We’re into our second week of exploring Queen’s discography. Last week we went into some of the mysticism Freddie Mercury channeled into My Fairy King on the band’s self-titled debut.
Today, we’re going to skip ahead to A Day at the Races.
It feels weird to bypass Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack and A Night At The Opera. Maybe today’s Track of the Day could supplement the latter a little bit.
Because one of the songs on A Night At The Opera was 39, a song about space exploration in the future penned by lead guitarist Brian May.
Today’s TOTD, Long Away, could be thought as a companion piece to that. I feel it’s a more mature piece of songwriting from May and perhaps a more mature piece of music from Queen in general. There’s a bit less of the overdubs and the backing vocals. It’s really a Brian May song, and he’s a terrific songwriter.
Like 39, the song evokes thoughts of space travel and exploration referencing stars, the heavens, the travel. But it attempts answers a question 39 fails to address: What happens when you travel? What do you leave behind when you go?
I feel this song fails to answer that question. Maybe that’s the point.
“Do we leave our way behind us? Such a long, long way behind us?”
May doesn’t answer the question. He ploughs forward: “Leave it for some hopeless lane.”
What are these stars he’s chasing? The blazing orbs in the sky, or the bright lights of America after finding mainstream acclaim and stardom with Queen’s previous record?
They’re fascinating questions to ask, and a fascinating juxtaposition to explore in a record that Queen purposely made would be unlike anything they did on A Night At The Opera. There’s none of those elongated operatic pieces here.
We’ve got a a rocking opener with Tie Your Mother Down, stripping away the belief this album would be anything like its successor, of course Long Away, the springtime The Millionaire Waltz, the gospel-rock Somebody to Love, the campy vaudeville Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy and the Japanese-inspired Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together).
So, of course, Long Away is unlike its astronautical sister. There’s a place in Queen’s catalogue for both, and both are lovely songs. And both should be a reminder of Brian May’s brilliant songwriting.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Long Away, by Queen
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