Freddie's language skills and his apparent lack of interest in reading

^^^ this.

Even someone with the lyrical skills if Neil Peart sometimes borrowed lines or phrases. Admittedly his ability to write strongly never seemed to deminish. But the point about the writing process becoming like any other job is quite true for a lot of people.

[QUOTE] [b]dudeofqueen wrote:[/b]

brENsKi, ree:

>IGSM

Hardly a masterpiece. The bulk of the lyrc for that song is taken from generic phrases used in common parlance that he borrowed and knitted (albeit cleverly) together:

missing one final screw
not in the pink
one card short of a full deck
not quite the shilling
One wave short of a shipwreck
not my usual top billing
really out to sea
knitting with only one needle
driving only three wheels

Had he invented the phrases then, yep - absolutely a work of genius, but......[/QUOTE]

I think these lyrics describe his state of health in disguise

[QUOTE] [b]runner_70 wrote:[/b]I think these lyrics describe his state of health in disguise[/QUOTE]
in a very clever way, to boot! there's a "dementia" undertow to the lyric. Talking about the taboo as if it's all a big joke - when really, the underlying illness (causing the fogginess) is what's really being alluded to. It gives the song strength in depth.

@dudeofqueen - the genius also lies in the opening lines (none of which are common phrases/parlance:
[b][i]When the outside temperature rises
And the meaning is oh so clear
One thousand and one yellow daffodils
Begin to dance in front of you, oh dear
Are they trying to tell you something?[/b][/i]

this is Freddie's own way of explaining "Spring Madness" - alluding to the listlessness some feel with the arrival of warmer weather. the genius is that this opening is his feeder line for rattling off a load of madness idioms.

I feel the song (lyrically) is genius, but slightly off topic (as the thread is about lyrics) there's also the melody which has some very discordant / unusual arrangements. genius too. The madness thing is offset by some beautiful harmonies straight out of ADATR's Somebody To Love, GOFL and YTMBA. Those harmonies should NOT work with that melody, but they really do.

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]runner_70 wrote:[/b]I think these lyrics describe his state of health in disguise[/QUOTE]
in a very clever way, to boot! there's a "dementia" undertow to the lyric. Talking about the taboo as if it's all a big joke - when really, the underlying illness (causing the fogginess) is what's really being alluded to. It gives the song strength in depth.

I feel the song (lyrically) is genius, but slightly off topic (as the thread is about lyrics) there's also the melody which has some very discordant / unusual arrangements. genius too. The madness thing is offset by some beautiful harmonies straight out of ADATR's Somebody To Love, GOFL and YTMBA. Those harmonies should NOT work with that melody, but they really do.

[/QUOTE]

Amazing song and video. Legendary

heard a lot about Freddy Mercury's language skills. Someone doubts credibility, someone just accepts that information.

[QUOTE] [b]Veyeynae wrote:[/b]

heard a lot about Freddy Mercury's language skills. Someone doubts credibility, someone just accepts that information.[/QUOTE]

Who's that Freddy guy?

[QUOTE] [b]runner_70 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]runner_70 wrote:[/b]I think these lyrics describe his state of health in disguise[/QUOTE]
in a very clever way, to boot! there's a "dementia" undertow to the lyric. Talking about the taboo as if it's all a big joke - when really, the underlying illness (causing the fogginess) is what's really being alluded to. It gives the song strength in depth.

I feel the song (lyrically) is genius, but slightly off topic (as the thread is about lyrics) there's also the melody which has some very discordant / unusual arrangements. genius too. The madness thing is offset by some beautiful harmonies straight out of ADATR's Somebody To Love, GOFL and YTMBA. Those harmonies should NOT work with that melody, but they really do.

[/QUOTE]

Amazing song and video. Legendary[/QUOTE]

Yes, sadly underrated.

We do know from books on Freddie that he spent lots of time studying catalogs on art, and in preparation for auctions of art and furnishings and such he spent time researching things. That is where his knowledge came from, at least in the 80s as he was working on Garden Lodge. So when it came to art and decorating Freddie did read and do research, he just didn’t sit down and read fictional books, etc.

Also, on I’m Going Slightly Mad, it is detailed in a few interviews with Peter Straker and Peter Freestone (Phoebe)...Freddie was having trouble with some phrasing and rhyming for the song and came home and asked for their help. There was a rollicking (yes...drinks involved!) multi-hour session where they all came up with different phrases for going mad, which is where these came from. So even that was not all Freddie!