My Q will you do a similar series on Electric light orchestra I think they deserve a series and the band Marillion the are such a musical extravaganza especially their work with orchestras. Thanks
Amy, if you wouldn't understand a word of English, would you enjoy this song? If so, what would you enjoy, what kind of feelings does the music itself (the chords, the rhythms, the melodies, the harmonies, the sounds, the dynamics, the diversity, the power of it all) give you?
This was the second song Freddie wrote about Sheffield. The first was Flick of the Wrist from Sheer Heart Attack. "flick of the wrist" being a term for signing a contract. They didn't receive royalties for the first three albums, they were on salary. When John got married and his wife had a baby he asked for an advance to buy a house and was refused. Freddie was so angry he refused to write anymore and the hunt for a new manager was started. Brian said if A Night At the Opera didn't do well they would have had to split up. John Reid took over and told them to go and do the best album they could and he would take care of the business. John got royalties from You're My Best Friend and finally could buy a house, Brian's song '39 was on the B-side and made the same amount of money. Freddie got royalties from Bohemian Rhapsody and Roger Taylor got the same amount from his song being on the B side, I'm In Love With My Car. A happy time for all four.👏Thank you for your insight. I hope you do Seaside Rendezvous.
@richardbradbury9105 And it's up for debate if Great King Rat is also about Sheffield. At some point during the Sheer Heart Attack Tour, Freddie started introducing this song as being written for a nasty old man he knew
Great King Rat was written long before Queen met the Sheffield brothers at Trident. It was on the 5-track demo recorded at De Lane Lea in 1971 for starters.
One has to be a guitarist to realize how unusual the guitar parts are in this song. Outside the box doesn't even come close to describing it. Completely atypical. But this is Brian May we're talking about here. he is my favorite guitar player for several reasons: Firstly, many of his solos are very much "cantabile". More often than not I have the feeling that when he wrote a solo he thought of vocal melodies. Secondly, he can be quiet or even silent if that's what the song requires and very few guitarists have this ability. Guitar players are typically loud, they love to be heard, to dominate the soundscape at all times. Brian May serves the song. There are Queen songs in which you can barely hear his instrument, or not at all, or in which he only plays a minor but very essential part. Lastly, the sound of his instrument is unique, immediately recognizable. He built his own guitar (he named it Red Special and nowadays we can buy commercial replicas), and being a physicist he heavily modified his amplifiers and effects. Besides, he has his own style of vibrato, he shapes his lines in a unique manner. Not to mention that he doesn't use a regular pick, but 6 penny coins which are not even in circulation anymore, he gets his supply of coins from British banks. As a side effect, there are always very fine metal shavings under his strings.
I agree with your comment except for giving him credit to step back he didnt always do that graciously! He was still salty years later that Freddie wouldn't let him put more guitar on dont stop me now! But normally he would respect what Freddie had wrote for him then di his solo But fir dsmn he qas quite determined, he ifnired Freddie and wtote guitar parts anyway just for Freddie to still say no!
Brian didn't play with amps. That was John, who was an electrical engineer. He built the Deaky amp from a junk radio amplifier and gave Brian that unique sound.
@@gjmarr1 True. Brian's doctorate is in astrophysics - which he completed in 2007, having put his research on long-term hiatus in favour of his music career. John was the electronics engineer, as shown by the Deacy Box. 👍
Yes!!! It's amazing on it's own, but that transition into 'Love of my Life' ... Just, perfection 🤌🤌🤌 Also it features a harp-like sound that Brian May made on a toy koto 😅
Freddie was known as the sweetest, kindest most generous of people! I read somewhere that this manager refused money for John to put down money for a house, and told Roger to stop breaking his drum sticks whilst he himself was riding around in a Rolls Royce. I imagine that would make Freddie furious!
In fact you are very wrong hahaha, people didn't like Freddie very much, he had an exaggerated ego, in 1977 the NME magazine gave him an award for bastard of the year, and in 1978 in another magazine's polls he was in the top 10 of the most hated people of the year
It's interesting that he was more furious on John's behalf than on his own. Lesson - don't piss Freddie off! I know this is why he turns his bum to the audience in concerts. It's a F*** you to their ex manager.
Conclusion: never piss Freddie off! 🤣 Freddie said it: "I was changing lyrics every day, trying to get it as vicious as possible. I was a demon for a few days." I can imagine that! The band members had no money, but even worse they were in debts up to their necks. When John Reid and Jim Beach (the band's lawyer later their manager) made them off the Trident contract, they had to pay 100 000 pounds to the Trident who also got 1 pence after all sold records of the next 6 albums released.
Or do piss Freddie off, because it will make him write one of his best songs ever. I love this song. It's one of my favourites. And to be able to be able to turn the anger, rage, and unfairness of how they've been wronged into such a great song; to to channel their anger in a constructive instead of destructive way, that makes them better people than most. Others might have done something terrible to let out their anger, but Queen put it all in this song instead.
The boys were barely making any money. When Roger broke his drumsticks they refused to reimburse him. John had gotten married and wanted a loan to buy a house and they turned him down. However, the executives were driving around in new luxury vehicles. I can’t imagine how much money the management company lost over the years when Queen left them. Just goes to show that greed doesn’t win. John took over overseeing money matters for the group. Freddie said that they don’t do anything without John’s approval. I really, hope you do The Prophet Song.
An absolute masterpiece. It's the consummate Queen song. I still get chills when the guitar goes from center into the left and right channels. That's the sword going through Sheffield.
I love that piano part in the opening - the syncopation is just fantastic. I kind of wish it had gone on longer or that the piano part was played again later in the song. This was one of my favorite songs as a kid.
