Somebody to Love (Queen song)
| "Somebody to Love" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "White Man" |
"Somebody to Love" is a song by British rock band Queen. Written by lead vocalist and pianist Freddie Mercury, the track featured on their 1976 album A Day at the Races, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits.[1] When released as a single, the song reached number two in the UK and number 13 in the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.[2][3]
Written by Mercury at the piano, "Somebody to Love" is a soul-searching piece that questions God's role in a life without love. A song inspired by gospel music, especially that of Aretha Franklin, Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor multi-tracked their voices to create a 100-voice gospel choir.[4]
Queen played "Somebody to Love" live between 1977 to 1985, and a live performance of the song is recorded in the album Queen Rock Montreal.[5] The song was played live on April 20, 1992, during The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performed by George Michael with Queen.[6] Since its release, the song has appeared on television, film, and has been covered by a number of artists.
Song
Like "Bohemian Rhapsody", the major hit from Queen's previous album A Night at the Opera (1975), "Somebody to Love" has a complex melody and deep layering of vocal tracks, this time based on a gospel choir arrangement. It was the first single off the album A Day at the Races. It is a rock ballad on which band members Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor multitracked their voices to create the impression of a 100-voice gospel choir.[4] The lyrics, especially combined with the gospel influence, create a song about faith, desperation and soul-searching; the singer questions both the lack of love experienced in his life, and the role and existence of God.[1] Staying true to Queen's guitar-driven style, it was also filled with intricate harmonies and a notable guitar solo by Brian May, and it went to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.[2][3] The song possesses a great variety of notes, ranging from F2 in the harmonies on the line "Can anybody find me?", and G#2 to a C5 in full voice up to an A♭5 in falsetto in the lead vocals, all sung by Mercury.[7] The band have spoken of sections of the song which were recorded but never made it onto the final mix of the song, some of which have been leaked online.
"'Somebody To Love' is Aretha Franklin-influenced. Freddie's very much into that. We tried to keep the track in a loose, gospel-type feel. I think it's the loosest track we've ever done."
— Roger Taylor[8]
A promotional video was made combining a staged recording session at Sarm East Studios (where the A Day at the Races album was recorded) and film footage of the band's record breaking performance at Hyde Park that September.[4][9] Peter Hince, the head of Queen's road crew, recalled to Mojo magazine: "Aesthetically, you had to have all four around the microphone, but John (Deacon) didn't sing on the records. By his own admission he didn't have the voice. He did sing on-stage but the crew always knew to keep the fader very low." [10] The song was included on their first Greatest Hits, released in 1981.[1]
Live performances
This was also one of few tracks where John Deacon sang backing vocals when performed live. His voice was clearly heard on bootlegs from the band's performance at Earls Court in June 1977 and at the Houston Summit in December 1977.[11] From 1977 to 1978, it was played about every show.[11][12] For the Jazz and Live Killer tours, it was also played consistently.[13] In The Game Tour, it was only played early in the tour. It was also played for South America Bites The Dust, Live at the Bowl and Queen Rock Montreal.[5][14] Later in The Works Tour, a shortened version was played as a medley preceding "Killer Queen".[15] A Live version from the 1984/85 tour was recorded and filmed on the concert film, Final Live in Japan 1985.[16]
When performed live, Mercury would often alter the melodies of the song, but would generally hit the sustained A♭4 notes throughout the song. The A♭4 at the peak of the building line "can anybody find me" on the studio version was not part of Mercury's original melody, but the other band members felt that it worked better than his. Mercury sings his original take on this line when live.
At the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert held at Wembley Stadium, the song was performed by George Michael. Michael's performances of "Somebody to Love" hailed as "one of best performances of the tribute concert".[17][18] It was even given serious consideration as to having George Michael take over as full-time lead singer of Queen.[19] The song was later rereleased in 1993 as the lead track of an EP called Five Live which went to #1 in the UK. This version is also available on Greatest Hits III, released in 1999.[1]
Personnel
- Freddie Mercury - lead vocals, piano, gospel choir
- Brian May - guitar, backing vocals, gospel choir
- John Deacon - bass guitar
- Roger Taylor - drums, backing vocals, gospel choir
Notable covers
- George Michael performed the song with Queen's remaining members at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April 1992.[6]
- G4 sang this on 27 November during The X Factor 2004.
