Personal Story Songs written by Queen Members

Costa86 wrote:

Truly one of the very few bands which can be considered magical, and I am very proud to be a big fan.

This is how i feel about Queen too.
I love other bands dearly as well - The Beatles, Abba, and others, - but Queen are a band whose music represented real life at the end of it.

Other bands just break up and that´s it. No big story about it!

In Queen´s case there is this aura surrouding the band. It only came to an end because Freddie died, and in the last couple of years, their art was a representation of their lives and what was happening.

Without Freddie´s experience there would not have been Queen as we know it today. They took that particular part of their experience and turned it into beautiful music. And like a movie with an excellent soundtrack, in the end, it made all of it make sense. Their music was in perfect synch with their lives and feelings, and that is indeed magical!

And while other artists are honest too, when they´re dealing with divorce and break-ups, Queen were dealing with the supreme question of life and death, and that is what made their music connect with so many people, and become timeless.

For me personally, Queen´s music in this period is at the same level - emotionally speaking - as for example Tchaikovsky´s 6th Symphony, who many consider to be his goodbye letter to the world.

The first time i heard "Mother Love" i cried like a baby. For the first time in Queen´s career i felt that Freddie was sad singing a song. It was so palpable! He sounded hopeless and vulnerable, and that was hard for me to digest. And in a way, it still is!

IanR wrote:
-- "BACK TO THE LIGHT": Brian's metaphor for coming through a bad bout of depression, but also a literal reference to retreating to the sunshine of LA, where "the streets are paved with gold".

Ah yes, and I'd say 'Resurrection' is about the very same feelings.

No-One But You springs to mind, personal and very emotional. Maybe Let Me Live as well?


Tom

Some Things That Glitter may be about Fred.

I am surprised there hasn't been more mention of Mother Love. I don't think Freddie ever wrote a more personal lyric then when he sang about confronting his own death:

I've walked too long in this lonely lane
I've had enough of this same old game
I'm a man of the world, they say that I'm strong
But my heart is heavy and my hope is gone

Jam Monkey wrote:

I am surprised there hasn't been more mention of Mother Love. I don't think Freddie ever wrote a more personal lyric then when he sang about confronting his own death:

I've walked too long in this lonely lane
I've had enough of this same old game
I'm a man of the world, they say that I'm strong
But my heart is heavy and my hope is gone

Didn't Freddie was a cowriter in that song, with Brian as the main composer?

What I read about Mother Love is that Freddie wrote the lyrics and Brian composed the music.

Enchlore wrote:

What I read about Mother Love is that Freddie wrote the lyrics and Brian composed the music.

Interesting - I thought they were Brian's lyrics.

Anyone have some hard facts on this?

I remember the mention of the writing process of Mother Love in the Days Of Our Lives documentary. Brian, supposedly, wrote each line in pieces of paper, and then gave them to Freddie to sing them.

So, Brian was the writer of the song, and Freddie maybe made the piano part - but it isn't too complicated, which leads me to think that maybe that isn't Freddie's piece (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3UHN9inAYw)

BETA215 wrote:

Killer_queenIII wrote:

Freddie wrote Bicycle Race after seeing the Tour de France from his hotel

Source? That assumption is already busted, so I want to know where you heard/read it.

No, that story is true. What's wrong (and is usually reported on- and off-line) is that Fred saw the race from his hotel in Nice ... it was from his hotel in Montreux, that's all.

As for 'Mother Love', it seems that they were both involved in its music and they were both also involved in its lyrics.

The Loser in the End - is about mother/son relationship which probably reflects to his relationship with his own mother who never really saw him as a musician, especially early in his career.

I'm in Love with My Car was about Jonathan Harris's love of cars, not Roger's.

"I remember my car at the time, because I think we've got the exhaust on the record, and that was a little Alfa Romeo. But I think it was more about people in general, for instance boy racers. In particular we had a sound guy/roadie at the time called Jonathan Harris, who was in love with his car, and that inspired that. I think he had a TR4, Triumph TR4."

Roger Taylor - 16/11/1997, Pop On the Line

RMT Fan wrote:

Jonathan Harris, who was in love with his car, and that inspired that. I think he had a TR4, Triumph TR4."

Roger Taylor - 16/11/1997, Pop On the Line

Interestingly enough, Roger recently claimed (FC Q&A 2015) Jonathan's car was a Ferrari Dino.

So, either he had both a TR4 and a Dino and being a Queen roadie (*before* they became superstars thanks to 'Bo Rhap') was quite profitable (I mean, the Dino wasn't a pricey vehicle, but to own both that *and* a vintage TR4...), or Mr Harris was really in love with cars and was really good at saving and budgeting (after all, he could've got them second hand, washed and polished them himself and spent all his income on petrol), or good old Rog's memory has become quite inaccurate (remember the 'Man on Fire' comment?).

Yes, I remember the comment and I did laugh a lot! Taking that into account, The Cross would have formed around 1983, that's a new occurance! I rather not think what he could tell about Heaven for Everyone. From his diary it looks like it was also written around 1983/4... It's only good that he's too lazy and probably not THAT selfish to write his autobio because then we would have a lot of stories to refute.