@@tapchapman Yes. Queen 2. I find, is not as easy to listen to as the first - still a good album, just not as immediately accessible. But Sheer Heart Attack is my 2nd favourite!
1973: "Someone has drained the color from my wings, broken my fairy-circle ring." 1991: "My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies, fairy-tales of yesterday will grow but never die."
Interesting. It could be a coincidence, but references to Queen's early albums are present in their late work. It's well known, for example, that the B-side to "The Show Must Go On", their final single released while Mercury was still alive, was "Keep Yourself Alive", the first single they ever released. They also played some bars from "Death on two legs" in "Was It All Worth It", the final song on The Miracle (1989). And there's the final words on These Are The Days of Our Lives, "I still love you", which could well be a reference to Love of My Life.
omg! i've listened to both songs approximately a million times, but never noticed this! the moment i read your comment i had immediate goosebumps all over my body... rest in peace freddie
I've been a Queen fan for 40+ years. Know every song. Seen them live with and without Fred. Spoken to Brian may in person..... I never spotted this link. I thank you!
I saw queen live 3 times between 1974-76, front row seat every time in a 2000 seat theatre. The image of them delivering the goods less than 15 feet away from me will live with me to my grave.
Early Queen is criminally underrated and the way Freddie sings on this, ‘II’ and ‘Sheer heart attack’ is so different from the powerful voice of later album is almost like another singer all together. The falsettos by Roger and Freddie is beyond comprehension. Thank you for the analysis, great job!
The end of this song is the end of the side A on the vinyl LP. It creates the expectation of something more to come. In that sense you cannot separate the message from the medium.
I a 66 yrs old....I have been a musician for 50 years.....l saw Queen in Charleston SC at Gailhyard audtiorium on March 16, 1975 they did their first 3 albums in their entirety! I was sitting 12 feet from Freddie playing his grand piano.....I have never seen an audience reaction like that in the thousand or more concerts I have been to in my life.....every person in the building stood in their seat for the entire performance! the original Kansas lineup opened the show so the concert was one of the best ever! I saw Queen 3 more times in Columbia SC at 2 different venues but nothing has ever matched that first time I saw them in Charleston! it was the best concert I have ever attended! the bands and artists from back in that period from the 50s through the mid 80s had so much talent and creativity it will never be duplicated no matter how long mankind lasts in this universe!!!
You’re right. “My Fairy King” in 1973 to “The Black Queen” in 1974 to “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1975 all share the Freddie Mercury theatrical DNA. Amazing how they instantly sounded like Queen and inimitable.
Agreed. I would usually assume that this is just another RU-vidr who doesn't remember that period when albums were the primary tool for listening to music, rather than just single tracks. But Doug's almost as old as I am, so that can't be it! ;-)
@@stewmott3763 But he might not have been a Queen fan at the time and when you now look for songs and don’t want to purchase an album you wouldn’t know about the flow from song to song. Not all artists had interlacing songs at the time.
@@claudiabetia5515 I suppose that technique is just a victim of the changing ways in which people listen to music. And for all I know, Doug never got into buying and listening to albums the way a lot of our generation did. He is classically trained after all, maybe he was too busy with that! :-)
@@claudiabetia5515 Besides, I always had a soft spot for those 70s prog rock bands that would structure their music almost like a symphony or a short opera. And they were way before my time, too! :-)
Doug: "Man! What would it have been like to be around in the early 70s and hear all of these really fantastic albums coming out...?" Me (who was 14 in 1973): "Just friggin' awesome! A great time to be growing up!"
Born 1960 and this was one of my first LPs I bought back then. I can still remember the excitement of this record and Qeen 2. They were on heavy rotation on my player. But I habe to say that after their first 3 or 4 records I lost interest and it becqme the big Stadium thing.
Yup Doug... As our man says here... It was just friggin' awesome. Weren't we lucky people..and we get to watch other people discover it all over again.. I remember the single from this album, "Seen Seas of Rye", being on Top of the Pops (Britain's big hit show) and I tuned to my dad and said these guys are really good.... I got that "Dad look" that said, "alright son, if you think so..."
