This song gets an extra kick when it's heard as it is on the album, immediately following 'Death On Two Legs' with hardly a fraction of a second between them. 😂

@dianecourtney2724

11 ай бұрын

Yes ✌🏼

@staceybateman1315

11 ай бұрын

And immediately before ‘I’m in love with my car’!

I am waiting for The March Of The Black Queen

Please do Brian May’s “Good Company”. Pure guitar genius- He plays an entire jazz band (trombone clarinet tuba etc. on his guitar). He used instrumental phrasing and tones to create this Gem…..! Leads the song on Ukulele Something up your alley I believe

@MiscellanyTop

11 ай бұрын

Yup, I mentioned that as a pair with this song in my reply (above) to Wayne Kitching. This is a genius album with not a single wasted opportunity. Hard to say my fav track because of the perspectives they offer. But Good Company is a fab offering from my fav guitarist of all-time.

@unshaken95

11 ай бұрын

Yes! I really want Amy to listen to some of the Queen songs that have Brian or Roger in main vocals, and "39" or "Good Company" would be great choices for Brian in this album.

@MiscellanyTop

11 ай бұрын

@@unshaken95 Yup :)

@letsgomets002

11 ай бұрын

Yes not yup yep stop this crap!!!!😮😮😮

@kentnottingham9635

11 ай бұрын

Ha, just asked for this too! Pure genius!!!!

Another sweet little song, that always reminds me of a seaside scene from Edwardian Britain. The new age of cycling and European excursions. The sights and sounds of the sea, hearing the distant megaphone, calling out sightseeing tours either by omnibus or little steamer, around the bay. With everyone in their 'Sunday best' and all wearing hats. Strolling to the end of the pier, before returning home tired, but looking forward to the next day, because it's one day closer to being Sunday. Peace All

@penderyn8794

11 ай бұрын

Too many times south east England is assumed to be the rest of Britain. Many Welsh and Scottish Highlanders had much different customs in early 1900s Colonialism and imperialism can cloud this variety

I figured that you'd like this one. As young teens there was so much diversity in rock during this period we would just take it all in stride. Looking back, so much of the music was teaching us of different styles and history of music by incorporating jazz, classical blues, folk etc.😊

Brian once said Freddie played the piano almost drum like. He was very precise!

Dear Amy, you give us so much fun with your reactions, thank you. (Hardly waiting for the next one.) Freddie was a free spirit who hated the compulsions, besides he was also very hyperactive. He mentioned several times, that he lived his life like a chameleon, changing himself day by day. He always underrated his piano skills, but as Brian said „He had a wonderful touch on the piano, Freddie. Really he didn’t think he did, you know? He was very depricating about his piano playing and in later years really didn’t do any of it. He played less and less piano, because he wanted to run around and deliver it to the audience, which he did so magnificently. He didn’t have the classical range, but he could play what came from him, inside him, like nobody else -with incredible rhythm, incredible passion and feeling.”

Please, do a reaction to "The Prophet Song", in my humble opinion the best song in A night at the Opera.❤

Awesome reaction! The song seemed to make you especially cheerful! Freddie was an artist he went to art college he did actually do drawings and paintings as well, he did get a degree in graphic design. He drew and designed the Queen crest originally. He is describing the bohemian lifestyle. I hope you also do Seaside Rendezvous or The Millionaire Waltz. Perhaps that would be too many of these types of Vaudeville songs for some people. But I do really love these types of songs from Queen. Freddie could really do justice to these types of songs.

@DENVEROUTDOORMAN

11 ай бұрын

Freddie and the Wmpboys...they suck

@boletuserythropus8344

11 ай бұрын

Great suggestions, but don't forget Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, an absolute gem!!!

@Keith_Butcher

11 ай бұрын

And bring back that Leroy Brown!

@ZENOBlAmusic

11 ай бұрын

Yes, I do enjoy Good Old Fashioned Loverboy and especially Bring Back That Leroy Brown. Maye we can still get Good Old Fashioned Loverboy.

