B-side "White Man" Format 7" Genre Rock, gospel | Released 12 November 1976 Recorded 1976 Length 4:57 | |
"Somebody to Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by the lead singer/pianist Freddie Mercury. It debuted on the band's 1976 album A Day at the Races and was also featured on their compilation album Greatest Hits.
Contents
- Background
- Live performances
- Personnel
- Notable covers
- In other media
- George Michael and Queen version
- References
The song offers listeners something similar to that of Queen's earlier hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" with its complex harmonies and guitar solos; however instead of mimicking an English choir, the band turned to a gospel choir. It reached #2 in the UK and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. This song made it clear to fans that "Queen could swing as hard as it could rock, by channeling the spirit of gospel music."
Written by Mercury at the piano, "Somebody to Love" is a soul-searching piece that questions God's role in a life without love. Through voice layering techniques, Queen was able to create the soulful sound of a 100-voice choir, with that of only three voices: Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor. John Deacon did not sing backing vocals during the recorded album. Mercury's fascination and admiration for Aretha Franklin was a major influence for the creation of this song.
Queen played "Somebody to Love" live from 1977–85, and a live performance of the song is recorded on the album Queen Rock Montreal. In addition to these live performances, there has been collaboration on tributes to "Somebody to Love" after Mercury's death in 1991. The song was played live on 20 April 1992, during The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, with George Michael on lead vocals.
Since its release in 1976, the song has appeared in a number of television shows, such as American Idol, The X Factor, Glee and Gossip Girl, as well as movies, including Happy Feet and Ella Enchanted. Additionally, it has been covered by many artists.
Background
Like "Bohemian Rhapsody", the major hit from Queen's previous album A Night at the Opera (1975), "Somebody to Love" has a complex melody and deep layering of vocal tracks, this time based on a gospel choir arrangement. It was the first single from A Day at the Races, on which Mercury, May and Taylor multitracked their voices to create the impression of a 100-voice gospel choir. The lyrics, especially combined with the gospel influence, create a song about faith, desperation and soul-searching; the singer questions both the lack of love experienced in his life, and the role and existence of God. Staying true to Queen's guitar-driven style, it was also filled with intricate harmonies and a notable guitar solo by May, and it went to #2 in the UK Singles Chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. The song is in the key of A♭ major. The song possesses a great variety of notes, ranging from F2 in the harmonies on the line "Can anybody find me?", and G#2 to a C5 in full voice up to an A♭5 in falsetto in the lead vocals, all sung by Mercury. The band have spoken of sections of the song which were recorded but never made it onto the final mix of the song, some of which have been leaked online.
"Somebody To Love" is Aretha Franklin-influenced. Freddie's very much into that. We tried to keep the track in a loose, gospel-type feel. I think it's the loosest track we've ever done.
A promotional video was made combining a staged recording session at Sarm East Studios (where the A Day at the Races album was recorded) and film footage of the band's record breaking performance at Hyde Park that September. Peter Hince, the head of Queen's road crew, recalled to Mojo magazine: "Aesthetically, you had to have all four around the microphone, but John (Deacon) didn't sing on the records. By his own admission he didn't have the voice. He did sing on-stage but the crew always knew to keep the fader very low." The song was included on their first Greatest Hits, released in 1981.
Live performances
This was also one of few tracks where Deacon sang backing vocals when performed live. His voice was clearly heard on bootlegs from the band's performance at Earls Court in June 1977 and at the Houston Summit in December 1977. From 1977-78, it was played about every show. For the Jazz and Live Killer tours, it was also played consistently. In The Game Tour, it was only played early in the tour. It was also played for South America Bites The Dust, Live at the Bowl and Queen Rock Montreal. Later in The Works Tour, a shortened version was played as a medley preceding "Killer Queen". A Live version from the 1984/85 tour was recorded and filmed on the concert film, Final Live in Japan 1985.
When performed live, Mercury would often alter the melodies of the song, but would generally hit the sustained A♭4 notes throughout the song. The A♭4 at the peak of the building line "can anybody find me" on the studio version was not part of Mercury's original melody, but the other band members felt that it worked better than his. Mercury sings his original take on this line when live.
Even after Mercury's death in 1991, renditions of "Somebody to Love" have been performed live with the remaining band members, May and Taylor, and a number of different lead singers. At the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert held at Wembley Stadium, the song was performed by George Michael. Michael's performance of "Somebody to Love" has been hailed as "one of the best performances of the tribute concert". The song was later rereleased in 1993 as the lead track of an EP called Five Live which went to #1 in the UK. This version is also available on Greatest Hits III, released in 1999.
The song was performed on the setlists of their Queen + Adam Lambert tours in 2012 & 2014-2015 featuring Adam Lambert and at the iHeartRadio Festival 2013 as Queen + Fun.
Personnel
Notable covers
In other media
The song was made available to download on 7 December 2010 for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which allows use of a real guitar/bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits/keyboards in addition to vocals.
George Michael and Queen version
George Michael performed the song with Queen's remaining members at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April 1992.