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I'm in Love with My Car

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"I'm In Love with My Car"
B-side label of the UK vinyl pressing of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" single release
Song by Queen
from the album A Night at the Opera
A-side"Bohemian Rhapsody"
Released
  • 31 October 1975 (1975-10-31) (UK)
  • 2 December 1975 (US)
RecordedAugust–September 1975
StudioSarm East, London
Genre
Length
  • 3:05 (album version)
  • 3:11 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s)Roger Taylor
Producer(s)
Music video
"I'm in Love with My Car" on YouTube

"I'm in Love with My Car" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released on their fourth album A Night at the Opera in 1975. It is the album's only song written entirely by drummer Roger Taylor.

History

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Taylor played the guitars in the original demo, but they were later rerecorded by May on his Red Special and Taylor also doubled on electric guitar in addition to drums. The lead vocals were performed by Taylor on the studio version and all released live versions. The revving sounds at the conclusion of the song were a recording of Taylor's then current car, an Alfa Romeo. The lyrics were inspired by one of the band's roadies, Johnathan Harris, whose Triumph TR4 was evidently the "love of his life".[3] The song is dedicated to him, with the liner notes mentioning, "Dedicated to Johnathan Harris, boy racer to the end".

When it came down to releasing the album's first single, Taylor was so fond of his song that he locked himself in a cupboard until it was agreed that it would be the b-side to the album's first single, "Bohemian Rhapsody".[4] This decision would later become the cause of much internal friction in the band, in that while it was only the B-side, it generated an equal amount of publishing royalties for Taylor as the main single did for Mercury simply because it was the B-side to "Bohemian Rhapsody".[3]

The song was often played live during the 1977–81 period. Taylor sang it from the drums while Mercury played piano and provided backing vocals. During the News of the World Tour, Mercury would often sing the chorus lines with Taylor.[5]

The song's title is used as a running joke in the 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, starting with an argument between Taylor (Ben Hardy) and May (Gwilym Lee) over the song's lyrical content. Later in the film, fictional EMI executive Ray Foster (Mike Myers) suggests to have it or "You're My Best Friend" released as the first single to A Night at the Opera instead of "Bohemian Rhapsody". Shortly afterwards, on Kenny Everett's radio show, Mercury hands the single to the eponymous host, who then reads out "I'm In Love With My Car" rather than "Bohemian Rhapsody", which is then correctly played on air.[6]

Reception

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Music writer Tom Reynolds described the song as "seriously, one of the greatest and most passionate love songs I've heard during the last thirty-plus years".[7] AllMusic appreciated it as a "solid, hard hitting rocker" from Taylor. They observed, "The music lives up to the macho tone of the lyrics by matching up verses that swagger in a midtempo hard rock style", regarding it as an "album highlight".[8]

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Prown, Pete; Newquist, HP (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-793-54042-6.
  2. ^ Dome, Malcolm (29 August 2016). "Queen albums ranked from worst to best". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b Mark Blake, Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen (Da Capo Press, 2013), ISBN 978-0306819735. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  4. ^ The Mojo Collection (4th ed.). Canongate Books. 2007. ISBN 9781847676436. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  5. ^ "QUEEN: Every time FREDDIE MERCURY sang I'm in Love with My Car LIVE - YouTube". YouTube.
  6. ^ Orquiola, John (2 November 2018). "Every Queen Song In Bohemian Rhapsody". Screen Rant. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  7. ^ Tom Reynolds, Touch Me, I'm Sick: The 52 Creepiest Love Songs You've Ever Heard (Chicago Review Press, 2008), ISBN 978-1556527531, p. 249. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  8. ^ "I'm in Love with My Car - Queen". AllMusic.
  9. ^ "A Night At The Opera". Queen Songs. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
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