@jeffidyle4957

11 ай бұрын

Agreed on Millionaire Waltz and Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy! Really anything from those two albums. I'd love to hear '39, Prophet's Song, or Good Company too.

I'm so glad you're doing some of Queen's lesser known songs. I was somewhat disappointed that Queen II was glossed over with just the one hit song from it. Many Queen fans view it as being their best album so hope you go back to it for a few more songs.

I've always taken the "Ordinary Guy" line, especially placed directly prior to the painting in the Louvre line, upping the ante on the latter's brag with a bit of facetiousness and VERY faux humbleness. "What am I going to do TODAY? Oh, nothing much, Dear; just a little painting in the Louvre. TOODLES!" :)

Brian May is on the record as being a big fan of a band called the Temperance Seven, a very British trad/Dixie jazz band from the very early sixties produced by George Martin (pre-Beatles) and I recognise a big connection in the style of this. Especially the hollow megaphone voice treatment.

Yay! Looking forward to it. These novelty songs are like palate cleansers between the heavier numbers.

@dianecourtney2724

11 ай бұрын

😀✌🏼

I think that when he sings “…painting in the Louuuuvre”, that elongated word is the final brushstroke of a self satisfied artist given to his last masterpiece (or he thinks it is, at least) and is the same formula as the bicycle bell: how does a paintbrush sound? Louuuuvre ( like Zorro’s sign done by his sword). Absolutely genius.

@Concreteowl

11 ай бұрын

The emphasis on the oo makes it sound like he paints in the bathroom but no he pops over the channel to Paris 😁

@solino2002andrea

11 ай бұрын

@@Concreteowl 😂😂Respect: Everyone sees his own meaning into an abstract painting 🖼️

@j6samsung679

10 ай бұрын

​@@ConcreteowlAbsolutely agree with you. Thursday I go waltzing to the zoo. Fridays I go painting in the loo.. rhyme with zoo, but he cheekily ended with Loo......uvre 😅

Yay! You found another Queen hidden gem. Such diversity. Queen music is really unique. Freddie was always so experimental and the whole band were talented enough to make each member’s visions come alive. Great reaction!

The song does have a British Music Hall feel to it. You can picture this character in a French Impressionist painting. He's in there somewhere just doing an ordinary thing in the background. There is a painting by George Seurat called Sunday on La Grande Jatte. I'm sure you know it. It's the famous painting with people hanging out in a park by the water. Our hero in this case would be a guy in a canoe in the background. He's having the time of his life just happy to be there. There is a certain amount of freedom when you are anonymous. That's probably the whole point of the song.

Excellent. These are the "little" songs that I love soooo much. With this one and Seaside Rendezvous (hopefully you can do that one too) I just imagine them in the studio fooling around with sounds and equipment and having fun, smiling and laughing.

@kentnottingham9635

11 ай бұрын

Yes please!!!!!

Another day asking for My Fairy King from Queen's first album 🛐

A really clever song that provides a throwback to a 1920s vaudeville style (in a very Queen like manner). Loved how you made a Gilbert and Sullivan connection. You have a good memory for lyrics and melodies, and on other occasions for poetry. Emily Dickinson comes to mind when you quoted her poetry once, whereas I only remember her mentioning bees a lot. You had such a wonderful take on the lyrics. I really got a kick out of Vlad's "maybe he's an artist" comment, since the same thought crossed my mind right before he said it. Also, as a bass player, I really like how you have been noticing the bass a lot more in songs lately.

I feel I've had cloth ears for 40 odd years.... You're priceless... Wonderful.... Keep teaching us, please....

I'm literally praying you do a song with Roger Taylor, the drummer, singing. I'm In Love With My Car follows this song on the album. Roger Taylor is an incredible vocalist!

@jay-remedy-plz

11 ай бұрын

^ That’s a must at this point. Actually I’m pleading here! I’m so used to hearing these songs in the original order.

@markwilliams6394

11 ай бұрын

'39 with May singing wouldn't be too bad either.

