Released 1975 Genre Hard rock | A-side Bohemian Rhapsody Length 3:05 | |
Recorded 1975 at Sarm East Studios Label EMI, Parlophone (Europe)
Elektra, Hollywood (US) | ||
"I'm in Love with My Car" is a song by the British rock band Queen, originally released on their fourth album A Night at the Opera in 1975. It is the album's only song written entirely by drummer Roger Taylor.
Contents
History
The song lyrics were initially taken as a joke by Brian May, who thought that Taylor was not serious when he heard a demo recording.
Taylor played the guitars in the original demo, but they were later re-recorded by May on his Red Special. The lead vocals were performed by Taylor on the studio version and all released live versions. The revving sounds at the conclusion of the song were recorded by Taylor's then current car, an Alfa Romeo. The lyrics were inspired by one of the band's roadies, Johnathan Harris, whose Triumph TR4 was evidently the "love of his life". The song is dedicated to him, with the liner notes mentioning, "Dedicated to Johnathan Harris, boy racer to the end".
When it came down to releasing the album's first single, Taylor was so fond of his song that he urged Freddie Mercury (author of the first single, "Bohemian Rhapsody") to allow it to be the B-side and reportedly locked himself in a cupboard until Mercury agreed. This decision would later become the cause of much internal friction in the band, in that while it was only the B-side, it generated an equal amount of publishing royalties for Taylor as the main single did for Mercury simply because it was the B-side to "Bohemian Rhapsody".
The song was often played live during the 1977–81 period. Taylor sang it from the drums while Mercury played piano and provided backing vocals. During the News of the World Tour, Mercury would often sing the chorus lines with Taylor. It was played in the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour in 2005 and the Rock the Cosmos Tour in 2008. Taylor would again play the song for his concerts with The Cross and solo tours, where instead of drums he played rhythm guitar like in the demo recording.
The song was used in a 2004 advertisement for Jaguar. Music writer Tom Reynolds described the song as "[s]eriously, one of the greatest and most passionate love songs I've heard during the last thirty-plus years".