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THE SHOW MUST GO ON
Music
by: John Deacon, Roger Taylor & Brian May Keys:
Bm, C#m, Am Although the sequence (which represents 90% of the song in terms of harmony) was reportedly composed by Roger and John, there's always been some debate about whether to credit them for the track, or just Brian (considering he developed the piece from the sequence and wrote melody and most of the lyrics). Let's consider the following cases: - Variations on a Theme of Paganini Op. 35: This romantic piano piece is credited to Johannes Brahms, even though the theme is by somebody else. Therefore, we could rename this one Variations on a Theme of Deacon & Taylor and it'd still be May's. - Knockin' On Heaven's Door: No matter how many changes have been made to this one in different versions (e.g. GnR's, Wyclef Jean's), it's still credited to Bob Dylan, since every guitar solo, bass part, etc. done in those arrangements is based on the chord progression Dylan had come up with in 1973. According to that, the song is (in terms of harmony) Deacon's and Taylor's, no matter if the bass-line and guitar-solos were arranged by Dr May. - 12-bar Blues: It's not known who was the first to use this progression, but loads of songs have been written over it. So, should we un-credit Paul McCartney for Why Don't We Do It in the Road? or John Deacon for I Want to Break Free? It's up to personal interpretation really. Brian's strong input as principal songwriter is confirmed by the recurrence of some musical devices from him: in the previous album he had composed a track with chorus, verse, intro and solos based over the same chord progression: I Want It All. He applied here the same concept, as well as three interesting Prophet's Song references: the way identical sections finish on different chords, the G/F chord and the i > vii modulation. Seven-measure verses are an uncommon (but not extremely rare) feature in popular music, Yesterday is probably the most famous example. Queen songs with similar details include Let Me Entertain You (seven-bar chorus) and In Only Seven Days (first bridge). Brian was inspired by Pachelbel's Canon in placing a continual sequence as basis for (most of) the song. There could've been some subconscious influence from Pink Floyd's song of the same name, mostly in the way it's harmonised at the end. My only personal complaint is a bit in the lyrics "I must be warmer now, I'll soon be turning around the corner now". Why would such a good writer as Brian repeat the same word at the end of two consecutive lines?
Produced
by: Queen & David Richards Recorded:
March 1989 - November 1990 Acoustic
Drums: Roger Taylor Lead
Vocals: Freddie Mercury & Brian May
(last line) The demo has, reportedly, a drum loop and the famous synth-sequence (probably programmed). In the released version both percussion, bass and guitars are completely human-generated, yet the backing pad is still the main instrument. The sound itself is quite easy to get in most synths, but it was probably recorded using a Yamaha DX-7, one of May's favourite keyboards (One Vision, Who Wants to Live Forever). In Roger's 'Happiness' tour, Mike Crossley plays a DX-7 during this song. Fans and Brian are fond of naming this piece as one of Freddie's most passionate vocal performances ever, especially considering he was already very ill at the time he laid them down. Harmonies are chiefly (or maybe only) Brian, including the echoing "I'm learning" and "turning" parts in the fourth verse. All in all, this proves once again that Dr May could layer a meticulously detailed arrangement over a somewhat simple harmonic canvas, like he did in Good Company and Teo Torriatte, to name a few. |
