By Lexi Spurgin
To the average listener, Queen’s music is filled with saccharine grandiose, pomp, and regal imagery that provokes a sense that they align themselves with the upperclass indulgence of aristocrats. But to the trained ear, Queens has a myriad of songs that aim to create social change within the many genres they’ve worked to apply themselves to. Queen as a band has always been working to break barriers. Not just with their experimental sounds that have made themselves a household name, but with their topics of song writing. Queen has touched on many topics of controversy such as: The abuse of Native Americans, systematic abuse in the music industry, the overtaking of media by new technology, breaking toxic masculinity, American gun control, Ethiopian famine, the evil side of tabloid media, and general world peace to name a few. An interesting thing about Queen is their educational background. According to rock journalist Erica Banas, Queen is one of the few bands in history for all of its members to have college degrees (Banas 2021). All four members had put aside their studies in the 1970s to pursue music once they found their unit as a band. Front man Freddie Mercury had a background in graphic design, guitarist Brian May was studying astrophysics (which he has a pHD in currently); Drummer Roger Taylor was studying biology and dentistry; and bassist John Deacon was excelling in his studies in audio engineering. I believe Queen’s educational background greatly affected their songwriting abilities as a whole. May being the most pervasive in his lyrics about current issues at the time. He and Mercury penned the most songs in Queen’s discography, but May rose above as the more serious writer. Not to say that Mercury was not engaged in social commentary in his writing, mercury, tended to focus on social issues that he himself was facing, rather than issues far from his own relation. These
The first song I wanna talk about is “Son and Daughter” from Queen’s first album, self-titled. This was the first social commentary song I noticed in their early discography. Penned by Brian May, it talks about a man’s frustration with the idea that men have to be all encompassing and masculine to the point of exhaustion. This song from Queen’s first album, which was first labeled as progressive rock. It features lyrics like:
“Now didn’t you feel surprised to find, the cap just did not fit”
“The world expects a man to buckle down and shovel shit”
“You’d said you’d equal any man for having your fun”
This song is ironically both a critique of the early idea about women’s liberation, but also at the patriarchal system placed before men. May, in his own way by using aggressive language and heavy music is saying, “why would you want to be equal to men when we already have a heftier load than you do?” I think this is a really interesting look into the way men felt about equal rights at the time of its genesis.
The next song that I think takes a creative jab at the abuse faced by many artists in the industry is off of Queen’s third album, Sheer heart Attack, released in 1974. The song “Flick of the Wrist” is about a girl being overtaken and abused by a shady figure in the music industry. Penned by Mercury, it features lyrics like:
“Dislocate your spine, if you don’t sign, I’ll have you seeing double.”
“Prostitute yourself, he says, castrate your human pride”
“Seduce you with his money-make machine, cross-collateralize”
“Reduce you to a Muzak fake machine, then the last goodbye”
Not only is this song about financial and creative abuse in music, but its also referencing physical abuse in the industry. This is really poignant, especially considering how many women have come out in recent years about facing sexual abuse and blackmail in their music careers, i.e. Kesha, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, etc. Not only is it relevant today, but it relevant to exactly what Queen was going through. Queen, since their beginning, were struggling with financial abuse by their produces and managers from 1972-1975. This abuse likely put a fire in them to write something
Queen has also delved into racial conflicts. In their 1976 album, A Day at the
Races, May penned an extremely powerful song named “White Man”. May is a known activist and has been notorious for his aggressive and unwavering efforts to spread messages in recent years, so it’s really interesting to see that he’s had this vigor for activism even in the genesis of his music career. Mercury also had a small hand in the writing process, which makes sense since Mercury is actually of a colonial background. He was born in Zanzibar, now known as Tanzania. And witnessed the danger of the Indian revolution, as he and his family were forced to flee to England when he was only eighteen in 1964, (Freddie Mercury’s Complex Relationship with Zanzibar, 2018). It’s an uncharacteristically aggressive song compared to the melodic, vaudeville style of the rest of the album. White Man is a direct jab at the brutal nature of colonization in early European and American history. I was floored by it when I first heard it and it’s still one of my favorite Queen songs to this day. It’s a topic I rarely see in music. If anything at the time, there was a strange fetishization and appropriation towards Native
Americans and Indigenous people, i.e. songs like Cher’s “Half Breed” and an obsession with feathers and suede typically found in real indigenous wardrobes. May wrote poignant lyrics such as:
“We made us our shoes, we trod soft on the land, But the immigrant built roads on our blood and sand”
“White man, white man, don’t you see the light behind your blackened skies” “Leave my body in shame, leave me soul in disgrace, but by every god’s name, say a prayer for your race”
“Our country was green and all our rivers wide, you came with a gun and soon our children died”
May used powerful and cutting words to allude to the way that colonization ravaged and used the once beautiful and peaceful land that indigenous people rightfully owned. It’s a deeply moving song accompanied by a heavy guitar and almost heavy-metal sound that sends the message of warning to listeners of the time and today.
Around 1977, the Punk movement became the newest iteration of rock’s rebellious streak. Bands like the Sex Pistols became the new faces of counterculture and with their fame they made a valiant effort to diss on any bands that were doing relatively successful at the time in the market. But more poignantly, dissed on Queen.
