The 'vocal' bit in the middle of The Prophets Song

[QUOTE] [b]k-m wrote:[/b]

The middle bit sucks big time. The Prophet's Song is majestic and freaking awesome, but the middle bit is embarrassing and a pain to listen to. It never seems to end.[/QUOTE]


well said. it's a pointless bit. surely someone at the time said, look guys FANTASTIC song but just leave out the needless screaming. [/QUOTE]

only thing that really interests me about TPS is did Dr May just get lazy with White Man and just used all the leftover bits of tape from Prophet Song?

cos there's some striking similarities - in bOTH the louder/faster bits AND the quieter/SLOWER sections

Nice call, Brenski. Never noticed that. I'll take a look!

Cheers,

Ogre-

[QUOTE] [b]mooghead wrote:[/b]

I just think it would be better if it wasn't there....[/QUOTE]

well simply dont play it! go and make a sandwich or fix your hair it was brilliant for the time it was made. The prophets Song and White Man worked beautifully on stage it was Majik!

mooghead, you might (or not) appreciate this:

[url=http://www.mediafire.com/listen/93p999v7j8p737s/The_Prophets_Song_(DragonflyTrumpeter83's_Single_Length_Mix).mp3]The Prophet's Song (No "vocal" bit in the middle)[/url]

You know it's a slow news day when people are calling some of Queen's finest work crap..

Ah memories of my glorious youth spent listening to that middle part with head phones ...

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wanker wrote:[/b]

You know it's a slow news day when people are calling some of Queen's finest work crap..[/QUOTE]

No, it's not about that. It's about the original poster whining and moaning for attention ... how empty and pathetic must life be for a person to do that?

Damn, that shortened "single" version just reminds me how important the middle vocal bit is there. When I first heard the song, I actually had a nightmare because it gave such powerful imagery of the idea behind a man's useless cry for help when the world is about to end, which it eventually will, although no-one will ever listen and act on it. I always thought the vocal bit is more about the slow and uncontrollable destruction of mankind in one possible future, which concludes in a seemingly happy ending "oh look, the world didn't end after all", and everybody's mocking the mad man for making them think it's going to happen any minute now. Then, the song ends with a fairly dark note, indicating that the lurking danger isn't over.

Apart from that, the transition to the guitar solo without the vocal part sounds illogical and awkward, unless you cut even more from the song, still taking more away from the gravity of the subject.

Speaking of subject gravity...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOnC5X8rWi0

[QUOTE] [b]JacquesDaniels wrote:[/b]

Damn, that shortened "single" version just reminds me how important the middle vocal bit is there. When I first heard the song, I actually had a nightmare because it gave such powerful imagery of the idea behind a man's useless cry for help when the world is about to end, which it eventually will, although no-one will ever listen and act on it. I always thought the vocal bit is more about the slow and uncontrollable destruction of mankind in one possible future, which concludes in a seemingly happy ending "oh look, the world didn't end after all", and everybody's mocking the mad man for making them think it's going to happen any minute now. Then, the song ends with a fairly dark note, indicating that the lurking danger isn't over.
[/QUOTE]

Excellent interpretation.

The middle part of The Prophet's Song has always reminded me a little of (a modern take on) the medieval vocal-composition style called organum. I found that appropriate considering the imagery of the song.

When I first got ANATO I loved the album, but The Prophets Song was something I just had to go back to over and over again, the mood, the story, the light and shade and that vocal section, although very different, seemed to echo what the earlier albums had been about. A true epic.

i always felt it was a bit "forced"..almost like Queen trying too hard to be like Genesis/Yes/Zep

Even if that's the case, what's wrong with that? For millennia, artists have been influenced by their peers and took things a step further.

But in this case - there's nothing in the world that sounds like that track, before or since. Side B of A Night At The Opera is by far the most interesting, creative and unique side of music in the Queen catalog. Every note is timeless perfection.