| "Hammer to Fall" | ||||||||
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| Single by Queen | ||||||||
| from the album The Works | ||||||||
| B-side | Tear It Up | |||||||
| Released | 10 September 1984 (UK etc.) | |||||||
| Format | Vinyl record (7", 12") | |||||||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||
| Length |
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| Label | EMI / Capitol | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Brian May | |||||||
| Producer | Queen and Mack | |||||||
| Queen singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Hammer to Fall" is a 1984 song by the British rock group Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song is the eighth track on their 1984 album The Works.[1]
It was the fourth and final single to be released from that album, although the single version was edited down by thirty seconds in contrast to the version on the album. Different sleeves were used to package this single and the live picture sleeve is now a collector's item. The song was also the subject of a popular music video directed by David Mallet, containing footage of a performance of the song in Brussels during The Works Tour.[2] The song harks back to the Queen of old, with a song being built around a hard angular and muscular riff. The song features Freddie Mercury on lead vocals, doing a call and response with May, who sings the chorus.
"Hammer to Fall" was a concert favourite, and was the third song the band performed at Live Aid in 1985.[3][4] The song features in the setlist of both The Works Tour and Magic Tour.[5][6] The full album version of the song appears on Queen Rocks while the single version appears on Greatest Hits II and Classic Queen.[1]
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The lyrics at several points refer to the Cold War era in which the band members grew up, fuelling the popular conception that the song was about nuclear war:
For we who grew up tall and proud
In the shadow of the mushroom cloud
Convinced our voices can't be heard
We just wanna scream it louder and louder and louder
What the hell are we fighting for
Just surrender and it won't hurt at all
The term "waiting for the hammer to fall" in the song was taken to refer to the anticipation by the public that Cold War would turn "hot" - or, alternatively, as a reference to the Soviet Hammer and Sickle. The song also contains references to death and its inevitability:
Rich or poor or famous
For your truth it's all the same (oh no oh no)
Lock your door but the rain is pouring
Through your window pane (oh no)
Baby now your struggle's all in vain, yeah, yeah.
The question of the meaning of the song was effectively settled when May wrote on his website that Hammer to Fall is really about life and death, and being aware of death as being part of life. "The Hammer coming down is only a symbol of the Grim Reaper doing his job!"[7]
A concert favourite, "Hammer to Fall" was the third song on the band's setlist at Live Aid, after "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Radio Ga Ga".[3] Live versions of the song in the 1980s also usually served as an opportunity for touring keyboardist Spike Edney to appear onstage playing rhythm guitar (he was usually not visible from his keyboard stack.) "Hammer to Fall" features in the setlist of both The Works Tour and Magic Tour.[5][6]
At the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, Extreme singer Gary Cherone performed the song with Queen and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, having earlier done a medley of other Queen songs with his own group.[8]
A different version of the song with the first part played in the style of a ballad was played by Queen + Paul Rodgers in 2005. The song peaked at number 3 in South America, and 13 in the UK.[9] The song was featured in the film Highlander.
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