- Anne Hathaway sang this song in her role as Ella in the movie Ella Enchanted.[20]
- Elliott Yamin, who placed third in season five of American Idol, sang this song on Week 8 of live performances
- Brittany Murphy sang this song in the movie Happy Feet as her emperor penguin character Gloria.[21]
- Ben Mills sang this on 2 December during Barry Manilow and contestant's choice week of The X Factor 2006.
- Rhydian Roberts sang it on 1 December during Best of British week of The X Factor 2007.
- The cast of Glee covered it in the episode "The Rhodes Not Taken" (2009).[22]
- Joe McElderry sang this on 14 November during Queen week of The X Factor 2009.
- Ednita Nazario, the Puerto Rican diva singer, made a cover of this song in Spanish called "Un Hombre Para Mí" in her 1992 album Metamorfósis.
- Mia Martini, an Italian singer, made a cover of this song in Italian called "Un uomo per me" in 1977.
- Spandau Ballet frontman Tony Hadley often performs the song live at his solo concerts.
- In the film Late Last Night, Steven Weber's character sings the song during a drug-infused dreamy scene.
- Todrick Hall performed this song on the ninth season of American Idol during the top 16.
- In 2009, the singers at BBC's Children in Need Wales, the song was sung as the finale of the concert at Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff. Notable singers included Bonnie Tyler, Only Men Aloud, Kerry Ellis and John Owen-Jones.
- In 2010, a group of 60 students from The Hebrew University have performed a Lip dub version of the song,[23] which received critical acclaim, especially after Queen guitarist Brian May published his positive opinion, writing: "I ... got quite a lump in the throat. It's very well done, with great heart and joy, and I'm sure Freddie (-Mercury, the late Queen soloist) would love it."[24]
- UK-based car insurance price comparison site Confused.com covered the song for an advert November 2010. The vocals were sung by west end star Louise Dearman.[25]
References
- ^ a b c d Queen: Somebody to Love Allmusic. Retrieved 6 July 2011
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
- ^ a b c A Day At The Races Queen Online. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ a b Queen Rock Montreal Allmusic. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ a b The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: Somebody to Love Retrieved June 25, 2011
- ^ "Freddie Mercury's highest notes" (Document). YouTubeTemplate:Inconsistent citations
{{cite document}}: Unknown parameter|accessdate=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|url=ignored (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ "Somebody To Love". queenpedia.com. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Queen play Hyde Park BBC. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ Somebody To Love Songfacts
- ^ a b Queen live on tour: News Of The World: Setlist Queen Concerts. Retrieved July 2, 2011
- ^ Queen live on tour: Day At The Races (world): Setlist Queen Concerts. Retrieved July 2, 2011
- ^ Queen live on tour: Jazz Queen Concerts. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ Queen live on tour: S. America Bites The Dust Queen Concerts. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ Queen live on tour: The Works 1984 Queen Concerts. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ Final Concert Live In Japan: Somebody To Love Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ h2g2 – Queen's Greatest Hits 3. BBC (1997-01-17). Retrieved on 2011-04-21.
- ^ Queen Greatest Vol 3. Albumlinernotes.com (1997-01-17). Retrieved on 2011-04-21.
- ^ Queen – Television Tropes & Idioms. Tvtropes.org (2010-01-01). Retrieved on 2011-04-21.
- ^ Ella Enchanted Original Soundtrack Allmusic. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ Happy Feet Soundtrack Soundtrack Net. Retrieved 1 September 2011
- ^ 'GLEE: The Music, Volume 1' Track Listing Revealed Broadway world. Retrieved 16 July 2011
- ^ "Lipdub -somebody to love - GLEE - the Hebrew University of Jerusalem" (Video). Hebrew University of Jerusalem campus, Jerusalem, Israel. 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ^ May, Brian (2010-02). "Letters". Retrieved 2011-02-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Somebody to Love - Confused.com Advert BrianMay.com. Retrieved 6 July 2011
External links
- The Sunday Freeman - review
- Queenpedia - detailed worldwide release information