@markwilliams6394

11 ай бұрын

Sorry, I meant May wrote the song, I think but Freddie sings it.

@yvrkid7070

11 ай бұрын

@@markwilliams6394 Brian sang the song on the album. Freddie sang it live.

@markwilliams6394

11 ай бұрын

@yvrkid7070 I thought he did but really wasn't sure since I last heard the song live. Haven't heard the album version in about 10 yrs.

I find it interesting that you mention the "character" of the song. I often find myself imagining it's Oscar Wilde singing it. Also, I'm glad you picked up on both the Vaudeville style and the humour, as I think of this track as the core of the "A Night at the Opera" album because it clearly draws on the Marx Brothers film of the same name which was the inspiration for the album title. Indeed the following album was also titled after a Marx Brothers movie "A Day at the Races". One of the things I notice in this track is the piano style reminds me a lot of Chico Marx (I imagine the final two notes being played with his "finger gun" (shooting the keys) style. Another nod is to Harpo Marx in the use of the harp in "The Prophet's Song" and "Love of My Life". If you haven't seen it, watch the film; it's classic Marx, and this album has evident influences.

This little ditty flies into Roger Taylor's piece, "I'm In Love With My Car".

The song actually reminds me of Beatles' Lady Madonna and also When I'm 64. The playfulness, piano sound and the voice effect.Thanks for another great reaction video.

The guitar solo at the end - which sounded like multiple guitars, playing at the same time all together - made me think of a chorus, such as in Gilbert and Sullivan doing a call and response…

A Night at the Opera is my favourite Queen album. I do hope you listen to songs written by the other members of the band, and even those sung by Roger and Brian. I'm in Love with My Car (the track immediately after this one) is a great vocal and guitar track.

Great comment Amy when you said Freddie plays like he sings ☺️ You’re right … Freddie plays and sings freely … the sign of a true artist ! Brian once said Freddie was a human metronome. I think torture for Freddie would be if you could stop him from feeling the next beat in his psyche. You and Freddie would have had so much fun hanging around together in the studio !! TY Waiting for your next one ✌🏼

I always got 20's or 30's vibes from this short sweet romp. Great lead in to I'm In Love With My Car...if memory serves. ✌

@brianswift2706

11 ай бұрын

It's weird to hear it NOT leading into I'm in love with my car

Amy, I think you've missed something here. Freddie has a sense of humor, so when he says that he's a normal guy, then says he goes painting in the Louvre, that is contradictory. Obviously, it's not normal. Seaside Roundevouz, also from this album, is very similar in tone. You should enjoy that one too.

One might say that Freddie was very mercurial.

@GiordanoBruno42

11 ай бұрын

Hmm that makes me wonder if that was why he chose that name?! 🤯

@bobtheskutterbot

11 ай бұрын

I was looking for this comment! Amy kept saying changeable as if mercurial was not right there...

Thanks, Amy! You’ve done it again. Your analysis has opened up my tone-deaf ears to fall in love with a song that I Initially dismissed as “not my style” . This song is endearing, playful, charismatic & a bit mysterious. Just like Freddie.

I loved your reaction to this gem, Amy! I can tell that you enjoyed this as much as I have for several years!

I so needed Roger to come in with the heavy drum at the end with I'm in Love With My Car

Such a Wonderfull Album. So much talent. ❤😊

I love when you enjoy a song. This particular song it seems a kind of joke but its not, for me its such a classic and it fits perfect into the whole album. Thanks a lot for your reaction and analysis.

@trevorgoddard2278

11 ай бұрын

I think because it's so short a lot of people just assume it was thrown in to make the album the right length, but like most (if not all) of Freddie's creations it's a work of art and should be appreciated as such.

Your comment about Brian May's guitar solo reminded me of what he said in his interview with Rick Beato (well worth watching), particularly talking about Bohemian Rhapsody. He said that he approached these solos as though they were continuing a conversation with the vocalist. That feels just as relevant here. Another wonderful analysis; many thanks.