The Fairy Fellers Master Stroke / Nevermore (yes, together) or the SHA trilogy (Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist, Lily of the Valley - yes, together ;)) would be a great follow-up if you wanna do some more early Queen
I made a mix CD for a friend and put in those two "trilogies" from albums 2 & 3. Curious for you to mention them together. I know Masterstroke/Nevermore isn't 3 songs, I just included the tail-end of Ogre Battle for the CD (I don't think my friend is ready for the full Ogre onslaught!). Anyway, the aforementioned songs are some of their most underappreciated (and most creative) work.
Another crazy song by Freddie is from Queen 2 called The Fairy Fellers Master Stroke (this song flows into another short song called Nevermore, so they has to be listened together for a bigger picture) Mind blowing!
The Fairy Fellers Master-Stroke is a painting by Richard Dadd and can be seen in the Tate Gallery in London. Obviously the song is based on the painting, so I went to see it and all the references in the song can be seen in the painting.
@@EmptyGlass99you can listen to the song and look at the painting at the same time, you can find litterally evrything they sing about on the painting!!
If you're keen to checking out more Queen, I would love to see you react to the trio of songs from their third album, Tenement Funster/Flick Of The Wrist/Lily Of The Valley. They all segue into each other and form one my all time favorite suites of Queen music!
Bear in mind. According to Brian May the sessions for for this album was whatever sessions weren’t booked. Which meant in some instances their recording sessions were sometimes 2am. They also had a problem with the drum sound. If you know anything about Trident studios they had a signature drum sound. A very tight almost “tissue paper sounding” according to Brian. Drummer would be put in a drum booth to obtain this certain sound. Well Queen was looking for that opposite sound with all the drums and symbols mic’d with each mic a certain distance away to capture the ambiance of the room where they were recording. Very Led Zeppelinesque, ie the John Bonham drum sound.
I remember NME writing that Queen were a lesser substitute for Led Zeppelin and plundered Zeppelin's catalogue. How anyone could hear a track like My Fairy King and relate it in any way to Led Zeppelin remains a mystery to me. Not saying one is better than the other of course - but they come from different musical starting points. I first heard this over 40 years ago and I've never thought about how it was constructed - really interesting to hear it through the lens of this channel
@@alexandrocinta the uk press really hated Queen and were downright nasty to them their entire career, but Queen are still very much loved by millions of us today whereas those arsehole journalists who tried to destroy them are long forgotten like the insignificant nobodies they were 👑✊🇬🇧
Great King Rat would be good to do next. Great showcase for Roger’s drumming and Brian’s guitar playing. White Queen from Queen II is probably my favorite Queen track though.
@@richardhorky3717 Sheer Heart Attack was the first album I ever bought. Think I mostly liked the cover. Brighton Rock got me hooked from the opening few bars. Decades later, still listen to it regularly.
I think you'd get a kick out of '39 from A Night at the Opera. Brain May song about travelling at near lght speed and coming back to Earth to find decades have passed.
There is NOTHING that pleases me more than a competent person listening to my favourite music. This music is precious to me. Its been at my side since 92. Queen were kids at 20-24 years of age when making this! Kids! Not the astute adults when saw at the time of Innuendo
The song is about the destruction of Fairyland. You might read it metaphorically as being about the end of childhood innocence? Freddie wrote another couple of songs in the fantasy-world setting that seem to belong with this one: "Seven Seas of Rhye" and "Lily of the Valley." Maybe queue the two of them up for a reaction video? :)
agree - and there is a subtle - yet short - epilogue in The show must go on: "My soul is tainted like the wings of butterflies Fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die I can fly ! " as in a happy end: Freddie does not die but returns to fairyland, as his wings revert to full capacity, while facing what the disenchanted would call death.
Great reaction! I would say the Seven Seas Of Rhye is the song that follows up on this one. The Seven Seas Of Rhye tells the story from a different perspective. It tells the story from the point of the view of the attackers. There are a few songs that fits into Freddie's fantasy world, another one is The Great King Rat.
In the song Lily Of The Valley from Sheer Heart Attack, Fred sings the lyrics "Messenger from seven seas has flown, to tell the king of rhye he's lost his throne".
I grew up in the early 70s Doug, and did listen to alot of the cool music back then....and you're right, you younger guys did miss out on alot of great music....
I was fortunate enough to be 17 in 73 and grew up with this exceptional music. I was even more fortunate to have Roger Taylor as my table head at school lunches and be present at the first ever Queen performance in my City Hall. Notwithstanding, Yes and Genesis are still my number ones, keep them coming.
