We Will Rock You

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“We Will Rock You”
Single by Queen from the album News of the World
A-side	"We Are the Champions"
Released	October 28th, 1977
Format	12"
Genre	Arena Rock
Length	2:02
Label	Elektra Records (US)
Writer(s)	Brian May
Producer	Queen, assisted by Mike Stone
Queen singles chronology
"Long Away" (1977) "We Are the Champions" / "We Will Rock You" (US) (1977) "It's Late" (1978)

"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded and performed by Queen. One version was used as the opening track on their 1977 album News of the World. This version consists of a stamping-clapping beat, and a power chorus, being somewhat of an anthem. The stamping effects were created by the band overdubbing the sounds of themselves stomping and clapping many times and adding delay effects to create a sound like many people were participating. When performed live, this version is usually followed by "We Are the Champions", another of the album's hits, as they were designed to run together. On the 45 of the song's original vinyl record release, the song was actually the flip side of "We Are the Champions" in England, however the American record company requested to put the two songs together as a "double A side" because American radio stations were playing them back to back. This is a reason why the songs are often paired on the radio and at sporting events, where they are frequently played. The songs are also paired back to back on the album, and they are still played together to this day on American classic rock radio stations. Queen also performed the song in another arrangement (known as the "fast version"), which featured a faster tempo and a full guitar, bass and drums backing track throughout. The band would often open their live sets in the late 1970s and early 1980s with this version, as captured on their 1979 Live Killers double album, on Queen Rock Montreal (2007), and on the Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl album released in 2004.

The "fast version" is available in a studio performance. In 1977, it was recorded for John Peel's show on BBC Radio 1. This version is on the 1992 Italian bootleg CD "Queen - We Will Rock You" (On Stage CD 12018). It is part of a longer cut that starts out with the slow version. In 2002, the fast version was officially released on a promo single distributed by the tabloid The Sun. The "fast" BBC studio version can also be found on King Biscuit Live: Best of, Vol. 1. Between the two versions, there is a brief cut of a female voice discussing Brahmanism, used in a BBC Radio documentary. Obviously an error, the band, however, thought it was "cool", and left it in.

Due to its prevalence in popular culture, "We Will Rock You" has been recognized by various authorities as being quite influential, including Rolling Stone, which ranked it #330 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, and also the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) which placed it at #146 on its list of Songs of the Century.

[edit] Uses in popular culture

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• A version of the song was performed by Britney Spears, Pink, Beyoncé Knowles in a Pepsi-Cola TV advertisement is shown in the some countries like United Kingdom, Finland, Brazil, Malaysia, Romania, Philippines, India, Mexico, and Latin America. The producer of this version was Brian May. The scenario was the Coliseum in ancient Rome; Pink, Beyoncé and Britney were female gladiators who defeated the emperor - played by Enrique Iglesias - by singing "We Will Rock You" together with the audience. Brian May and Roger Taylor both make guest appearances in the ad.
• This song was used as a promotional song for The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. It was sung as "He will, He will, Croc you!"
• One of the more inventive, if whimsical, applications of "We Will Rock You" comes in the film A Knight's Tale (2001). Featured as the soundtrack of the opening sequence of this 21st century Chaucerian tale, medieval English peasants (actually Czech extras) are seen stomping and clapping in the bleachers of a jousting match. This film's soundtrack relies heavily upon 1970s rock classics, especially to indulge in its favorite delight of anachronistic play between modern and medieval times.
• The Detroit Pistons used the song as their theme during the Bad Boys era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The current Pistons also play it at their home games, especially since their city gained popularity through the film Detroit Rock City.
• Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust includes it in her playlist, and the fans put a twist on the chant: "We will, we will, SOX YOU!"
• Blondie's song "Good Boys" (2003) contains lyrics that are a modified quote from "We Will Rock You" sung in a rap style reminiscent of the original.
• This song was used as the official song of football (soccer) game Winning Eleven 5, also known as Pro Evolution Soccer 2 in Europe.
• Rapper Eminem has sampled the track twice on The Eminem Show's "'Till I Collapse" and Encore's "Puke."
• Rappers Chamillionaire and Lil Wayne sampled the song's well known 'boom, boom, clap' for their own song, "Rock Star", found on Chamillionaire's album, Ultimate Victory
• In an episode of Cheers, bar patrons spontaneously stomped floorboards and broke out with the song. This clip has been played at sporting events to get the crowd doing it and is usually followed by the actual song. This has been done at Texas Rangers games, as well as others.
• In an episode of Friends, Ross Geller recorded the audio message of the answering machine using this song, but changing the lyrics to "We will, we will, call you back".
• In an episode of Full House, while Rebecca Donaldson was in labour and doing her breathing exercises, Danny Tanner (who was with her) began singing "We Will, we will, rock you" to the beat of her breathing.
• This song was used as the promotional song for The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas movie.
• In a Taco Bell commercial with a crunchy taco, three men bang their elbows on the table and bite their tacos to the tune of "We Will Rock You", then say, "We will, we will" and a woman says "Stop doing that!" Later, they say, "You've got cheese on your face, you big disgrace!"
• In the 1994 movie D2: The Mighty Ducks, during a montage of a hockey game the audience cheers "We Will Quack You" as the Mighty Ducks go onto victory. This is followed several minutes later in the credits with the Ducks singing "We Are the Champions" around a campfire.
• The song was used in the TV show Gladiators.
• In the Drake and Josh episode "The Storm", the guests in Drake's house sing a song familiar to this when the electricity goes out.
• In the film The Recruit, Colin Farrell sings the opening verse of the song during a card game.
• It was used by Homer the long running animated series The Simpsons in the episode "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em...".
• In the Tour Generacion RBD the Mexican group uses the beat of it to introduce their band singing "Yo si soy Rebelde" instead and adding their popular "Yo digo R tu dices BD" to it.
• The song was also used in the senatorial political TV ad of Team Unity in the Philippines.
• We Will Rock You is also the title of the musical performed in the Dominion Theatre in London. It was written by Ben Elton and Queen.
• "We Will Rock You" is the first track on the compilation album VH1 Rocks.
• In the video game Final Fantasy XII, there is an earth elemental attack called "Rock You". This was confirmed by director Yasumi Matsuno to be a reference to the song in an interview at E³ 2006. [1]
• In the manga and anime Cromartie High School there is a chapter/episode named "Rock You". In the chapter/episode, the main character meets a man who looks like Freddie Mercury. So he names him Freddie.
• A variation was used by Domino's Pizza during the mid-1990s as "Gotta be, gotta be...Domino's". When the chain introduced buffalo wings in 1994, the words "buffalo wings" were added after Domino's.
• During the MST3K episode "Final Sacrifice", Crow and Tom Servo sing along with drums on the film soundtrack, adding their own lyrics about the main character in the film- "We will, we will Rowsdower!"
• In Legoland Windsor moai statues made out of lego sing this song.
• In 2008 the german do-it-yourself store OBI used this song in their commercial spots. The lyrics are about the service of OBI and the sentence of the chorus was changed to "Wie, wo, was, weiss OBI".