Wow 🎉 beautiful sweet Freddie ❤️ I adore dear Freddie's songs ❤🎉

Two other great ones for Freddie being camp and arch are “Good Old Fashioned Loverboy” and “The Millionaire Waltz”. Genius.

Thank you, again! - Hope you enjoyed this precious little jewel like i enjoyed you're reaction!

The opening piano always reminds me of the Cuckoo song which was the theme to Laurel and Hardy! Very daffy and daft, both the cuckoo song and Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon- and I find both to be highly enjoyable and cheering. Actually I think this is not Freddie singing autobiographically- this a persona, much like Bertie Wooster from the Jeeves and Wooster books by PG Wodehouse. It explains the bucket trick on vocals to give a comic take on the clipped English upper class accent. Also the activities are absolutely bang on for Bertie Wooster, an idle son of landed gentry doing all sorts of things 'just for a laugh' as they never have to worry about money. That's my interpretation- sorry it differs from yours; I greatly enjoyed your video and very much look forward to more Queen please!

Great reaction Amy. This song has always been an enjoyable piece of music for me. I'm happy to see that you've enjoyed it as well. Seaside Rendezvous and Good Company, both from this album, are also worth a listen.

Yes, this was a fun little one. There are a couple more in a similar vein, Freddie's 'Seaside Rendevous' and Brian's 'Good Company.'

Freddie was a genius. they all were. that guitar solo is exquisitely crafted to somehow not sound out of place, in what otherwise could pass for a record from the 20s.

15:15 I can't wait when she does Bicycle Race 😸

@DruncanUK

11 ай бұрын

Fat Bottom Girls is going to be a fun one.

@normalasamsudin1891

11 ай бұрын

Yup.

Fun fact - in my teenage years (ages ago now) I had some acid, and stayed awake for 2 days and nights with this track stuck on a loop in my head.

I'd like to know how the heck Brian May got his guitar to sound like a steam calliope! Great review and reaction as always, Amy - thank you!

@kendallneason3645

11 ай бұрын

Brian May credits the Deacy amp, which bass player John Deacon built from scrap, with allowing him to change his guitar sounds drastically depending on the songs. Check out his interview with Rick Beato’s analysis of Bohemian Rhapsody.

So many gems on this album. GOOD COMPANY may be of interest. Brian May uses his guitar to make a Dixieland Jazz band. He made Trombone, trumpet, etc. It starts with him playing a Banjo/Ukulele that his dad had in the war. Please listen to this, very incredible!!!!

Another wonderful reaction! I always loved this side of Freddie's creativity in the mid-70s. I hope you'll react to other songs of his that are in a similar vein: Seaside Rendezvous, The Millionaire Waltz, and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy!

The statement of a true artist. ' I'm just an ordinary guy"

Don’t stop with just 50. You’ll miss so many phenomenal songs written and performed by the very best of all time!

Cannot wait to watch this queen journey is wonderful love you

very Victorian. I have commented before you will in the end apciate Zappa,Yes, Pink Floyd,Queen.and the Likes

Freddie also played the bass during his schoolyears in Zanzibar, and could basically played guitar in his later years. He was a curious mind, with an incredible thirst for experimentation.

Nice breakdown as usual. I can't wait until you get to "The Prophet's Song" on that album. I think it's one of the greatest songs they ever did. Freddie's lyric's are quite moving.

Great reaction as always. Love that Queen did all types of music.

And remember, listening to this side of Queen’s music, that they are often cited as an influence by many metal bands, then an now. Maybe not for this kind of song, but I’ll bet you many a metal guitarist has listened to May in this song and at least had a little think.