I've met Freddie, he was the most beautifully spoken and gentle man. He had very little confidence in his paino playing abilities and was never satisfied with his vocals. Most of us would be thrilled to have half of his talent.
Hey Doug, if you listen to the whole album in full, you'll see that My Fairy King is NOT incomplete! The whole album blends together to tell a story... It's perfection!
Wow, Doug thanks for this. Their first album is simply a gift from the gods, it's breathtakingly beautiful. There aren't many bands that deserve to be called legendary, Queen certainly fits the bill, in fact I would go so far as to call them mythical. Can you please react to Innuendo? I promise you will not be disappointed.
I may have mentioned before but my late Father was a big fan of queen, and I spent a lot of my early teen years watching his old VHS tapes of queen live. So I've definitely got a lot of time for these Queen reaction videos, especially some like this that are a little off the beaten track to a casual fan. I'd really love to see a reaction to the song Innuendo. It actually features Steve Howe from Yes doing a very distinctive section on the guitar. But I like that it goes through these various movements, and despite being at the very the end of their career, it feels like a bit of a throwback to their earlier material. I also really like the lyrics. Especially knowing what we know of Freddie's condition in hindsight, I feel like they take on a certain poignancy.
Doug - I'm new to your channel. As best I can tell, you haven't covered The Millionaire's Waltz. Please if you get a chance, review this one. It's similar in construction to the other songs you've covered by them minus A Winter's Tale and The Show Must Go On. There's a certain type of acyclic suite that Queen was amazing at - I hope that you enjoy it. One thought if you haven't (or have) covered the Fairy Feller's Masterstroke - that song was inspired by a painting by Richard Dodd (who has his own crazy story). The songs and their content, painting included represent kind of a Victorian England take on mythology. Look at some of the early Queen material through these lenses. I love your channel. Please keep up the great work! P.S. Roger Taylor is always hitting the highest notes in Bohemian Rhapsody, this song, In the Lap of the Gods, etc. Upper G's and A's.
This song is in my top five Queen songs!! Brian May commented that this was the first song that he noticed Freddie’s piano skills. My fav lyrics are “Someone, Someone has drained the color from my wings .. Broken my fairy circle ring .. And shamed the king in all his pride .. Changed the winds and wronged the tides .. Mother Mercury Mercury ..”. This is believed to be the lyric that Freddie got his last name from (legally, of course). Thank you!! 🌿🌸🍃🌼🌿
The fans who buy and listen to full albums instead of singles will tell you that none of Queen's other work even comes close to Queen II in terms of quality.
Roger Taylor has named Queen II as his favorite of their albums, and John Deacon said Queen II was the album that ultimately convinced him that the band was going somewhere.
@@BadgersInTheAttic in every interview I've heard from Roger, he says that Sheer Heart Attack was his favorite. Not that it matters much though since both are absolutely brilliant.
On a related note, the famous Queen song "The Show Must Go On" (last single released during Freddie's lifetime) indirectly refers "My Fairy King" in the bridge after the 2nd chorus, as a subtle way to wrap the Mercury saga up in history: - from "My Fairy King": Someone someone has drained the colour from my wings Broken my fairy circle ring And shamed the king in all his pride Changed the winds and wronged the tides (...) I cannot run I cannot hide - from "The Show Must Go On": My soul is tainted like the wings of butterflies Fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die I can fly ! so it's a happy end: the destruction of fairyland is reversed, and the wings return to full capacity. Freddie does not die but returns to the realm of the enchanted.
*_"My soul is tainted like the wings of butterflies"_* PAINTED! Painted like the wings of butterflies. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-t99KH0TR-J4.html {:-:-:}
I totally agree Doug, the early 70's was an amazing time for Rock, Prog and music in general. The evolution from the late 60's, "aided" creativity, to the more complex and serious musicianship of the early 70's made it a golden period. The most interesting, organic, unprocessed explosion of creative music ever! I love it. More Genesis please 🙏😁
I remember i was in a record store and my father said he would buy me an album. I looked at Queen 1 and Queen 2 for about 15 minutes and chose Queen 1 ! This was my first album and then through the years bought everything by them....I was 10 years old [1976]. I think the BBC sessions of the first album are fantastic, so raw and hungry. Nothing will ever replicate the majestic splendour, that is Queen.
Re-listening to Queen from you Doug. Yes, the 70's was the golden age. New music coming out all the time, so uniquely crafted each to their own style. Jr high and high school was a wonderful time in the 70's.
