Mustapha (Queen song)

"Mustapha"

German cover of the single
Single by Queen
from the album Jazz
B-side "Dead on Time"
"In Only Seven Days" (Yugoslavia)
Released April 1979 (Bolivia, West Germany, Spain and Yugoslavia only)
Format 7"
Recorded 1978
Genre Hard rock, progressive rock
Length 3:01
Label EMI
Songwriter(s) Freddie Mercury
Producer(s) Queen and Roy Thomas Baker
Queen singles chronology
"Don't Stop Me Now"
(1979)
"Mustapha"
(1979)
"Jealousy"
(1979)

"Don't Stop Me Now"
(1979)
"Mustapha"
(1979)
"Jealousy"
(1979)

"Mustapha" is a song written by Freddie Mercury and recorded by British rock band Queen. It is the first track of their 1978 album Jazz,[1] categorized as "an up-tempo Arabic rocker" by Circus Magazine.[2]

"Mustapha" was released as a single in Germany, Spain, Yugoslavia and Bolivia in 1979. The B side of the single was "Dead On Time" for German and Spanish releases and "In Only Seven Days" for Yugoslavian and Bolivian releases. Also, all four versions had different covers.[3]

The composition's lyrics are in English, Arabic, and Arabic-emulating gibberish. In live performances, Mercury would often sing the opening vocals of "Mustapha" in place of the complex introduction to "Bohemian Rhapsody", going from "Allah we'll pray for you" to "Mama, just killed a man...". Sometimes the band performed an almost full version of the song from the "Crazy Tour" in late 1979 to "The Game Tour" in 1980, with Mercury at the piano. They dropped the second verse and went from the first chorus to the third. Also notable is that the song was often requested by the audience, as can be heard on "Live Killers".

Personnel

References

  1. "Jazz: Queen: Music". Amazon. Retrieved 31 January 2012. 1. Mustapha
  2. "Interviews > Freddie Mercury Interviews > 12-12-1978 - Circus Magazine". Queenarchives.com. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  3. "Jazz (1978)". Queenvinyls.com. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
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