Dear hodddlers, we’ve gone through a lot these past few weeks. I must thank you all for your patience and understanding as I go through but a small portion of Queen’s discography. We began with the mystic My Fairy King to the overlooked Brian May tune Long Away, Freddie Mercury’s farewell The Show Must Go On and their bombastic Seven Seas of Rhye.
Today we wrap it all up with your hoddler-in-chief’s favourite Queen songs.
There would be no Track of the Day without Queen. This hoddle format would not exist were it not for Queen. No other musical artist shaped me like Queen did. Queen was my awakening to what the world could sound like. John Deacon is my favourite bass player. Brian May is my favourite guitarist. Freddie Mercury is my favourite vocalist. Roger Taylor is my second-favourite drummer (behind Tommy Ramone).
And so as we conclude the end of our brief journey through Queen’s discography, I want to share with you my favourite Queen songs of all time.
Enjoy your hump day all, and Keep Yourself Alive !
Impossible to rank. Bohemian Rhapsody
Where can I put this song? Anything other than #1 feels ridiculous. Is it my favourite Queen song? I’m not sure. It’s their greatest. It’s a monolith, really. Truth is I’ve spoilt it for myself to the point where I can listen to it but only a couple times a year. Bohemian Rhapsody is its own category.
But where do the rest of my favourite Queen songs rank? Let’s take a look ...
#20-11: Radio Gaga, Liar, Who Wants to Live Forever, Don’t Stop Me Now, All Dead All Dead, Fat Bottomed Girls, I Want To Break Free, The Millionaire Waltz, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Love of My Life
The first of three songs with “Queen” in the title. This is the first, setting up for a bonkers Side Two on Queen’s second album. Oddly enough this one was written by Brian May.
My favourite song from Queen after News of the World. There’s the more disco-centric/anthemic Queen, and the more hard rock. This falls closer to the hard rock version. I love it.
A few hoddlers mentioned this Brian May song when I featured Long Away a couple weeks ago. I said it in the comments: 39 is much better. What I enjoy most is how John Deacon’s double bass carries it.
What more can I say after last week’s TOTD?
John Deacon’s finest song. And done in a gorgeous ballad that became one of Freddie Mercury’s best vocal performances.
One of two songs from A Day at the Races, but this is the hard-rocking song that instantly hooked me more than a decade ago. It’s also the song that I used to turn fitzie sr onto Queen.
A tour de force of a song, using the collective strength of three incrediblly strong singers to deliver something superb.
The penultimate song on News of the World, and the band’s strongest song from that record. This song is sort of split into three different parts blended very well by Brian May and Roger Taylor. It’s quintessential Queen and essential listening.
This song is absolutely bonkers and sets itself up as the perfect “little sister” to Bohemian Rhapsody. The lyrics are astonishinghly mesmerising:
Here comes the Black Queen poking in the pile
Fi fo the Black Queen marching single file
Take this take that bring them down to size
March to the Black Queen
There is so much to uncover with this song. Too much to break down in this post. But it’s incredible. Chaotic good. Chaotic evil. This is the song that showed us what Queen could be. Two records later, they delivered BoRap.
Lucious, grandiose and in-your-face. That’s who Queen are. What other song encapsulates that better than Killer Queen? References to a top-shelf liquer and deceased French monarch open the lyrics to this glamourous 70s tune.
It’s also something that my favourite song from Queen features some of the most understated work from all four members. This song is so tight. It never gets old.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Killer Queen, by Queen
And now for your links:
Football London: “Ange Postecoglou granted new Mathys Tel opportunity to enhance future Tottenham plans”
Dan KP: “Ange Postecoglou facing big Tottenham selection decisions as injured players return”
The Athletic ($$): “Is it time to bring the Premier League and English Football League back together?”