Fun fact: When Freddie wrote this song he was still known as Freddie Bulsara. After he presented it to the rest of the band they asked who's mother Mercury and he said he's singing about his own mother. From now on, he became Freddie Mercury.
As a kid I never really thought much about analyzing this song, I just enjoyed the pictures it painted in my head. As I revisited it through the years I always got something different from it. When I was mature enough to comprehend its lyrical poetry, the colour from my wings line blew me away all over again. When I could understand vocal range, the register changes Freddie glided effortlessly through blew me away. Now, it just stands as a beautiful fixed moment in space and time where the universe threw the members of Queen together and created the spark of magic that set light to their catalog. How it starts, ends, progresses, changes, matters not against it's majesty. Ladies and gentlemen, Queen has entered history.
Yes, this song always felt like an open ending to me; just the destruction or the change of this magical world or this magical character (maybe Freddie himself). If i had to follow the text with another song, it would be with Lilly of the Valley (which is the ending of a medley with Tenement Funster and Flick of the Wrist). It speaks about the ending of a kingdom (specificly the king of Rhye) and also, it could be said, their fantastic lyrics. That if you don't count maybe The Prophet's Song, Princes of the Universe, and Innuendo; but that could be going a little far. Of course, all of the songs that could really belong to this kingdom are in the first two albums (except for Lilly of the Valley), but you can also maybe appreciate a little reference in The Show Must Go On (which for many is the real final goodbye of Queen), where they say "the fairy tales from yesterday will grow but never die".
Freddie said he really couldn't read music very well. Freddie would work it out on the piano, the melody would be in his mind, sometimes he would record it, but most of the time he said if it was a worthy melody he would remember it. In the studio he would record it on piano for other band members, he wrote the structure of the song, such as, he wanted layers of guitars and bass. Freddie's music was mostly in his mind and the band were so excellent they could follow and create it.
The all time "Where's The Rest Of The Song?" award would have to go to "Rice Pudding" by the (first) Jeff Beck Group. BTW: I bought the first Queen LP when it was released. I related to them immediately; loved them ever since.
This song off the first album and on their last album the song the show must go on references it with the lines "my soul is painted like the wings of butterflies, fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die I can fly my friend
It’s the highest compliment and sign of respect that you played the song twice in one reaction. That pleases me so much to see such recognition of the genius of my favorite, much beloved band. I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction to this truly UNIQUE song.
According to Roger Taylor, aside from "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Doing All Right" Freddie wrote everything else in very short time. They wanted to get an album out ASAP so they went with it. So Queen and half of Queen II has a lot of Freddie's really weird stuff on it. Of course that doesn't mean it's all odd with endings and everything. I highly recommend doing a listen of "Ogre Battle"/"The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke"/ and "Nevermore." "Ogre Battle" is particularly interesting because the first 10 seconds or so of the song is the last 10 seconds of the song played in reverse and "Fairy Feller" is based on a painting.
*_"According to Roger Taylor, aside from "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Doing All Right" Freddie wrote everything else in very short time."_* What an odd thing to say. _Keep Yourself Alive_ was written by Brian May and _Doing All Right_ was written by Brian May and Tim Staffel when they were in _Smile._ WITH Roger Meddows-Taylor as he was at the time. {:-:-:}
@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 that is what He said. I would add that Roger wrote Modern Time Rock and Roll though. May also wrote Son and Daughter and most of the 1st half of Queen 2.
That was an absolutely fantastic breakdown of that song. Most of the songs I sent to you as requested need to be heard twice absolutely. My next recommendation for older Queen would be in the lap of the Gods part 1 and 2 off of the sheer Heart Attack album. This song is broken into two halves on the album. As far as my fairy King goes I do believe the conclusion is on the Same album. I do believe it is called when the Night Comes Down.