[edit] Cover versions and remixes

• 1991: Rick Rubin did some remixes of "We Will Rock You", released by Hollywood Records. The "Ruined Remix" also contains contributions by Flea and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
• 1991: Italian band Kirlian Camera covered the song on their album Todesengel. The Fall of Life.
• 1992: Queen with guest singer Axl Rose performed the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.
• 1992: Warrant covered the song for the film Gladiator.
• 1992: Brazilian band Viper covered the song in their album Evolution, and later in a 1993 live album Maniacs in Japan.
• 1996: Linda Ronstadt performed a soft lullaby version for her album Dedicated to the One I Love
• 1996: Alanis Morissette and her band ended the first encore of her "Can't Not" Tour (following the song, "You Learn") with a cover of the song. Drummer Taylor Hawkins took the microphone, while Morissette took to the drums.
• 1999: Henry Rollins did a parody of "We Will Rock You" titled "I Have Come to Kill You".
• 2000: DJ Hurricane and Scott Weiland collaborated on a cover of the song for the album Don't Sleep.
• 2000: Queen members May and Taylor recorded a rap-style version of the song with boy band 5ive.
• 2000: Actress Kimberly Williams performs an alternate version of the song for the television miniseries The 10th Kingdom.
• 2003: John Farnham performed a rendition for his Greatest Hits CD, featuring samples from the original recording. According to the liner notes for One Voice: The Greatest Hits, Brian May contributed an extended guitar solo.
• 2003: Robbie Williams covered the song at his Knebworth Park gig. The performance subsequently appears on his Live Summer 2003 album which was released in the same year.
• 2003: a cover of the song, sung by a chorus of children, was released in a series of animated Evian adverts which aired in France, Germany and Belgium. The remix was later released as a single and entered the local charts^[1].
• 2003: Anastacia performed a version with Queen members May and Taylor at the 46664 Mandela concert.
• 2003: Japanese techno artist Killingscum remixed 5ives cover of the song in the track Morning Knifreak.
• 2004: Houseboyz performed a cover version for the video game Dance Dance Revolution Extreme^[2].
• 2004: Scum of the Earth did a cover version on their debut album Blah...Blah...Blah...Love Songs for the New Millennium. However, the song title was changed to "Pornstar Champion" with modified lyrics.
• 2005: German band Pink Cream 69 covered the song in their album Food For Thought^[3].
• 2005: Nickelback covered the song as a bonus track, through a promotion with Wal-Mart, for their album All the Right Reasons.
• 2005: Mig Ayesa performed the song in the reality show Rock Star: INXS.
• 2006: Jonathan Coulton performed a cover as the finale for his online "Thing-a-Week" series^[4]
• 2006: Ace Young performed the song in Season 5 of the reality show American Idol.
• 2007: Prince's performance at the Super Bowl XLI started with a rendition of the song.
• 2007: Japanese singer Kumi Koda covered the song in her a-nation '07 performance.
• 2007: Girl band Hope sang the song on series 4 of X Factor.
• 2008: Finnish band Sonata Arctica plays "We Will Rock You" in concerts of their 2008 tour, using the crowd as a human drum kit.
• 2008: Michael John performed the song in Season 7 of the reality show American Idol.
• 2008: Japanese singer Kosaka Riyu recorded a trance version of the song.
• 2008: KoRn plays "We Will Rock You" as medley with their Coming Undone at their live concerts.
• 2008: Celine Dion performed a cover of this song as The Show Must Go On for her world tour concerts.
• Norman Cook performed a Fatboy Slim remix on "We Will Rock You".
• DJ Speedo has performed a gabber style remix for various compilation CDs.

[edit] References