Even though John Deacon retired almost 30 years ago, Brian and Roger still run business/financial decisions through John. Queen learned the hard way, as most entertainers do, that you have to manage your brand/money yourself, or have someone you can trust 100%. Heck, even Billy Joel learned the hard way, even relatives can't be trusted.
Queen had put out three albums the last had Killer Queen, yet they were broke and in debt. If the Night At The Opera hadn't been a success they would have had to break up. They had a new manager and the new album. Fortunately Bohemian Rhapsody was a huge hit and Queen became the biggest band at that time, Sheffield should have been upright to Queen because they really raked in the money after they dropped him.. Brian felt bad playing this song because it was so harsh, Roger was all for it 😂. Great reaction.
With these more rocky numbers, I’m hoping songs like Seaside Rendezvous aren’t overlooked. It may, on the surface, sound a little like a novelty but it displays some great production and versatility.
...and THEN the segue into "I'm in love with my car"👌🏻 (always get a kick from 'reactors' finding out that not only can Roger belt out a tune, but does it while absolutely smashing the drums )
Yes yes these are all of the tunes that cemented Queen as a true force of the music industry. Those lesser known fun little songs. I’m so glad they weren’t overplayed on the airwaves!!
One of my favorite Queen songs, when I was much younger I picked up the album when it came out. I was flabbergasted when I played this song, I still laugh every single time I hear it. Beyond the humorous vitriol, the song is an absolute smash, it has it all. May's guitars are so dark and menacing, the drums heads most likely had to be replaced after this take. The whole thing is just pure awesome Queen at their best... And don't make Freddie mad :)
This intro, a river of notes!!! The most beautiful (althought violent) way to settle accounts. If I was Norman I'd never sue them but thanked them. "I'm the King Leech!!!"
3 hit albums under their belts and they were still scraping for food and shelter, this guy as he drives up in a new limo! He most certainly had it coming! This song was the opener for Night at the opera and what a great album it is!!! Every song, every lyric and every note, PERFECT!!!!!
Amy, by the time this was performed the band had found themselves a new manager, who told them to go make the best album they could and he would look after the business. When Brian first heard the lyrics he kind of cringed, but Freddie wrote the song it was his to do as he wanted.
Brian was and is a gentleman, so would have cringed at the forthright lyrics. He would have wanted revenge to be a little more subtle but totally agreed with the sentiment of Freddie’s lyrics.
Hello Amy... thank you so much for reacting (and enjoying) this song, it is definitely NOT Queen material per se, the dark and deviousness of it, but Freddie definitely got his point across, despite the reparations of the other members of the band... Now you know and understand the meaning of the "mooning" of the audience at every concert Queen performed, as it was Freddie's way of "saluting" the man that told him he could never make it as a rock star... guess he showed him, in song and in real life, our Freddie now a LIVING LEGEND so many years after his death... please listen to Brian's masterpiece "The Prophet's Song". In my opinion, it was just as good as BoRhap only sadly overlooked being on the same album... blessings for all you and your family for what you do or us... Love and Light.
John was the bookkeeper/financial watchdog of the band! I'm only at the beginning, but did you notice Brian's use of the harmonic minor scale? And Brian's fluttering sound, using the sixpence down the strings as an effect! I also never heard that higher note on the main rift that Brian plays!
Despite this song having a specific target, "(Dedicated to...)" allowed me to fill in the blank and frequently provided an outlet for my teenage angst. Brilliant!
You can understand the vitriol in the lyrics, if the band was basically broke, struggling to pay the rent etc. Yet they are seeing the management driving around in a brand new Rolls Royce.
I was OBSESSED with this song and the album as a whole back when it was released! Learned every vocal part and would sing out at the top of my lungs. Lol! ✌
Wore the grooves off this lp when it came out. Even as a 10 yr old kid, I knew he was mad at someone when he wrote this song only to find out the story several yrs later.
I love this song! One of my absolute favorite Queen songs. So vicious and a Mercury song through and through. I always loved Queen best when they went full-on hard-rock / metal. Hahaha they completely nullified that guy!
Hi 👋 Mrs. Amy, they’re great musicians with so many visionary ideas and the skills to write, arrange and play them. I “stop” to follow every single instruments overlapping, every single stereo effect every single coil of the guitar string scratched by the edge of the sixpence instead the pick, every single sincopato of the drumming (yes Roger Taylor always has the perfect pattern for each situation of each song, not a strike more, not one less than necessary, non invasive, not poor and anonymous). They’re wonderful and I think you’re the sensitive person who can explain their musicality and their genius so so so so well. Can you mention that in those albums, this one and “A day at the races”, almost all song are connected in series and often the outro of the previous is the intro (or connected at least) to the following one? For example after this one immediately starts ( I didn’t check, I remember it from more then 35 years ago) Lazing on a Sunday afternoon that seems calming down the atmosphere. Great first listen 👂 🥇
I love finding new bands(to me) and working through their back catalogue, I’ve recently did this with Volbeat but to just discover Queen with their huge back catalogue you really are in for a treat!
They're early work (QUEEN through A NIGHT AT THE OPERA) was so well organised and arranged. There's so much going on in every second of their songs, but you can tell every part was laboured over. They spent a lot of time on their songs. Lot of time.
"A night at the Opera" and "A day at the Races" are such **MASTERPIECES** ! I hope you give a listen to the entirety of both of them! I mean, even if we don't get to see the reactions, hearing songs like '"39", "you're my best friend", "seaside rendezvous", "you and I", "the millionaire waltz", and all the others... will just make anyone happier :)
This song is my therapy, whenever I'm feeling low or demotivated. This is one of the tracks I always select from my life's jukebox, as it never fails to raise my spirits and a smile. Peace All
Pure venom. I've loved it since first hearing it back in 1975. Norman Sheffield wasn't exactly the best business brain on the planet. He admitted his mistake later.
