We Are the Champions

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"We Are the Champions"
Single by Queen
from the album News of the World
B-side "We Will Rock You"
Released October 7, 1977
Format 7"
Recorded 1977
Genre Rock
Length 2:59
Label EMI (UK)

Elektra Records (US)

Writer(s) Freddie Mercury
Producer Queen, assisted by Mike Stone
Queen singles chronology
"Long Away"
(1977)
"We Are the Champions" / "We Will Rock You"
(1977)
"Spread Your Wings"
(1978)

"We Are the Champions" is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. One of their most famous and popular songs, it has since become an anthem for sporting victories and has been often used or referenced in popular culture (see below). The song has been covered by many artists.

Contents

[edit] Original Queen version

[edit] Music

Musically, it is based around Mercury's piano part, with Roger Taylor and John Deacon providing a drums and bass guitar backing. Brian May overdubbed some guitar sections, initially subtle, but building to a 'solo' played simultaneously with the last chorus. Mercury employed many jazz chords (major and minor 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th harmonies), and the choruses featured these voiced as 4 and 5-part vocal harmonies. The lead vocal is very demanding and strident (highest point is a C5), and in live performances, Mercury often deferred to let Taylor handle the highest parts of the melody. An exception to this was Mercury's performance of the song at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

The single featured "We Will Rock You" as a B-side, and preceded the song on the album. The two songs were often played consecutively at the close of Queen concerts, and are customarily played together on radio broadcasts (in album order). Keeping with tradition, it was also used to close the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert with all the show's acts joining in behind the lead vocal of Liza Minnelli.

[edit] Queen about the song

Below is a quote on how Freddie Mercury viewed the song, how he came up with the idea for it, and how the public viewed it after its release.

Certainly it's a relationship that could be, but I was thinking about football [soccer] when I wrote it. I wanted a participation song, something that the fans could latch on to. It was aimed at the masses; I thought we'd see how they took it. It worked a treat. When we performed it at a private concert in London, the fans actually broke into a football chant between numbers. Of course, I've given it more theatrical subtlety than an ordinary football chant. You know me. I certainly wasn't thinking about the press when I wrote it. I never think about the British music press these days. It was really meant to be offered the musicians the same as the fans. 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.
-Freddie Mercury (1978)[1]

The next few lines are once again a quote by Freddie on how society recived the song.

I have to win people over, otherwise it's not a successful gig. It's my job to make sure people have a good time. That's part of my duty. It's all to do with feeling in control. That song "We Are the Champions" has been taken up by football fans because it's a winners' song. I can't believe that somebody hasn't written a new song to overtake it.
-Freddie Mercury (1985)[2]

[edit] Chart performances

In 1977-1978, "We Are the Champions" was released as a single for the time in many countries, including U.S. where it reached number 4 on the Billboard Pop Singles, UK, Ireland and Norway where it reached the top ten, and Germany, Austria and Sweden where it was a top 15 hit.

In 1992, 1993 and 1998, the single was re-released in France, totalling 45 weeks on the chart and peaking respectively at #19, #14 and #10. The song has thus its greatest success during the 1998 World Cup because the French team was the winner arnas.

[edit] Personnel

  • Freddie Mercury: lead vocal, piano, backing vocals
  • Brian May: electric guitar, backing vocals
  • John Deacon: bass guitar
  • Roger Taylor: drums, backing vocals

[edit] Track listings

7" single (1977 release)
  1. "We Are the Champions" — 3:00
  2. "We Will Rock You" — 2:00
3" CD single (1988 release)
  1. "We Are the Champions" — 3:02
  2. "We Will Rock You" — 2:02
  3. "Fat Bottomed Girls" — 3:23
CD single (1992 release)
  1. "We Are the Champions" — 2:59
  2. "We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions" — 5:00

[edit] Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified Physical sales
France Gold[3] 1978 500,000 624,000+[4]
Silver[5] September 30, 1998 125,000 165,000+[4]
U.S.[6] Platinum April 25, 1978 2,000,000

[edit] Charts

Chart (1977-1978) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Pop Singles[7] 4
Austrian Singles Chart[8] 12
German Singles Chart[9] 13
Irish Singles Chart[10] 3
Norwegian Singles Chart[8] 6
Swedish Singles Chart[8] 14
UK Singles Chart[11] 2
Chart (1993-1994) Peak
position
Dutch Singles Chart[8] 27
French Singles Chart[8] 14
Chart (1998) Peak
position
French Singles Chart[8] 10
Chart (2006) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs[7] 61
End of the year chart (1978) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[12] 25
End of the year chart (1998) Position
French Singles Chart[13] 72