It’s important to note that this is not the first song about Sunday afternoons. The Small Faces first released “Lazy Sunday Afternoon” a few years prior and The Kinks released “Sunny Afternoon” in 1966 where the chorus lyrics end with “Lazin' on a sunny afternoon…”. Just a thought! Channel Tunnel, also called Eurotunnel, rail tunnel between England and France that runs beneath the English Channel. The Channel Tunnel, 50 km (31 miles) long, consists of three tunnels: two for rail traffic and a central tunnel for services and security. Launched in 1994, the Eurotunnel is an excellent alternative way to take your car to France, using the Channel Tunnel's two double railway tunnels which have been dug beneath the sea bed in the English Channel. St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, France and the Netherlands to London. Eurostar runs high-speed passenger services through the Channel Tunnel between London and a number of other European cities, including Paris, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Avignon and Marseille. So some other "common Londoner" could paint in the Louvre today.

When All dead all dead made you cry it made me cry.

Great review. I'd like to note that England have always been famous because of its eccentrics, and of course there were circles of bohemian artists as well in many periods and places. Although I'm not British, I think English culture, while being somewhat strict in social norms and expected behaviours, is paradoxically also rather forgiving towards eccentric behaviour. Much so than the traditional culture of the US, for comparison. But of course this is my personal opinion. I've read somewhere an opinion that stated, the number of eccentric people a country has is an indicator of the healthiness of its society.

Hah, I've clearly listened to this album a lot of times... my brain went straight to In Love With My Car right after 4:21 (and 20:00). :D And my thought at 20:02: of course it is, the engine is running already, no time for being lazy anymore! gotta get in the car! :D

I´m a singer and guitar player in a rather succsessful band in Rio and you don´t know how much i´ve been learning from you. Your song analysis has incredibly broadened the different feelings that you can put in a performance to touch or reach people´s hearts, thank you so much! (And I will say it again your hands are beautiful).

When I hear this song, and that brightly abrupt ending, I can’t help but think of it in the context of the album, where it immediately sort of detonates into the distorted hard rock guitar intro of the next song, I’m In Love With My Car. They are so linked together in my mind that they seem like one composition, though the pairing is like sonic whiplash. I have always thought of the line “I’m just an ordinary guy” as being ironic, since the character seems clearly to be a somewhat well-off eccentric. This has always been a highlight of the album for me. Thanks for exploring it with us!

I didn't expect you to include this song in the project. At this rate you might as well do the whole album :-P

Brain May is a killer guitarist/genius.

As someone has mentioned We hope you do "Good Company". It is a long the same idea of doing older Vaudeville,music hall.

I don't think I've ever heard that track without immediately hearing "I'm in love with my car" afterwards.

The Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band influence is strong in this song.

I believe this song was written in the style of Noel Coward , the vocal effect is inspired by old 1930s 40s BBC light service

@TootlinGeoff

11 ай бұрын

Possibly trying to capture the effect of singing through a megaphone which some 20s/30s vocalists used in the days before decent mic/amp combinations

A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races are 2 masterpiece albums released back to back....

I love your awesome reation about Queen 😀 thanks

He's an ordinary guy who casually pops over the Channel to paint in Paris once a week... That's the joke.

Please make room for Queen's "Seaside Rendezvous"...so many sound effects!

I'm in love with my car follows Lazing on a Sunday afternoon

I bought this album when it first came out. : - ) I heard this song, like you said, as an old time (78 rpm) 1910-1920s recording. Considering the character of the voice and the "I'm just an ordinary guy" lyric, the song comes off as intentionally sarcastic in a funny enjoyable way. Ironic may be the better word here. It certainly makes me smile imagining this "ordinary guy" doing all these things, then lazing on a Sunday afternoon.

I think your "Queen 50" will need to be expanded to at least "Queen 100"! Queen has so many styles that 50 will just not cut it! (Unless the "50" is just an anniversary number...)

@ellet6560

11 ай бұрын

Vlad better be working on “Queen, the next 50”, fast & furiously!

Great analysis as always Amy 👍 It is strange bland of modern production with try to get that old sound from old records on wining turntables with the big trumpet speaker, and they nailed that. Vaudeville style of funny little tune with lots of humor in one, and technical difficulty to record the guitar solo only one one left channel that it shared with vocals, once again May make the guitar sing joyful la, la, la melody on the end like it is vocal himself, no classical solo guitar piece. This little song is much complex and significant in Queen music, than it looks on first listen. Once again thanks Amy and Vlad for this wonderful experience and kiss the little one✌️

I love your postage stamp analogy.