A Night at the Opera is my #1 favorite album of all time; for me it is sheer PERFECTION from beginning to end. (my #2 is The Wall, so I'm definitely gonna check out your series on that album as well)
The next song “Lazin on a Sunday afternoon”, as lighthearted as it is, it is so technically amazing! Back then, they never put out a song willynilly, even if it was a bit silly.
A similar story of a group being screwed by management happened to Bad Finger, Pete Ham and Tom Evans both took their own lives tragically. Pete and Tom wrote "Without you" made famous by Harry Nilsson. "Without You" is a song written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of British rock group Badfinger, and first released on their 1970 album No Dice. The power ballad has been recorded by tons of artists, and versions released as singles by Harry Nilsson (1971), and Mariah Carey (1994) became international best-sellers. The Nilsson version was included in 2021's Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Paul McCartney once described the ballad as "the killer song of all time". Bad Finger were on the Apple Label.
To really appreciate this song, one should listen to it with the following song together (Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon - which immediately proceeds it). Queen wrote many songs that were meant to be presented like that showing a contrast. For instance, 'The Fairy Fellars Master Stroke' leading in to 'Nevermore' and 'Flick of the Wrist' leading in to 'Lilly of the Valley' and so on. When one listens to the songs on the album as they are presented, many people thought that they were in fact one extended song.
This is probably my favorite song by Queen. It's so unapologetically hard, hard rock. But as I'm listening to it now., it has an underlying British Music Hall, Vaudeville feel to it. I can see a mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash character doing all his misdeeds and thievery in the background as the band plays the song upstage. Even the Chopin-like piano intro has a Silent Movie music hitch to its giddy-up.
What instigated al of this was that Queen had three hit albums and were on 50 pounds per week. John had just got married and asked Norman Sheffield for some of the money they had earned for a deposit on his house. He told John that he didn't owe him any money, whilst he was driving about in a Rolls Royce. Freddie wrote this as a consequence and they got out of their contract with him
if you ever get to the track that immediately follows this song i hope you hear the transition from one to the other because it's quite abrupt. right after the verbal tongue lashing of "death on two legs" queen does an about face with a very upbeat and happy tune called "lazing on a sunday afternoon" which sounds like it could have been written 100 years ago. you should give the whole album a listen start to finish on your own. it's a wonderful musical journey.
You couldn't really blame their feelings about the Sheffields, one story is that bassist John Deacon, for his wife and expecting their first child, asked for an advance to buy a small home, and the Sheffields wouldn't do it, they were all living in London flats and sales for "Queen II" and "Sheer Heart Attack" had been quite good. Contrary to the movie, John Reid only managed the band for a brief time until their affairs with Trident were resolved, and Jim Beech took over.
a lot of things in the film were misleading film John Reid 'discovered them' got their first performance of tv and their first US tour reality they had already released 3 albums, and had 2 hit singles, they were headlining UK and US they had 3 performances for both songs seven seas and killer Queen on TOTPs before meeting John Reid they were with Reid for night of the opera 75 - 78 that was the contract they agreed to, when it came to an end they didn't renew it they ad a good working relationship in general but Brian said they felt he was putting all his attention on Freddie and not the band but the film implied he was involved with them when Freddie was offered a deal for 2 solo albums which was in 83 5 years later! I don't understand why people recommend the film to understand Queens story it's so misleading and I hate how Freddie is portrayed
I bought this album when it first came out. I love this song, but had no idea back then that it was about a specific fellow. Knowing these details makes the song even better! : - )
Thank you again! - One of my most liked Queen-Songs! - P.S.: Good old Chopin had his way to give the middlefinger to people that deserve it (russians again ...)! Maybe not in the préludes, but in some études and polonaises he fought in his own way.
An Opera, as you know, is a collection of "Songs/Numbers/Arias" Please listen to the whole side of the album in one sitting, they where ment to be listen to in that order with no breaks
Not sure if you are going to revisit Queen ii and sheer heart attack, but a arguably those albums are the best Queen ever did, and you missed a lot of their songs. Hope you get back to the march of the black Queen or ogre battle.
This sub-topic of super-bands - being screwed over by managers & record companies in their early years and writing a hit song about it later - is quite common. It would be interesting to do a series about it. Two other great examples are “Barracuda” by Heart, and “Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd.
And Flick of the Wrist by Queen, Freddie's first attempt at venting his feelings about their manager. Badfinger got ripped off by their manager and lost everything. Two band members later committed suicide.
ELP's The Endless Enigma parts 1 & 2 with The Fugue in between (great great piano here), albeit aimed at the critics and not the managers, is a good one too.
Thank you so much Amy for your thoughtful insights. 'A night at the opera' has always been one of my favourite albums. It's so full of wonderfully contrasting, and well written songs. I do hope that when you finish your selection of songs from it, that you have the time to listen to the whole album. It's a masterpiece.
Happy you reacted to this, the song is usually missed by reactors. But, kinda wish you were reacting to the album itself. Because I think the cherry on top is that this song leads into something as light and airy as Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon!😂
Thank you so much for covering this simply amazing track. What i find incredible is how it flows right into seaside rendezvous. Your insight is superb and even though i have listened to this track thousands of times, I've never picked up on the drums tanning Sheffield's hide before!
I hope you will never have a reason for such a song ... but if, I would like to hear your harp version. It was perhaps important to place this revenge song as the first track on the album. It cleared the stage for an incredible playful, lighthearted and experimental album. I'd recommend to hear it completely at once, because it is a kind of concept album.