[edit] Crazy Frog cover

"We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)"
Single by Crazy Frog
from the album Crazy Frog Presents More Crazy Hits
Released June 5, 2006
Format CD single, Maxi single, Digital download
Recorded 2005
Genre Dance, Electronica
Length 3:03
Label Ministry of Sound
Producer Erik Wernquist
Crazy Frog singles chronology
"Jingle Bells/U Can't Touch This"
(2005)
"We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)"
(2006)
"Last Christmas"
(2006)

"We Are the Champions" was also covered by Crazy Frog under the title "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)". It was released as a single on June 5, 2006. A cover of the 1977 Queen song of the same name, it was released to coincide with the 2006 World Cup, but Queen's vocals are featured in the song.

[edit] Track listings

CD single
  1. "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" (radio edit) — 2:57
  2. "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" (club mix) — 5:49
Maxi single
  1. "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" (radio edit) — 2:57
  2. "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" (house mix) — 6:04
  3. "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" (club mix) — 5:51
  4. "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" (club mix dub) — 5:17
  5. "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" (video)

[edit] Chart performances

The single had its greatest success in France. It went straight to #1 on June 10, 2006, and stayed at this position for five weeks. Then, it kept on dropping in the chart. It remained for 9 weeks in the top 10, 17 weeks in the top 50 and 25 weeks in the chart. On August 30, 2006, it was certified Gold disc two months after its release by SNEP, the French certificator, and became the 15th best selling single in 2006 in that country.

[edit] Certifications and sales

Country Certification Date Sales certified Physical sales
Belgium[14] Gold September 9, 2006 20,000
France[15] Gold August 30, 2006 200,000 205,908[16]

[edit] Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[17] 13
Austrian Singles Chart[17] 4
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[17] 10
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[17] 2
Danish Singles Chart[17] 3
Dutch Singles Chart[17] 100
Eurochart Hot 100 2
Finnish Singles Chart[17] 10
French SNEP Singles Chart[17] 1
German Singles Chart[18] 10
Irish IRMA Singles Chart[18] 23
Italian FIMI Singles Chart[17] 13
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[17] 20
Spanish Singles Chart[17] 2
Swedish Singles Chart[17] 11
Swiss Singles Chart[17] 5
UK Singles Chart[18] 11
End of year chart (2006) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[19] 44
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[20] 36
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[21] 12
French Singles Chart[22] 15
Preceded by
"Living on Video" by Pakito
French SNEP number-one single
June 4, 2006 - July 1, 2006 (5 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Zidane y va marquer" by Cauet

[edit] Other cover versions

[edit] Uses in popular culture

[edit] Live cover performances

  • Green Day covered the song at Live 8 in 2005. Also, they have often covered the song at their shows.
  • The Bad Plus performs a jazz cover of this song in Blunt Object: Live in Tokyo (2005).
  • Japanese singer-songwriter Angela Aki performs the song along with "We Will Rock You" in her live concert (2006).
  • The Jonas Brothers, Rooney, and the entire tour crew performed the song at their final concert for the 'When You Look Me In The Eyes' tour. The brothers pulled their entire family onstage and sang with the fans.

[edit] Sampling and parodies

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rosy Horide. "Queen Deserve Rock's Royal Crown? Freddie Mercury and Brian May Hawk their 'News of the World'". Circus, January 1978. Retrieved from Queenzone, June 15, 2006.
  2. ^ Nick Ferrari. "I Am The Champion. Why Fantastic Freddie Stole Live Aid Show". The Sun, July 19, 1985. Retrieved from queen.musichall.cz, June 15, 2006.
  3. ^ French certifications Chartsinfrance.net (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  4. ^ a b Queen's certifications and sales in France See: "Les Ventes" => "Toutes les certifications depuis 1973" => "QUEEN" Infodisc.fr (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  5. ^ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  6. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  7. ^ a b Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  8. ^ a b c d e f "We Are the Champions", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  9. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  10. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  11. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  12. ^ 1978 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  13. ^ 1998 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  14. ^ Belgian certifications Ultratop.be (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
  15. ^ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved December 16, 2007)
  16. ^ 2006 French Singles Chart Fanofmusic.free.fr (Retrieved December 16, 2007)
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved December 16, 2007)
  18. ^ a b c "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)", in various singles charts Acharts.us (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  19. ^ 2006 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved May 17, 2008)
  20. ^ 2006 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  21. ^ 2006 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  22. ^ 2006 French Singles Chart Ifop.com (Retrieved December 16, 2007)
  23. ^ "We Are the Champions" by Jean-Sébastien Lavoie, in French and Swiss singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
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