This song reminds me of a tropical vacation for some reason

This one should be accompanied by Millionaire’s Waltz

Your channel is immaculate. I would love your reaction to, The Kinks ( mid period), Pentangle, Dukes of Stratosfear aka XTC, Genesis (Peter Gabriel era), the Left Banke, The Stranglers ( '77- '90), Mott the Hoople, and perhaps the Lionheart LP by Kate Bush. Thank you so much as I have internalized the sonics rather than the form, of many great songs.

I'm looking forward to Amy getting to Innuendo.

I think you're going to love my favorite Queen song... "Fairy Feller's Master Stroke"... next queen song by Virgin Rock 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Lovely reaction , some songs are just for the zany playfulness of it all. Queen in a studio, were kids in a candy store. On a different note, i listened to `Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds` today , me thinks Amy would love the intro, or all of it actually ?? Violins, synths, great guitars , OOOO LAAAA

Love that song

Thank you for covering less famous songs by Queen. If you haven't i suggest "Good Company" by Brian May.

My Favorite Channel! Peace

I'm waiting for seaside rendevous and my melancholy blues. 😊

I've always thought this song is about a pal of Bertie Wooster's from the Drones Club.

It owes a lot to "Barbershop Quartet" music, which started in the Edwardian era and still very much continues. Lots of close-harmony whimsy about upper class young gentlemen and their ladies promenading at the seaside or the park. The title owes something to The Kinks' (Lazing on a) Sunny Afternoon from 1966. As an aside, The Kinks are contemporaries of the Beatles (and lasted a lot longer!) and very much worth a listen. They were huge innovators and wrote/performed in many popular music genres, I suspect Lola may surprise you when you realise what he is singing about...

Dear Amy and Mr. Vlad, great song, great selection on queen’ 50, again a very detail analysis, but I have may special request (if you may). A lot of fans like, you can ask, the music that was the predecessor of Bohemian Rhapsody. The song is The March of the Black Queen. i know im a very boring guy asking from the song again and again ahahahahaha. i hope someday this request will be atender. 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Noël Coward's works from the inter-war period was probably a major source of inspiration for these 'retro-sounding' Queen tunes. Freddie often labelled himself as a romantic by heart. He wrote more tunes in the same vein: The Millionaire Waltz, Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Seaside Rendezvous and Bring Back Than Leroy Brown. Brian must've been inspired by Freddie, because he also wrote a couple of 'retro' sounding songs: Good Company and Dreamer's Ball. I wouldn't label them as passionate romantic tunes like Freddie's but they are certainly something he couldn't have written, if he hadn't grown up with Freddie.

The song sums up the carefree life of someone in a more decadent time.

I've always heard "painting in the Loooovre" as a pun. You think he is painting in the loo (the toilet) until the last second, then it switches to the Louvre, a very different image. Very Vaudeville/ British Music hall comedy.

I've suggested this to you and I'm so glad you did it.

Seaside Rendezvous next!

This and Seaside rendezvous are one of my favorite songs of Queen, specially because they are not afraid to just do a happy little song just for fun.

"No synthesizers!"

The early portion of the song reminds me of a gramophone record of a music hall song from the start of the twentieth century. The move into a more Queen style by the end pulls it back into its time. It also reminds my of the hidden track, "Blood," on My Chemical Romance's album "The Black Parade."

I love the juxtaposition between "ordinary guy" and someone who apparently proposes and honeymoons weekly. Doesn't walk to the zoo, waltzes. Doesn't look at paintings in the Louvre, he goes there to paint. It's silly fun, like Monty Python.

I gotta wonder if Freddie was inspired by The Kinks "Sunny Afternoon?" The styles are quite different but the underlying irony in both is unmistakable.