B-side "You and I" Recorded 1976 Length 3:33 | Format 7" | |
Released 7 June 1977 (US, Canada, New Zealand) | ||
"Long Away" is a single by the British rock band Queen; it is the third track on their 1976 album A Day at the Races. Brian May wrote the song and sings the lead vocals.
Contents
This song is available as a downloadable content for Rock Band 3. Also, it appeared on the 2014 compilation album Queen Forever.
Recording
It is one of the few songs where May uses a guitar other than his Red Special. For the rhythm guitar parts he used an electric Burns twelve string guitar (although he used the Red Special for the second guitar solo in the middle section of the track). Originally May wanted to use a Rickenbacker guitar (as he admired John Lennon), but he didn't get along well with the Rickenbacker's thin neck.
Roger Taylor sings the highest parts of the song.
Meaning
The song has a sad tone, describing that "for every star in heaven / there's a sad soul here today," and an overall sense of melancholic nostalgia lies over the song. It is similar in feel to the song '39 from A Night at the Opera, although without the folk influence.
Live performances
The song was never performed live with Mercury, though it was rehearsed before the start of the A Day at the Races Tour in January 1977. May performed an acoustic version of the song at Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders Concert on the 11 May 2010.