Queen, at their initial career, were forced to accept and sign a very bad contract with Trident. They were poor, with no money to even buy decent musical instruments (Brian build his iconic electric guitar from scratch). By their 3rd album, the band had already sold several millions of copies, with very little income. Flick Of The Wrist, from Sheer Heart Attack, is the song were they start showing their anger against the management. By 1975, Freddie must have said to himself "I have enough already! Let me knock this guy out! ", and wrote this one. Lol.
If you are going in album order I can't believe you've missed out so many great songs on Sheer Heart Attack, such as Lap of the Gods and Lap of the Gods (Revisited). Naughty Vlad!
Hello Amy! you should listen to The Millionaire Waltz just for the pleasure of listening to Freddie's appreciation for John Reid - you know, the guy who saved them from the "shark". It's a delight just like your reactions!
The brilliance of this song is that you don't have to know anything about the subject to enjoy it. I heard it for years and knew nothing of it. It just works as a great song and fantastic opener to a classic album. An example of the opposite way to go with this subject matter is Get In The Ring from Guns n Roses. Axl just slams people and calls them out by name and curses them with zero creativity.
That piano opening reminds me of a cartoon I once saw, where a handle-bar mustachioed villain, was tying a damsel to a railroad track. I can't remember the name of the cartoon, but that piano reminds me of the background music.
Amy, I wish you'd listen to the entire "Night At The Opera" album, all of the tracks really flow well into one another, this track flows into Freddie's whimsical "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" then Roger's fun rocker "I'm In Love With My Car" and John's "You're My Best Friend" then Brian's "39", etc... the whole album really works.
This reaction inspired me to listen through the whole album, and it struck me how well the songs flow into one another, all the way to the gong at the end of Bo Rap and the going into God Save the Queen. I almost want to stand at attention. 😉
I loved Amy's commentary on the target of the song. He was greedy, arrogant and was screwing over the band. They were barely getting enough money to get by. Unfortunately, it isn't a story limited to Queen. A lot of rock bands got screwed over by their management and recording contracts. They were young and inexperienced in learning how to avoid such ruthless recording industry and management types. Brian May really gets a lot of different and unique sounds out of his guitar on this one. His overall guitar work on this is incredible.
They signed a reall bad contract with Trident. But it was really John who was first to broke it (our sweet humble and quiet John) because they didn't lend him the money for a downpayment for a house, which he was to buy because having a bride and a family on the way. They told Roger not to break more drumsticks (they said couldn't afford buying new ones) but he saw Sheffield driving his new Rolls Royce... Freddie was so mad that he was changing the lyrics of the song a lot when he was writing it, just to sound as venom as it could be ... 😂 And in every Queen concert from then on, Freddie turned his his back to the audience and shined his rear as the sign of satisfaction kicking that person of ... "now you can kiss my arse goodbye" 😅 Sheffield became known as "the man who lost Queen" 😮 (it has really must have ached his bank account a lot 😂)
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My Q will you do a similar series on Electric light orchestra I think they deserve a series and the band Marillion the are such a musical extravaganza especially their work with orchestras. Thanks
Amy, if you wouldn't understand a word of English, would you enjoy this song? If so, what would you enjoy, what kind of feelings does the music itself (the chords, the rhythms, the melodies, the harmonies, the sounds, the dynamics, the diversity, the power of it all) give you?
@@BigSky1 The lowest tier. That's what I do.
@@splitimage137. Thank you.
This was the second song Freddie wrote about Sheffield. The first was Flick of the Wrist from Sheer Heart Attack. "flick of the wrist" being a term for signing a contract. They didn't receive royalties for the first three albums, they were on salary. When John got married and his wife had a baby he asked for an advance to buy a house and was refused. Freddie was so angry he refused to write anymore and the hunt for a new manager was started. Brian said if A Night At the Opera didn't do well they would have had to split up. John Reid took over and told them to go and do the best album they could and he would take care of the business. John got royalties from You're My Best Friend and finally could buy a house, Brian's song '39 was on the B-side and made the same amount of money. Freddie got royalties from Bohemian Rhapsody and Roger Taylor got the same amount from his song being on the B side, I'm In Love With My Car. A happy time for all four.👏Thank you for your insight. I hope you do Seaside Rendezvous.
Didn’t realise Flick of the wrist was written about Sheffield as well 👍
@richardbradbury9105 And it's up for debate if Great King Rat is also about Sheffield. At some point during the Sheer Heart Attack Tour, Freddie started introducing this song as being written for a nasty old man he knew
Similar thing happened to Jefferson Airplane. had a ten-year law suit before getting any royalties, per Grace Slick's memoir.
@@chewymew Think Great King Rat was wrote about a teacher at his boarding school
Great King Rat was written long before Queen met the Sheffield brothers at Trident. It was on the 5-track demo recorded at De Lane Lea in 1971 for starters.
One has to be a guitarist to realize how unusual the guitar parts are in this song. Outside the box doesn't even come close to describing it. Completely atypical. But this is Brian May we're talking about here. he is my favorite guitar player for several reasons:
Firstly, many of his solos are very much "cantabile". More often than not I have the feeling that when he wrote a solo he thought of vocal melodies.
Secondly, he can be quiet or even silent if that's what the song requires and very few guitarists have this ability. Guitar players are typically loud, they love to be heard, to dominate the soundscape at all times. Brian May serves the song. There are Queen songs in which you can barely hear his instrument, or not at all, or in which he only plays a minor but very essential part.
Lastly, the sound of his instrument is unique, immediately recognizable. He built his own guitar (he named it Red Special and nowadays we can buy commercial replicas), and being a physicist he heavily modified his amplifiers and effects. Besides, he has his own style of vibrato, he shapes his lines in a unique manner.
Not to mention that he doesn't use a regular pick, but 6 penny coins which are not even in circulation anymore, he gets his supply of coins from British banks. As a side effect, there are always very fine metal shavings under his strings.