Queen’s cultivated image enraged the punk movement, and their visual and audible connections to royalty and regalia were in their opinion, a travesty. According to an article by classic rock historian Mick Wall, “At a time when punk rock was considered the new critical yardstick, Queen suddenly epitomized everything about the old rock aristocracy that was now held in contempt: massive production, back-arching guitars and the once glorious, now oddly out of step image of Freddie Mercury preening in front of the audience, wishing them all “champagne for breakfast,” (Wall, 2022). Queen was now starting to be seen as almost a parody of themselves. With this new sheen of arrogance about them Queen, they were ripe for harassment from The Sex Pistols, whom they were sharing recording times with at Wessex studio in 1977. According to classic rock journalist Colin Irwin, Queen actually frequently feuded with the pistols, who loved to rip on queen for “…bringing Ballet to the masses…” (Irwin, 2023). Mercury actually has been notoriously mentioned to have had a physical alteration with Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols and reportedly shoved him out of the recording studio by the lapels of his jacket. This shift into a new era of music caused Queen to make their next album rawer and simpler than their previous efforts. Thus birthed, “We are the
Champions”. One of Queen’s most popular songs and a sister song to the more aggressive We Will Rock You. “We are the Champions” is a song about unity and triumph and evokes a sense of pride for whatever team or side a listener can apply to it. Freddie Mercury once said it’s a song purely aimed for audience participation. “I was thinking about football when I wrote it. I wanted a participation song, something that the fans could latch on to. Of course, I’ve given it more theatrical subtlety than an ordinary football chant. I suppose it could also be construed as my version of ‘I Did It My Way.‘ We have made it, and it certainly wasn’t easy. No bed of roses as the song says. And it’s still not easy,” (Songfacts.com). While Mercury takes the song for what is is, an ingenious use of audience participation, it became a song that unified the world as the quintessential stadium anthem. The use of lyrics like:
“I’ve paid my dues time after time /
/ I’ve paid my sentence but committed no crime”
Evoke a sense of rising above triumph and allowing victory to come into one’s life.
“But it’s been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise /
/ I consider it a challenge before the whole human race, and I’ll never lose”
Cultures across the world have adopted the song as a beacon of victory over political turmoil, sports triumphs, and a sense of unity for people who have experienced hardship in their lives.
1978, Queen releases Jazz, their seventh album, which has a few notable hits: the not-very-progressive “Fat Bottomed Girls”, the manic multi-layered mania of “Don’t Stop Me Now” and the secretly very poignant “Bicycle Race”. “Bicycle Race” on the surface seems like a silly song that uses clever rhyming simply to sound good, but it takes subtle jabs at the American government and American culture in general. Queen was forced to record most of their album in Super Bear Studios in Nice, France to avoid the increasingly high taxes in England, according to drummer Roger Taylor, the band was paying upwards of 98% tax on their finances. (Days of Our Lives, 45:28). “Bicycle
Race” uses creative lyrics like:
“You say Coke, I say ‘caine, you say John, I say Wayne”
“Hot dog, I say cool it man”
“I don’t want to be the President of America”
“You say smile, I say cheese /
/ Cartier, I say please /
/ Income tax, I say Jesus /
/ I don’t want to be a candidate for Vietnam or Watergate”
These are all direct references to American culture and government, which was in turmoil at the time, regarding the end of Vietnam and the rise of new drugs in New York, like Cocaine. It also references income taxes, Cartier, John Wayne, Hot Dogs, etc, which is clearly a reference to the ridiculous capitalist model America sports, red— blooded American things like iconic western actor, John Wayne, and the all-American Hot Dog.
By the 1980s, Queen had abandoned their trademark grandiose sound and adopted a new more urban-funk type of instrumentation. This ushered in a new unserious attitude for Queen where they worried less about commercial success since, they had gained their footing in the music world. While their 1982 album, Hot Space, didn’t do as well commercially, it was a new form of experimentation for the band. In this album though I noticed that they had released a song on the B-Side that’s definitely more rock-centric than a lot of the others. A song called “Put Out the Fire” which is in Queen’s signature style, a jab at American gun regulation. This is extremely interesting to me considering gun laws and regulation weren’t really a topic of issue until school shootings started to become a chronic issue in the states. With subtle, but relevant lyrics like:
“They called him a hero, in the land of the free /
/ But he wouldn’t shake my hand, boy he disappointed me /
“Put out the fire, you need a weapon like a hole in the head”
“People get shot by people, people with guns”
“She was my lover, it’s a shame that she died, but the Constitution’s right on my side” This song is clearly referencing the right to bear arms in the Constitution, and the American urge to own a gun, with “land of the free” being an allusion to America. I really like the lyric “people get shot by people, people with guns”, which is an argument as old as time that guns are to protect us, but ironically from people who also wield guns. I’m glad people have been seeing the hypocrisy in this situation since even the early 80’s. I also really like “you need a weapon like a hole in the head” it’s a funny lyric they use to really drive home the idiocy of American gun laws.
