MUSIC
Queen
Polina Kolesnik
BSPU,
Blagoveshchensk (Russia)
Is there anybody in the world who has
never heard about the legendry rock band
"Queen"? Of course not! Even if you are not a
real fan of the group, you definitely know the
lyrics to their songs, such as We are the
champions, Radio Ga Ga or We will rock you.
Many people all around the world know and
love their music, sing along with them and
move to the energetic rhythms. The soloist,
Freddie Mercury, is well-known for his
extraordinary style and manners. Queen has
obviously brought a lot into the music of the
20th century. They have millions of fans all
around the world, every member of the group
has created at least one hit, and their
performance was acknowledged as the
brightest and the most significant in the
history of rock.
At the very beginning the group was
called 1984 and then Smile. There were only
three members in the group- Bryon May,
Timothy Staffell and Roger Taylor. But there
was one thing missing - the soloist. When
Freddie Mercury came into Smile, nobody knew
that was the beginning of their successful
career. The group was renamed by Freddie, it
got the name Queen. Mercury said that
though it was just a name, it sounded regal
and splendid. It was a strong name, very
universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual
potential and was open to all sorts of
interpretations. It was as if Freddie knew in
advance that the group would succeed
worldwide and it`s name was to be
remembered easily. He used to say “You have
to have confidence in this business. It's
USELESS saying you don't need it. If you start
saying to yourself, “Maybe I'm not good
enough, maybe I'd better settle for second
place”, it's no good. If you like the icing on the
top, you've got to have confidence”. Mercury
e ve n c r e a t e d t h e g r o u p ' s l o g o t h a t
subsequently became the group's emblem.
Mercury knew exactly how to hold stage, how
to perform, and most importantly how to sing.
After some time, Tim Staffell left the group,
but soon a new bass guitar player, John
Deacon, was found. And since that time
Queen performed in such a team for 20 years.
52
SUNRISE
At first, Queen played their songs in bars
and pubs, and sometimes at the bigger
concerts, but just to “preheat” the audience.
However, after a while they dropped their
debut album and people began to recognize
them. During the next couple of years they
released such hits as Killer Queen and Stone
Cold Crazy. Mercury was all inspiration and led
the band forward to new heights "Well, I don't
ever really sit down at the piano and say,
“Right, I've got to write a song now”. I feel a few
things and I have ideas. It's very hard to explain
but there are always various ideas going
through my head. Killer Queen was one song
which was really out of the format that I
usually write in. Usually the music comes first,
b u t t h e wo r d s c a m e to m e, a n d t h e
sophisticated style that I wanted to put
across in the song, came first. No, I'd never
really met a woman like that. A lot of my songs
are fantasy. I can dream up all kinds of things.
That's the kind of world I live in. It's very sort of
flamboyant, and that's the kind of way I write. I
love it. Certain things just come together, but
other things you have to work for. The whole
band is very particular. We don't go in for half
measures and I'm very hard with myself.
There're no compromises. If I thought a song
wasn't quite right, I'd discard it. I'm very
intricate and delicate”.
February 2019 №2