I agree with your comment except for giving him credit to step back he didnt always do that graciously!
He was still salty years later that Freddie wouldn't let him put more guitar on dont stop me now!
But normally he would respect what Freddie had wrote for him then di his solo
But fir dsmn he qas quite determined, he ifnired Freddie and wtote guitar parts anyway just for Freddie to still say no!
@@bluebell3720 Yes and he had to step back on Under Pressure because he couldn't have the input he wanted.
Brian didn't play with amps. That was John, who was an electrical engineer. He built the Deaky amp from a junk radio amplifier and gave Brian that unique sound.
@@gjmarr1 True. Brian's doctorate is in astrophysics - which he completed in 2007, having put his research on long-term hiatus in favour of his music career. John was the electronics engineer, as shown by the Deacy Box. 👍
Like if she needs to do "The Prophets Song" from this album!
Yes, I've been hoping for that.
Yes!! Thank You!!
Yes!!! It's amazing on it's own, but that transition into 'Love of my Life' ... Just, perfection 🤌🤌🤌
Also it features a harp-like sound that Brian May made on a toy koto 😅
Freddie was known as the sweetest, kindest most generous of people! I read somewhere that this manager refused money for John to put down money for a house, and told Roger to stop breaking his drum sticks whilst he himself was riding around in a Rolls Royce. I imagine that would make Freddie furious!
True story!
Norman Sheffield had just bought his second Rolls Royce. I think it was Taylor who commented on it later.
In fact you are very wrong hahaha, people didn't like Freddie very much, he had an exaggerated ego, in 1977 the NME magazine gave him an award for bastard of the year, and in 1978 in another magazine's polls he was in the top 10 of the most hated people of the year
It's interesting that he was more furious on John's behalf than on his own. Lesson - don't piss Freddie off! I know this is why he turns his bum to the audience in concerts. It's a F*** you to their ex manager.
This entire album is a masterpiece.
Their best album
Every single song on it is amazing
I think everyone is wanting you to go back and do 'March of the Black Queen' and perhaps 'White Quuen (as it began)' from Queen II.
Also 'My Fairy King'
INDEED
If Amy does, “White Queen” I hope she does the live version from the Hammersmith Odeon 1975!
Instrumentation aside, I kind of love that this song is just a several minutes-long middle finger from Mercury and the rest of the band.
"You're a sewer rat decaying in a cesspool of pride" is the most eloquently beautiful fuck you I have ever heard
Conclusion: never piss Freddie off! 🤣
Freddie said it: "I was changing lyrics every day, trying to get it as vicious as possible. I was a demon for a few days." I can imagine that! The band members had no money, but even worse they were in debts up to their necks. When John Reid and Jim Beach (the band's lawyer later their manager) made them off the Trident contract, they had to pay 100 000 pounds to the Trident who also got 1 pence after all sold records of the next 6 albums released.
Or do piss Freddie off, because it will make him write one of his best songs ever.
I love this song. It's one of my favourites. And to be able to be able to turn the anger, rage, and unfairness of how they've been wronged into such a great song; to to channel their anger in a constructive instead of destructive way, that makes them better people than most. Others might have done something terrible to let out their anger, but Queen put it all in this song instead.
This was Queen in their prime. 😊
I haven't heard this song in at least 40 years. WOW!!! As always, a great analysis and reaction. 👍
Seriously, "39" or "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" are amazing.
The boys were barely making any money. When Roger broke his drumsticks they refused to reimburse him. John had gotten married and wanted a loan to buy a house and they turned him down. However, the executives were driving around in new luxury vehicles. I can’t imagine how much money the management company lost over the years when Queen left them. Just goes to show that greed doesn’t win. John took over overseeing money matters for the group. Freddie said that they don’t do anything without John’s approval. I really, hope you do The Prophet Song.
I've read that when you see Freddie turn and present his derriere to the audience at a live performance, it's a reference to this song.
He aims his derrière at the journalists area. 😂
An absolute masterpiece. It's the consummate Queen song. I still get chills when the guitar goes from center into the left and right channels. That's the sword going through Sheffield.
Sheer bloody poetry.
I love that piano part in the opening - the syncopation is just fantastic. I kind of wish it had gone on longer or that the piano part was played again later in the song. This was one of my favorite songs as a kid.
Even though John Deacon retired almost 30 years ago, Brian and Roger still run business/financial decisions through John. Queen learned the hard way, as most entertainers do, that you have to manage your brand/money yourself, or have someone you can trust 100%.
Heck, even Billy Joel learned the hard way, even relatives can't be trusted.
I claim that this was one of Brian May`s best guitar pieces, exquisitly setting the tone and mood of the song. He is a master in this.
The lyrics were clear, obvious, and well deserved.
Queen had put out three albums the last had Killer Queen, yet they were broke and in debt. If the Night At The Opera hadn't been a success they would have had to break up. They had a new manager and the new album. Fortunately Bohemian Rhapsody was a huge hit and Queen became the biggest band at that time, Sheffield should have been upright to Queen because they really raked in the money after they dropped him.. Brian felt bad playing this song because it was so harsh, Roger was all for it 😂. Great reaction.
With these more rocky numbers, I’m hoping songs like Seaside Rendezvous aren’t overlooked. It may, on the surface, sound a little like a novelty but it displays some great production and versatility.
I have Night at the Opera on CD and borrowed the LP previously. I keep expecting "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" to follow this song.
@@WayneKitchingabsolutely, that one too
...and THEN the segue into "I'm in love with my car"👌🏻 (always get a kick from 'reactors' finding out that not only can Roger belt out a tune, but does it while absolutely smashing the drums )
Yes yes these are all of the tunes that cemented Queen as a true force of the music industry. Those lesser known fun little songs. I’m so glad they weren’t overplayed on the airwaves!!
