Saddest Queen song(s)?

'You Take My Breath Away' I find is really sad, firstly because the main theme of the song is 'minor'. Secondly though on a deeper lyrical level, I feel that it is about a person's emotional attatcment to someone they deeply love, but is now gone far away ("I will find you anywhere you go...right until the end of the earth"). It could maybe be about how the singer is having a secret relationship with someone who is already committed elsewhere? But it is definitley a true love song and how the singer is bessotted with his lover in everyway possible. Even if this is the wrong interpretation, I've always found it one Freddie's most moving songs (more powerful than LOML?)

Anybody think this?

Hi pianoshizzle
Yes its definitely about extreme attachment to a lover. But don't forget the lines before the one you quote which say "So please don't go, don't leave me here all by myself, I get ever so lonely from time to time. I will find you anywhere you go". So more about the attachment thing than a lover that has actually gone at this point I think.

You Take My Breath Away, beautiful as it is, strikes me as kind of creepy and stalker-like, lyrically. Doesn't ruin my enjoyment of it or anything but it's still there. I definitely agree that Bijou is sad sounding.

True Tom. Its all about extreme attachment to a lover, which can lead to stalking and is definitely unhealthy. But it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the song. In fact. I can relate to it because I have felt quite a bit the same way in the past. allbeit not quite to the same extent. And that's part of its power I think. It's my favourite song on ADATR, along with Tie Your Mother Down.

[QUOTE] [b]pianoshizzle wrote:[/b]

'You Take My Breath Away' I find is really sad, firstly because the main theme of the song is 'minor'. Secondly though on a deeper lyrical level, I feel that it is about a person's emotional attatcment to someone they deeply love, but is now gone far away ("I will find you anywhere you go...right until the end of the earth"). It could maybe be about how the singer is having a secret relationship with someone who is already committed elsewhere? But it is definitley a true love song and how the singer is bessotted with his lover in everyway possible. Even if this is the wrong interpretation, I've always found it one Freddie's most moving songs (more powerful than LOML?)

Anybody think this?[/QUOTE]

Could be but it's Freddie's voice that gets me choked up. Achingly beautiful.

NEVERMORE
which is also my favourite queen track

far and away queen's saddest song.

melody - so sorrowful - a perfect lament - TICK
lyrics - good god!!! TICK
vocally - wow! Freddie sings it like everything is over! TICK
brevity - sometimes short and to the point is much sadder. TICK
that last vocal bar - expressive, with a hint of pity - TICK,

Bowie once said that there aren't any Queen songs that make you cry and I think I understand what he means.

While there are some 'sad' themes both lyrically and musically, I don't find anything really "touching" that would cause a lip quiver.

Save Me is probably closest (but then loses it when it gets all bombastic).

i think it's down to the arrangements and FM's delivery. There's not a lot of sensitivity and as lovely a LOML is the florid arrangement (harps etc) detract from what is being said.

It's almost as though they have hidden any vulnerabilty behind grand musical gestures.

I appreciate You Take My Breath Away on a purely technical level. Other than that I can not listen to it.

The saddest songs for me are Delilah, It's a Beautiful Day, and Is This The World We Created. Love Of My Life sung alone by Brian makes me cry. Anything that reminds me of Freddie's amazing spirit, even while knowing his time here on Earth was going to be ending early - that makes me sad.

People who use the word bombastic when describing Queen's music, seem to have read music reviews. Ha. Silly old music reviewers.

But I think it also depends on our emotional state before we turn on the music. Maybe sometimes we just are too happy to feel sad.

[QUOTE] [b]splicksplack wrote:[/b]

Bowie once said that there aren't any Queen songs that make you cry and I think I understand what he means.

While there are some 'sad' themes both lyrically and musically, I don't find anything really "touching" that would cause a lip quiver.

Save Me is probably closest (but then loses it when it gets all bombastic).

i think it's down to the arrangements and FM's delivery. There's not a lot of sensitivity and as lovely a LOML is the florid arrangement (harps etc) detract from what is being said.

It's almost as though they have hidden any vulnerabilty behind grand musical gestures.[/QUOTE]

These are interesting observations. I haven't rifled the entire catalogue in my head but the only somewhat immediate and instinctive response I had was "All Dead, All Dead" which is down to the feel of the song and Brian's delivery. It's not so much sad as compellingly and convincingly emotional. Save Me is in the mix somewhere too, with caveats. Brian is probably the most sensitive of the four in that uncomplicated way that would innately translate to music . But you're right - despite lyrical content and emotional themes in Queen music that invite connection at that level it's not always easily there. Fred seemed emotionally guarded in many ways and it's interesting to contemplate that that might have been reflected in his music and performance as well, the one area we perhaps assume those defenses must fall away. There has always been something standing between me and LOML that I've never been quite able to articulate. The right boxes are ticked - the story behind the song, the acoustic treatment, the simple, vulnerable words. But I have never fallen into the song, for lack of a better phrase. I always feel like an observer.

[QUOTE] [b]Donna13 wrote:[/b]
Love Of My Life sung alone by Brian makes me cry. [/QUOTE]

It's interesting because I think most if not all of the songs sung by both of them are better communicated by Brian. Perhaps that's down to the man with the better instrument being more conscious of the technical aspects of delivery and Brian aware of his limitations just losing himself in a song with the relative freedom of fewer expectations. Or perhaps as I rambled in my previous post it's down to the differences between the two men emotionally.

Very thoughtful comments from splicksplack and GF on this thread. Surprised no one's mentioned 'Is This the World We Created?' Not, in my view, their saddest song, but the intent to make a sad song is there (or maybe it's to provoke anger?) For me, their saddest song is 'I Can't Live WIth You', for personal reasons that I'm not going to disclose to a bunch of oiks on Queenzone ;) It has the same sentiments as Claptons 'Old Love' and if you can't work it out from that then you never will ...

Final track on Made in Heaven

[QUOTE] [b]waunakonor wrote:[/b]

Musically, it's very powerful and moving, at least for me. The guitar parts sound sorrowful.[/QUOTE]

I agree on the moving and powerful part, but I've never heard sadness in it. It's probably the least sad song on Innuendo in my mind, now that I think about it.