US references?

I noticed in a few songs that Queen mentioned some US specific things. Here are two examples:

1. Mentioend the CIA and FBI in The Invisible Man

2. Mentioned Watergate in Bicycle Race

My question is, did the rest of the world know what the CIA/FBI/Watergate was? I'd assume yes, since they put it in the song. How is the rest of the world so familar with the US? I, for example, do not know the British equivalent of the CIA or FBI. And was Watergate THAT big that the whole world knew about it? I wasn't born until the 1980's so I don't have a good historical basis which I'm sure most people on the boards do. I would expect most know what the CIA is nowadays because of the situation with the terrorism, but in the 1970's?? Some historical help would be appreciated!

PS - I couldn't decide if this belonged on the Queen or Personal board. Forgive me if you do not thing this is the right place for it

It was just for fun. That is what Queen wants you to believe.

oh dear...

Watergate did lead to the resignation of President Nixon, and even now whenever there's any type of scandal the media insists on using the suffix -gate to mention it, so yeah, I'd say it was big enough for the world outside the US (yes, there is one!) to have known about it. We aren't all pygmies and savages with no links to the world headlines you know.

Imagine if George Bush resigned today from scandal. It is not hard to assume that it would be all over world press and discussed for some time. That's essentially what Watergate did, so yes, it is fair to say that most of the world were familiar with the term when Queen used it.

As for CIA and FBI, it's not as clear if people really understood what they are. They were probably terms that people couldn't define, but they had certainly seen them in the press or heard of them on TV/radio. Besides, FBI was a song by Hank Marvin and The Shadows in the 1960s, so there is some pre-existing usage in the British music scene.

and these were by no means Queen's first US references
Now I'm Here was Brian's song inspired by their first US tour

If only I could leave threads like this alone...

1. You use being born in the 80s as an excuse for not knowing 70s history, despite being on a website for a band who did most of their best work (esp in your country) in the 70s. Have you never listened to Bohemian Rhapsody?

2. You assume that the rest of the world is as ignorant of the US as you are of the rest of the world. Go look up insular.

3. The US has CIA & FBI, the UK has MI5 & MI6. The US had Watergate, the UK had Profumo. THese sort of things are mentioned in James Bond films, Silence Of The Lambs, The X Files, All The Presidents Men, Rocky Horror, and many other films/TV on the fringes of culture....

Eejit.

I was always taught that the world was filled with three types of people...

- Informed
- Uninformed
- Misinformed

(of which, either the second or third categories are just as bad as each other).

I see that Queenzone again defies all logic and has come up with a fourth category. A kind of PG/Father Jack hybrid - "Ferkin Eejits".

And all this from a nation which had to rename "The Madness of King George The Third" to "The Madness of King George" because they were looking for two earlier prequals!

John S Stuart wrote:
I was always taught that the world was filled with three types of people...
- Informed
- Uniformed
- Missinformed
(of which, either 2 or 3 are as bad as each other)

why are those who have to wear uniforms for a living as bad as the MISinformed?

Let me finish the reply first!