I was kind of disappointed that My Fairy King was not reviewed from Q1.🙁
One of my favorite Queen songs, when I was much younger I picked up the album when it came out. I was flabbergasted when I played this song, I still laugh every single time I hear it. Beyond the humorous vitriol, the song is an absolute smash, it has it all. May's guitars are so dark and menacing, the drums heads most likely had to be replaced after this take. The whole thing is just pure awesome Queen at their best... And don't make Freddie mad :)
This intro, a river of notes!!! The most beautiful (althought violent) way to settle accounts. If I was Norman I'd never sue them but thanked them. "I'm the King Leech!!!"
And, on the album, this deliciously vicious song goes right into Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon haha
I hear them inadvertently saying, "Oh, did you say you wanted MORE MUSIC?!? WELL, Here You Go!!
I'm here really early because I'm tired of missing the first couple of minutes - every time!
3 hit albums under their belts and they were still scraping for food and shelter, this guy as he drives up in a new limo! He most certainly had it coming! This song was the opener for Night at the opera and what a great album it is!!! Every song, every lyric and every note, PERFECT!!!!!
Had the guy been nice to the band, nobody would know about him - and now he's got immortalized for generations to come. :))
Hope next will be The March of the Black Queen, from the Queen II album
Got to follow that with White Queen (As it Began)
Black Queen definitely the predecessor to Bo Rhapsody. Wouldn’t you agree?
@@estebanherrera9918 that's even a mini Opera 😁
Amy, by the time this was performed the band had found themselves a new manager, who told them to go make the best album they could and he would look after the business. When Brian first heard the lyrics he kind of cringed, but Freddie wrote the song it was his to do as he wanted.
Brian was and is a gentleman, so would have cringed at the forthright lyrics.
He would have wanted revenge to be a little more subtle but totally agreed with the sentiment of Freddie’s lyrics.
The production on this track is awesome!
Hello Amy... thank you so much for reacting (and enjoying) this song, it is definitely NOT Queen material per se, the dark and deviousness of it, but Freddie definitely got his point across, despite the reparations of the other members of the band... Now you know and understand the meaning of the "mooning" of the audience at every concert Queen performed, as it was Freddie's way of "saluting" the man that told him he could never make it as a rock star... guess he showed him, in song and in real life, our Freddie now a LIVING LEGEND so many years after his death... please listen to Brian's masterpiece "The Prophet's Song". In my opinion, it was just as good as BoRhap only sadly overlooked being on the same album... blessings for all you and your family for what you do or us... Love and Light.
Imagine hearing that song for the first time and thinking
"Hey, that's me! They're talkin' about ME!"
John was the bookkeeper/financial watchdog of the band! I'm only at the beginning, but did you notice Brian's use of the harmonic minor scale? And Brian's fluttering sound, using the sixpence down the strings as an effect! I also never heard that higher note on the main rift that Brian plays!
I was hoping you'd cover this song! One of my favorites!
Despite this song having a specific target, "(Dedicated to...)" allowed me to fill in the blank and frequently provided an outlet for my teenage angst. Brilliant!
Yes! Great song for teenaged years...I used it myself a few times back in the day 😁
You can understand the vitriol in the lyrics, if the band was basically broke, struggling to pay the rent etc. Yet they are seeing the management driving around in a brand new Rolls Royce.
one of the key elements of this song is the use of Stereo panning. Queen was attacking Left, Right and "Centre"
I was OBSESSED with this song and the album as a whole back when it was released! Learned every vocal part and would sing out at the top of my lungs. Lol! ✌
Me too! Weren't those the best days?!
Wore the grooves off this lp when it came out. Even as a 10 yr old kid, I knew he was mad at someone when he wrote this song only to find out the story several yrs later.
first time in '75 heard that May riff here at 4:15 , did a double take in my car..like wtf was that i just heard ? skullduggery
I love this song! One of my absolute favorite Queen songs. So vicious and a Mercury song through and through. I always loved Queen best when they went full-on hard-rock / metal.
Hahaha they completely nullified that guy!
Hi 👋 Mrs. Amy, they’re great musicians with so many visionary ideas and the skills to write, arrange and play them. I “stop” to follow every single instruments overlapping, every single stereo effect every single coil of the guitar string scratched by the edge of the sixpence instead the pick, every single sincopato of the drumming (yes Roger Taylor always has the perfect pattern for each situation of each song, not a strike more, not one less than necessary, non invasive, not poor and anonymous). They’re wonderful and I think you’re the sensitive person who can explain their musicality and their genius so so so so well.
Can you mention that in those albums, this one and “A day at the races”, almost all song are connected in series and often the outro of the previous is the intro (or connected at least) to the following one? For example after this one immediately starts ( I didn’t check, I remember it from more then 35 years ago) Lazing on a Sunday afternoon that seems calming down the atmosphere.
Great first listen 👂 🥇
Flawless
I love finding new bands(to me) and working through their back catalogue, I’ve recently did this with Volbeat but to just discover Queen with their huge back catalogue you really are in for a treat!
I’m on Freddie’s side and always will be 😂 💛
They're early work (QUEEN through A NIGHT AT THE OPERA) was so well organised and arranged. There's so much going on in every second of their songs, but you can tell every part was laboured over. They spent a lot of time on their songs. Lot of time.
"A night at the Opera" and "A day at the Races" are such **MASTERPIECES** ! I hope you give a listen to the entirety of both of them!
