| "Somebody to Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Queen | ||||
| from the album A Day at the Races | ||||
| B-side | "White Man" | |||
| Released | 12 November 1976 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:56 | |||
| Label | EMI, Elektra | |||
| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |||
| Producer | Queen | |||
| Queen singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"Somebody to Love" is a song by British rock band Queen. Written by singer/pianist Freddie Mercury, the track featured on their 1976 album A Day at the Races, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits.[1] When released as a single, the song reached number two in the UK and number 13 in the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.[2][3]
Written by Mercury at the piano, "Somebody to Love" is a soul-searching piece that questions God's role in a life without love. A song inspired by gospel music, especially that of Aretha Franklin, Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor multi-tracked their voices to create a 100-voice gospel choir.[4]
Queen played "Somebody to Love" live between 1977 and 1985, and a live performance of the song is recorded in the album Queen Rock Montreal.[5] The song was played live on April 20, 1992, during The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, with George Michael on lead vocals.[6] Since its release, the song has appeared on television and film, and has been covered by a number of artists.
Contents |
Like "Bohemian Rhapsody", the major hit from Queen's previous album A Night at the Opera (1975), "Somebody to Love" has a complex melody and deep layering of vocal tracks, this time based on a gospel choir arrangement.[7] It was the first single from the album A Day at the Races, on which band members Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor multitracked their voices to create the impression of a 100-voice gospel choir.[4] The lyrics, especially combined with the gospel influence, create a song about faith, desperation and soul-searching; the singer questions both the lack of love experienced in his life, and the role and existence of God.[1] Staying true to Queen's guitar-driven style, it was also filled with intricate harmonies and a notable guitar solo by Brian May, and it went to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.[2][3] The song possesses a great variety of notes, ranging from F2 in the harmonies on the line "Can anybody find me?", and G#2 to a C5 in full voice up to an A♭5 in falsetto in the lead vocals, all sung by Mercury.[8] The band have spoken of sections of the song which were recorded but never made it onto the final mix of the song, some of which have been leaked online.
| “ | "'Somebody To Love' is Aretha Franklin-influenced. Freddie's very much into that. We tried to keep the track in a loose, gospel-type feel. I think it's the loosest track we've ever done." | ” |
|
—Roger Taylor[9] |
||
A promotional video was made combining a staged recording session at Sarm East Studios (where the A Day at the Races album was recorded) and film footage of the band's record breaking performance at Hyde Park that September.[4][10] Peter Hince, the head of Queen's road crew, recalled to Mojo magazine: "Aesthetically, you had to have all four around the microphone, but John (Deacon) didn't sing on the records. By his own admission he didn't have the voice. He did sing on-stage but the crew always knew to keep the fader very low." [11] The song was included on their first Greatest Hits, released in 1981.[1]
This was also one of few tracks where John Deacon sang backing vocals when performed live. His voice was clearly heard on bootlegs from the band's performance at Earls Court in June 1977 and at the Houston Summit in December 1977.[12] From 1977 to 1978, it was played about every show.[12][13] For the Jazz and Live Killer tours, it was also played consistently.[14] In The Game Tour, it was only played early in the tour. It was also played for South America Bites The Dust, Live at the Bowl and Queen Rock Montreal.[5][15] Later in The Works Tour, a shortened version was played as a medley preceding "Killer Queen".[16] A Live version from the 1984/85 tour was recorded and filmed on the concert film, Final Live in Japan 1985.[17]
When performed live, Mercury would often alter the melodies of the song, but would generally hit the sustained A♭4 notes throughout the song. The A♭4 at the peak of the building line "can anybody find me" on the studio version was not part of Mercury's original melody, but the other band members felt that it worked better than his. Mercury sings his original take on this line when live.
At the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert held at Wembley Stadium, the song was performed by George Michael. Michael's performances of "Somebody to Love" hailed as "one of best performances of the tribute concert".[18][19] It was even given serious consideration as to having George Michael take over as full-time lead singer of Queen.[20] The song was later rereleased in 1993 as the lead track of an EP called Five Live which went to #1 in the UK. This version is also available on Greatest Hits III, released in 1999.[1]