, the comments about the song "live".
Do you think the song was written for the stage ? Remember it comes from pre-Queen days, but was included in an album that was pretty much worked and worked and worked in the studios, with in fact few concerts to really test the song.

I also see some things to comment in the lyrics section:
- the religion. This was quite recurring in the first album, isn't it ?
- the Masucilne and the Feminine side in parts 1 (Father) and 2 (Mama) ?
- in the two first parts of the song, the feelings are different. The point of view is different, at first the persona seems sorry for what he is, and in the second part he is transformed. Is it an effect the religion has on him ? Is he angry ? vicious ? What are these screams for ?
- Then in the third part, the last verses of the song, words are not from the point of view of the "Liar" persona, but in fact someone else talking to him.

Would you divide the song differently ?
You the English native, do you see something else in the lyrics ?

There are some other questions too that could be interesting.
How do think the music responds to the lyrics ? Is there a feeling or whatever in the sound that reflects the lyrics, and how did they achieve that ?
Considering Freddie at the start of the 70's, what would be his inspiration for this song ? Any ideas ? In arts ? His discovery of love ? His Persian ancestry ? The fact he was in UK for only a few years ? Any influence from the other members, do you think ?


Please elaborate ?

Wow..its like reading an exam paper...

Eheh..

My most favorite song from the first album.

I have sinned dear father- a confession for the sins.

Sire I have stolen- a confession for crimes

The 'mama' part is a bit dragging..but then it exploded into a find rocking moment.

This is the 1st song that uses the long/ winding/ multi styled music.

This is the basic blue print for BhoRap & other songs by them with the same style in the future.

Queen copied themselves few many times. and one of it is LIAR

[QUOTE] [b]ruth.olivier 25008 wrote:[/b]
Remember that the song existed, in a way or another, in Freddie's pre-Queen band.
[/QUOTE]

I seem to recall that the song was originally titled "Lover"

I also seem to recall that Brian wanted to have some writing credits for "Liar" because he wrote much of the guitar music. However Freddie indicated that it was his song because he wrote the lyrics

AFAIK, the song only took one line from Lover. The remaining 99% of them could've been completely different so no, it's not the necessarily same song.

Lily of the Valley shares one line with Bo Rhap - does it mean they're the same tune?

That line being.... "Let me go!" ????

I'm curious how anybody knows anything about the pre Queen song "lover"

Does it exist in some form?

[url=http://www.queensongs.info/the-book/queen-the-four-of-them-as-musicians/freddie-mercury.html]http://www.queensongs.info/the-book/queen-the-four-of-them-as-musicians/freddie-mercury.html[/url]

[url=http://www.queenpedia.com/index.php?title=Ibex]http://www.queenpedia.com/index.php?title=Ibex[/url]

Geoff Higgins remembers at least one decent Bulsara-Bersin tune: "They did a great song called 'Lover'. The lyrics used to go, 'Lover, you never believe me', and Fred later turned it into 'Liar, you never believe me' (which appeared on Queen's debut album ). It was almost the same tune. But not quite. In fact it was similar to 'Communication Breakdown' , they used to rip off Led Zeppelin a lot."

The line 'liar, you never believe me' doesn't appear once in the song. Similar variations of it do, but even then, that section of the song is just one in however many entirely different sections the song has.

[QUOTE] [b]Panchgani wrote:[/b]
In fact it was similar to 'Communication Breakdown' , they used to rip off Led Zeppelin a lot."[/QUOTE]
*ahem* modertimesrocknroll *ahem*

Do you note some similarities between Queen and Led Zep in Liar ? Or any other band from the same period ?

Much of Queen I sounds like Led Zeppelin, as mentioned, Liar and Modern Times are the main offenders.

Really ?? I don't hear that much Led Zep in Liar ! Can you elaborate ? It's right that Modern Times Rock'N'Roll and some other songs have a Led Zep feeling, but I don't hear that.

Some say that Liar has a perticular writing, with a middle section, which we can find again later in Somebody To Love, or Bohemian Rhapsody. It's rather true and interesting to note!


What else can be said according to you ?

Don't analyse things too much. Just enjoy them.

Thanks for the advice ! Interesting comment.
However, sorry if it looks annoying to you, I can understand it, but I stil want to have a discussion about this song, that I enjoy it a lot (don't worry about this).
But now, I fear this has put a halt to this discussion...