I mean, even if we don't get to see the reactions, hearing songs like '"39", "you're my best friend", "seaside rendezvous", "you and I", "the millionaire waltz", and all the others... will just make anyone happier :)
I’m so glad you named “You and I” - I have a particular love for John Deacon’s songs of that era, especially ❤
@@imweakfordeaky of course! His songs are some of the sweetest! And that one in particular is my fav of him :)
My two very favorites “A Night at the Opera” and “A Day at the Races” - named for the classic Marx Brothers movies
One of my favourite Queen songs. The choirs in this one are so powerful !
This song is my therapy, whenever I'm feeling low or demotivated. This is one of the tracks I always select from my life's jukebox, as it never fails to raise my spirits and a smile. Peace All
Predecesor song to Death On Two Legs was a song from the album-Sheere Heart Attack - Flick Of The Wrist!
Pure venom. I've loved it since first hearing it back in 1975. Norman Sheffield wasn't exactly the best business brain on the planet. He admitted his mistake later.
A Night at the Opera is my #1 favorite album of all time; for me it is sheer PERFECTION from beginning to end. (my #2 is The Wall, so I'm definitely gonna check out your series on that album as well)
The lesson is: Don't Piss Off Freddie.
The next song “Lazin on a Sunday afternoon”, as lighthearted as it is, it is so technically amazing! Back then, they never put out a song willynilly, even if it was a bit silly.
A similar story of a group being screwed by management happened to Bad Finger, Pete Ham and Tom Evans both took their own lives tragically. Pete and Tom wrote "Without you" made famous by Harry Nilsson.
"Without You" is a song written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of British rock group Badfinger, and first released on their 1970 album No Dice. The power ballad has been recorded by tons of artists, and versions released as singles by Harry Nilsson (1971), and Mariah Carey (1994) became international best-sellers. The Nilsson version was included in 2021's Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Paul McCartney once described the ballad as "the killer song of all time".
Bad Finger were on the Apple Label.
To really appreciate this song, one should listen to it with the following song together (Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon - which immediately proceeds it). Queen wrote many songs that were meant to be presented like that showing a contrast. For instance, 'The Fairy Fellars Master Stroke' leading in to 'Nevermore' and 'Flick of the Wrist' leading in to 'Lilly of the Valley' and so on. When one listens to the songs on the album as they are presented, many people thought that they were in fact one extended song.
You don't get too many diss tracks in rock, but this is one, and a great one. 😈
This is probably my favorite song by Queen. It's so unapologetically hard, hard rock.
But as I'm listening to it now., it has an underlying British Music Hall, Vaudeville feel to it.
I can see a mustache twirling Snidely Whiplash character doing all his misdeeds and thievery in the background as the band plays the song upstage.
Even the Chopin-like piano intro has a Silent Movie music hitch to its giddy-up.
I got a real kick out of watching you hear this one, Amy! Your delight at the viciousness of the lyrics had me smiling a lot.
The bit you hear as a dog scratching I always interpreted as a snake rattle. Born out by the hiss they add to Freddie saying kiss.
A great song from the height of Rock's greatest period. 😊
At around 8:00, that introduction isn't just for this song. It's the introduction to the album as a whole.
Queens harmony still lovely. We love you Amy.
I'm glad you start doing songs of "A Night At The Opera". My favourite Queen album. Bohemian Rhapsody and Love Of My Life are songs of this album.
You're My Best Friend is a great song.
I prefer Prophet's Song to BoRhap but it never stood a chance.
Seaside Randevoux
What instigated al of this was that Queen had three hit albums and were on 50 pounds per week. John had just got married and asked Norman Sheffield for some of the money they had earned for a deposit on his house. He told John that he didn't owe him any money, whilst he was driving about in a Rolls Royce.
Freddie wrote this as a consequence and they got out of their contract with him
20 quids per week, not 50.
When they were under John Reid's management, they were paid £50 per week before ANATO became a hit.
Freddie could definitely sting. The music is amazing too. Such legends! ❤ btw I adore Chopin. I think Freddie did too!
I read somewhere that in that cacophony of noise in the beginning Roger is screaming. Once I read that, I can hear it. I think it is Roger screaming
if you ever get to the track that immediately follows this song i hope you hear the transition from one to the other because it's quite abrupt. right after the verbal tongue lashing of "death on two legs" queen does an about face with a very upbeat and happy tune called "lazing on a sunday afternoon" which sounds like it could have been written 100 years ago. you should give the whole album a listen start to finish on your own. it's a wonderful musical journey.
You couldn't really blame their feelings about the Sheffields, one story is that bassist John Deacon, for his wife and expecting their first child, asked for an advance to buy a small home, and the Sheffields wouldn't do it, they were all living in London flats and sales for "Queen II" and "Sheer Heart Attack" had been quite good. Contrary to the movie, John Reid only managed the band for a brief time until their affairs with Trident were resolved, and Jim Beech took over.
a lot of things in the film were misleading
film
John Reid 'discovered them' got their first performance of tv and their first US tour
reality
they had already released 3 albums, and had 2 hit singles, they were headlining UK and US
they had 3 performances for both songs seven seas and killer Queen on TOTPs before meeting John Reid
they were with Reid for night of the opera 75 - 78
that was the contract they agreed to, when it came to an end they didn't renew it
they ad a good working relationship in general but Brian said they felt he was putting all his attention on Freddie and not the band
but the film implied he was involved with them when Freddie was offered a deal for 2 solo albums which was in 83 5 years later!
I don't understand why people recommend the film to understand Queens story it's so misleading and I hate how Freddie is portrayed
13:58 "on a collision course"
Remember your words, Amy, when you listen to "Don't Stop Me Now".
I bought this album when it first came out. I love this song, but had no idea back then that it was about a specific fellow. Knowing these details makes the song even better! : - )
Thank you again! - One of my most liked Queen-Songs! - P.S.: Good old Chopin had his way to give the middlefinger to people that deserve it (russians again ...)! Maybe not in the préludes, but in some études and polonaises he fought in his own way.
