Songs written by John Deacon for Queen: creation, history and releases
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Very often it is the world-famous bands that earn their reputation by the good songs that stay in the memory for a long time. So Queen became popular thanks to the cool compositions and charisma of their frontman, Freddie Mercury. But who was the author of their most legendary tracks?
This article will talk about most the successful songs of Queen, which were written by the band's humble bassist John Deacon. Although there are many more of John's songs, we should note the top 3 most «loud» and fan-favorite songs.
«I Want to Break Free»
One of Queen's brightest tracks, which caused a furor in the media after its release, or rather after the release of the famous clip. «I Want to Break Free» was written by Deacon в 1983 year and released the year after that on the album «The Works».
The song consists of three verses, and the characteristic feature is the perfect absence chorus. The keyboards were recorded with the band by a canadian musician Fred Mandel. His solo in the song was recorded for one take.
In addition to the original version, a single and an extended version were also recorded. The latter included fragments of the album's other songs, which the musicians placed in the last minute of the track. The single was notable for longer synthesizer solos.
The song became a hit primarily in the U.K., where it achieved the status of platinum. In all countries the composition was well received by listeners; the only exception was the United States. The band's music video practically was not broadcast on the main music channel at the time, MTV, which caused small the number of auditions.
The video for the song was directed by the director, who is also a friend of Freddie's by David Mallett. Parodying the british comedy «Coronation Street», the musicians are presented as women - british soap opera characters. Queen drummer Roger Taylor initiated the idea of cross-dressing, and also emphasized that he and his colleagues wanted to show their sense of humor and laugh at themselves. The heroines of Freddy and Roger, according to the plot of the clip, «want to be free».
«Another One Bites the Dust»
John Deacon was greatly influenced in his youth by the soul music. Inspired by a song by the american band Chic, the bassist soon recorded the bass line for «Another One Bites the Dust». For a while John alone played all the instruments required in the composition, and his colleagues added their own ideas. So, on the recording, all the effects are done with rewind songs in reverse order at different speeds.
The musicians admitted that «Another One Bites the Dust» was atypical the song, however, was a great success for them among the black population. Much of this was due to the fact that the song appealed to Michael Jackson, which the advised band to release it as a single.
Critics also praised the track, calling it second the band's greatest hit, written by John Deacon. Although Roger Taylor was unhappy with the disco sound of the new song, the other members, especially Freddie, believed in the success of the track. And, as always, the inner feeling did not lead the musicians: the song spent more than ten weeks at the top Billboard Top 10 chart, and was also recognized top seller a composition by Queen.
«The Miracle»
Last the band's single was co-written by Freddie and John, although the musicians often mentioned that all the members involved to create the track. Initially it was the vocalist and the bassist who came up with the idea for the composition: they wrote the basic chords for the composition. May and Taylor later added their own edits to the lyrics and music, and «The Miracle» was born.
The meaning of the song has philosophical the text refers to the world's cultural «wonders» as well as to the most coveted for all people a «miracle» - world peace.
Interesting was also clip for the song: in it, the band starred with the little boys who play roles musicians. Ross Marcoll, playing the role of Freddie, was featured in four of the singer's most striking looks - his white tight suit, a rock look with a black leather jacket, a white T-shirt and jeans from Live Aid 1985, and a bright yellow jacket from a Wembley performance. Freddie joked about sending the guys on tour as Queen, since out of them came very a similar team to the original lineup.
A heartfelt friendship with Freddy and a painful experience...
Despite the fact that Freddie and John were nothing like each other, in all their time together, they became very good friends. Freddie was very subtle about the line between true friends and buddies; John became one of his most loved ones people.
With Mercury's pitch, John began to express himself more creatively, and that's when the band saw him composing talent. Besides, Freddie always believed in the success of his songs, and he was almost never wrong.
In the final months before the vocalist's death, Deacon practically did not visit his friend: he understood that the singer did not want to see sympathy in the eyes of his friends. After Freddie was gone, John immediately declined to continue the group's activities, stating that no virtuoso vocalist cannot replace Mercury on stage. If May and Taylor were able to come to terms with the loss after a while, Deacon had to much harder.
Anthem forever the friendship between the vocalist and the bassist was the song «Friends Will Be Friends», which most clearly reflected the friendship of the musicians. The main message of the song is: no matter what happens in life, friends still remain friends.
