Liar (Queen song)

"Liar"
Single by Queen
from the album Queen
B-side	"Doing All Right"
Released	14 February 1974
Format	7"
Recorded	1971 – 1972 at Trident and De Lane Lea Studios
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock
Length	6:26 (album version) 3:01 (single edit)
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)	John Anthony, Roy Thomas Baker, Queen
Queen singles chronology
"Keep Yourself Alive" (1973) "Liar" (1974) "Seven Seas of Rhye" (1974)

"Liar" is a song by British rock group Queen, written by singer Freddie Mercury in 1970, and originally titled "Lover". The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album Queen. A heavily edited version of "Liar" (which the band hated^{[citation needed]}) was released as a single—backed with "Doing All Right"—in the United States by Elektra Records in February 1974.

In the earlier years of Queen, this song was regarded as one of their most impressive live performances, often going over nine or even ten minutes long. However, over time the song eventually fell off the setlist, with the exception of The Works Tour (though the song was cut down to three minutes or less). On the Magic Tour, right before "Tear It Up", the beginning of the "Liar" guitar riff is played by Brian May.

During live performances, it was one of the few songs where bass player John Deacon sang backing vocals at all. This was done during the part where the band sings "all day long". He mimics the promotional video for the song, where he stands behind Freddie and sings into his microphone. However, it is unknown whether or not Deacon actually sang during live performances due to the fact he was never a featured backing vocalist in the studio and rarely live. Also, this song contains a bass solo performed by John Deacon. As confirmed by the transcription on EMI Music Publishing's Off The Record sheet music for the song, this is one of three Queen tracks, the others being "Now I'm Here" and "Under Pressure" (their collaboration with David Bowie), to feature a Hammond organ.

This song brought up the issue of song-writing credits within the band. Brian May queried which band members would be credited for developing the music for each song, to which Freddie Mercury concluded the discussion, stating that the lyricist has basically written the song.

Personnel

• Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, hammond organ
• Brian May - acoustic and electric guitar, backing vocals
• John Deacon - bass guitar
• Roger Taylor - drums, tambourine, backing vocals

Track listing

7" single (Royal Sound TKR 157)

1. "Liar" (single edit) (Freddie Mercury) – 3:01
2. "Doing All Right" (Brian May, Tim Staffell) – 4:09

7" single (Elektra E-45884)^[1]

1. "Liar" (Freddie Mercury)
2. "Liar"

Notes

External links

• Official music video on YouTube
• Lyrics at Queen official website
• "Liar" at Queenpedia
• "Liar" song review at Allmusic