An Opera, as you know, is a collection of "Songs/Numbers/Arias"
Please listen to the whole side of the album in one sitting, they where ment to be listen to in that order with no breaks
Not sure if you are going to revisit Queen ii and sheer heart attack, but a arguably those albums are the best Queen ever did, and you missed a lot of their songs. Hope you get back to the march of the black Queen or ogre battle.
Oh….. I’m going to love this….. 😃😁👍💥🎉
Bravo! Day At The Races and Night At The Opera showcase the absolute best of Queen. Many thanks!!
But also ... Innuendo !
@@victormarian7889I somehow overlooked that album entirely. I’ll be sure to give it a listen. Thanks!
It has been said that if you have been put into a song, no power can take you out of it...
Just think Joe Dimaggio, Admiral Halsey, and Judy Collins for a start.
Next Queen reaction should be for the Millionaire Waltz!
This sub-topic of super-bands - being screwed over by managers & record companies in their early years and writing a hit song about it later - is quite common. It would be interesting to do a series about it. Two other great examples are “Barracuda” by Heart, and “Have a Cigar” by Pink Floyd.
And Flick of the Wrist by Queen, Freddie's first attempt at venting his feelings about their manager.
Badfinger got ripped off by their manager and lost everything. Two band members later committed suicide.
ELP's The Endless Enigma parts 1 & 2 with The Fugue in between (great great piano here), albeit aimed at the critics and not the managers, is a good one too.
Thank you so much Amy for your thoughtful insights. 'A night at the opera' has always been one of my favourite albums. It's so full of wonderfully contrasting, and well written songs. I do hope that when you finish your selection of songs from it, that you have the time to listen to the whole album. It's a masterpiece.
One of the best analyses of a song I have ever seen - excellent!
Brilliant song.
Day 1 asking for My Fairy King from Queen's first album 💪
Happy you reacted to this, the song is usually missed by reactors. But, kinda wish you were reacting to the album itself. Because I think the cherry on top is that this song leads into something as light and airy as Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon!😂
Thank you so much for covering this simply amazing track. What i find incredible is how it flows right into seaside rendezvous. Your insight is superb and even though i have listened to this track thousands of times, I've never picked up on the drums tanning Sheffield's hide before!
I hope you will never have a reason for such a song ... but if, I would like to hear your harp version.
It was perhaps important to place this revenge song as the first track on the album. It cleared the stage for an incredible playful, lighthearted and experimental album. I'd recommend to hear it completely at once, because it is a kind of concept album.
Queen, at their initial career, were forced to accept and sign a very bad contract with Trident. They were poor, with no money to even buy decent musical instruments (Brian build his iconic electric guitar from scratch). By their 3rd album, the band had already sold several millions of copies, with very little income.
Flick Of The Wrist, from Sheer Heart Attack, is the song were they start showing their anger against the management. By 1975, Freddie must have said to himself "I have enough already! Let me knock this guy out! ", and wrote this one. Lol.
Can you please do March Of The Black Queen? Thanks
If you are going in album order I can't believe you've missed out so many great songs on Sheer Heart Attack, such as Lap of the Gods and Lap of the Gods (Revisited). Naughty Vlad!
Hello Amy! you should listen to The Millionaire Waltz just for the pleasure of listening to Freddie's appreciation for John Reid - you know, the guy who saved them from the "shark". It's a delight just like your reactions!
The brilliance of this song is that you don't have to know anything about the subject to enjoy it. I heard it for years and knew nothing of it. It just works as a great song and fantastic opener to a classic album. An example of the opposite way to go with this subject matter is Get In The Ring from Guns n Roses. Axl just slams people and calls them out by name and curses them with zero creativity.
That piano opening reminds me of a cartoon I once saw, where a handle-bar mustachioed villain, was tying a damsel to a railroad track. I can't remember the name of the cartoon, but that piano reminds me of the background music.
Amy, I wish you'd listen to the entire "Night At The Opera" album, all of the tracks really flow well into one another, this track flows into Freddie's whimsical "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" then Roger's fun rocker "I'm In Love With My Car" and John's "You're My Best Friend" then Brian's "39", etc... the whole album really works.
This reaction inspired me to listen through the whole album, and it struck me how well the songs flow into one another, all the way to the gong at the end of Bo Rap and the going into God Save the Queen. I almost want to stand at attention. 😉
I really liked your reaction to this song. That said, I think you should listen to the entire A Night at the Opera album
What a way to start my Sunday. The lyrics are definitely Operatic.
I loved Amy's commentary on the target of the song. He was greedy, arrogant and was screwing over the band. They were barely getting enough money to get by. Unfortunately, it isn't a story limited to Queen. A lot of rock bands got screwed over by their management and recording contracts. They were young and inexperienced in learning how to avoid such ruthless recording industry and management types. Brian May really gets a lot of different and unique sounds out of his guitar on this one. His overall guitar work on this is incredible.
another great reaction, you have to be one of the best reactors on here x
They signed a reall bad contract with Trident. But it was really John who was first to broke it (our sweet humble and quiet John) because they didn't lend him the money for a downpayment for a house, which he was to buy because having a bride and a family on the way. They told Roger not to break more drumsticks (they said couldn't afford buying new ones) but he saw Sheffield driving his new Rolls Royce... Freddie was so mad that he was changing the lyrics of the song a lot when he was writing it, just to sound as venom as it could be ... 😂
And in every Queen concert from then on, Freddie turned his his back to the audience and shined his rear as the sign of satisfaction kicking that person of ... "now you can kiss my arse goodbye" 😅
Sheffield became known as "the man who lost Queen" 😮 (it has really must have ached his bank account a lot 😂)