By 1984, Queen’s next album had returned to their hard rock roots, called The Works. A few notable songs of social change came out of this album, one being one of Queen’s biggest hits. The songs I’m referring to are “Machines (Back to Humans)”, “Is This the World we Created” and of course “I Want to Break Free”. “Is This the World we Created” was written in response to Queen’s invite to Live Aid, the famous benefit concert for the Ethiopian famine in 1985. It was performed solely by May and Mercury on the record and live at the mentioned benefit concert. It directly references the famine and the tragedy it is with lyrics like:
“Just look at all those hungry mouths we have to feed /
/ Take a look at all the suffering we breed”
“You know that every day a helpless child is born”
“Somewhere a wealthy man is sitting on his throne”
“If there’s a God in the sky, what can he think of what we’ve done /
/To the world that HE created”
The song is solely comprised of Mercury’s vocals and May’s acoustic, in which the simplicity drives home the message more. Another song off of The Works that invites conversations of social change is “Machines (Back to Humans)”. This song covers the topic of technology overtaking human society. Not a far-off assumption as it’s accurately predicted the fear many of jus have today of AI taking over human life. The song almost takes on the role of a story. The lyrics refer to a human fearing being overtaken by machinery, but also uses voice distortion to make lyrical connections to the mind of the titular machines supposedly taking over. Both sides are really interesting to listen to:
“When the machines take over, it ain’t no place for rock and roll”
“They freeze me, they burn me, squeeze me and stretch me, with smoke-blackened pistons of steel they compress me”
“We have no disease, no trouble of mind, we are fighting for peace, no regard for the time”
“We never cry, we never retreat we have no conception of love or defeat”
The last song off the album that is a great example of revolution in rhythm is “I Want to Break Free”. Although the song isn’t directly a song of social change; it sounds more like a song about a fizzling relationship with lyrics like:
“I want to break free from your lies /
/ You’re so self-satisfied, I don’t need you”
“It’s strange, but it’s true, I can’t get over the way you love me like you do”
“But life still goes on”
“I can’t get used to living without you by my side”
But people have adopted it as a song of triumph over adversity, despite the saccharine lyrics. In South America, the lyrics were taken very seriously to the point of being offended by the way Queen used silly stage costumes while singing it live as a reference to the song’s music video. According to a RadioX article, “When I Want to Break Free was performed live, the singer would don the wig and the false breasts in a callback to the video. However, when he pulled this costume change in Rio, the crowd of 350,000 people “began tossing stones, beer cans and other missiles” at the legend.
As Queen’s interpreter Maria Caetano explained to the group: “The song is sacred in South America because we consider it a political message about the evils of dictatorships”,” (RadioX, 2024).Even if the band went into the song, not intending social message to be sent, they touched a nerve with an unlikely and extremely vast group of people.
The last song I will discuss is from Queen’s 1989 album, The Miracle. This was Queen’s second to last album featuring Mercury, who was slowly deteriorating from AIDS. The song, “Scandal” was written by Brian May in early 1989, and chronicles May’s own public divorce from his wife, Chrissy May. May was unfortunately cheating on Chrissy with Eastenders tv star Anita Dobson. The song which tells about the invasive and evil nature of the tabloids towards celebrity relationships uses lyrics like:
“Scandal, now you left me and the world’s gonna know”
“They’re gonna turn our lives into a freak show”
“Today the headlines, tomorrow hard times”
“And no one ever knows the truth from the lies”
“And in the end the story, deeper must hide”
The song while telling a story about the tabloids attacking May’s relationship, also took on a new life of its own when Freddie Mercury was beginning to be publicly hounded for his changing appearance after being ravaged by AIDS. The band made efforts to publicly protect Mercury in interviews and press rounds while his image was being destroyed by tabloid media. The song is a cautionary about the evils of sensationalized media and was an extremely important song then and now.
Overall, Queen, although not a well-known pillar of social change, does not lack in the department. Their educational, multi-cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds paved the way for them to have relevant and thoughtful lyrics about a wide range of issues that were faced at the time, and today in the 21st century.
Works cited-
BBC. (2018, October 23). Freddie Mercury’s complex relationship with Zanzibar. BBC News.
Coreyirwin. (2023, September 10). When Freddie Mercury threw Sid Vicious out of his studio.
Ultimate Classic Rock. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/freddie–mercury–sid–vicious–thrown–out/
Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter July 19th, Erica Banas // Rock Music Reporter, &
19th, J. (2023, July 19). 13 rock stars with college degrees. 95.9 The RAT.
https://wrat.com/galleries/13-rock-stars-with-college-degrees
Queen Documentary – Days of Our Lives 2011 full. YouTube. (n.d.).
Radio X. (2024, April 2). How I want to break free became Queen’s Most controversial song. https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/queen/i–want–to–break–free–queen–most–controversial–song/ Wall, M. (2022, October 31). Queen vs sex pistols: How freddie took on Punk and won with news of the world. louder. https://www.loudersound.com/features/queen–the–story–of–news–of–the–worldalbum
We are the champions by Queen – Songfacts. (n.d.). https://www.songfacts.com/facts/queen/weare-the-champions