Excellent suggestion about _In the Lap of the Gods_ and _In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited._ He could play them back to back if he has them on his PC. I listened to that stuff multiple times a day from 1974 onwards. For a while, I only had 5 albums, and three of them were _Queen, Queen II_ and _Sheer Heart Attack!_ Then I bought _Black Sabbath, 24 Carat Purple_ and _Close to the Edge._ *BUT* *_"I do believe the conclusion is on the Same album."_* Nonsense. _The Night Comes Down_ was written by Brian May, not Freddie. _My Fairy King_ is its own, self-contained thing. They did do more progressive rock, like _March of the Black Queen, Seven Seas of Rhye, Lily of the Valley_ etc. And _The Prophet's Song,_ but that was one of Brian's. In fact, _Lily of the Valley_ has the line: _"Messengers from Seven Seas have flown to tell the King of Rhye he's lost his throne..."_ but that's just a lyrical allusion to _Seven Seas of Rhye,_ and possibly the king in _My Fairy King_ who is shamed in all his pride. So, if it IS continued, the trilogy would be: _My Fairy King_ _Seven Seas of Rhye_ _Lily of the Valley_ I am nearly 60, I've been listening to queen since I just turned 12, when everyone hated them because they were _"all a bunch of poofs"_ and could not possibly reproduce their albums live on stage. How wrong they were! {:-:-:} _(Edited for tyops)_ PS The guitar at the ends of _Fairy King, Black Queen_ and _Bohemian Rhapsody,_ sound superficially similar in isolation. But if you edit them out of wave files and splice them together, they are quite different. :D
@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 absolutely fascinating comments my friend. I'm glad I could make your day. Brian May was watching literally. I will ask him about my fairy King.
There is something missing if In the Lap of the Gods isn't going into Stone Cold Crazy. In the Lap of the Gods... Revisited is a great end to a great album. BTW, the next song on Queen I after My Fairy King is Liar. A great track. (It was the first track on Side B).
Thank you, thank you, thank you! One of the most awesome songs on a true masterpiece of an album. Hearing this, as I did, when it first came out was enlightening and awe-inspiring. I want EVERYONE to hear this album but most people don’t have the attention span or stillness to truly ‘hear’ it.
Not watched the reaction yet, but I LOVE this album, always have done from way back in 73 when I bought it. Missed an opportunity to see them in a small hall. Oh and remember NO SYNTHESIZERS.
God I love this song! And ending the song on that half bar made me feel robbed at first too, but after a while I realised it was genius. Who else did that? Queen and Queen 2 are like these relatively unknown albums of bonus ‘hidden’ content, totally different to the staple main stream Queen we all know from Greatest Hits etc, and filled with utterly brilliant, complex songs. These two albums I can play through without skipping a single track, there is nothing bad in them. :)
*_"Queen 1 and 2 are like these unknown albums"_* PAH! Queen appeared on Top of the Pops in February, 1974, just after my 12th Birthday. Blew me away. I bought both albums by the time I was 13. I grew up living this stuff! PS Oh, by the way the albums are Queen and Queen II. There is no Queen 1 or 2 {:-:-:}
@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 relatively unknown - most Queen fans I have met haven’t heard a single song off them except Seven Seas of Rhys. Even Doug hasn’t heard them! And - ahem - most Queen fans weren’t even born when you were buying these classics as a kid! ;)
@@molokoko786 Too right as I said above I remember buying both Queen and later Queen II on the strength of "Keep Yourself Alive". Bloody brilliant song. Sadly underrated albums, both of them. Personally only one of the first 5 I was unsure of "Sheer Heart Attack" which was really the type of music I was into, but it didn't float my boat.
Perhaps follow up with Seven Seas of Rhye ( Rhye being the land Mercury and his sister created) and then the Richard Dadd inspired "The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke"...
In fact Queen II has a black and a White side Freddy and Brians masterpiece and the interlude to Boh Rhap... this is where it all started to create the Opera album 4
If you think this song is always on the move you have to listen to Queen II. Its all inextricably linked together and quite mind stunning. Freddie and his sister used to sit together and write fantasy stories together as kids and this is where all this magical stuff comes from including Q II.
"Someone has drained the color from my wing, broken my fairy circle ring. Shamed the king & all his pride. Changed the winds & wronged the tides. Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me. I can not run, I can not hide" one of the most beautiful things Freddie wrote. that I have zero idea of the meaning. It's just stunning though.
Doug, one thing you have to consider is the fact that the earliest albuns by Queen were almost in their entirety "non-stop songs". If i remember, the song that follows "My Fairy King "is "Liar", which is a proto Heavy Metal song that begins with a repetitive cymbal-hitting percussion followed by some heavy riffs and time signature and mood changes with an aggressive approach and the band's storytelling geniality also mentioned by you. A Great album!
If you do fairy fellers master stroke the reference is s painting by richard dadd in the 1800s and has a lot of reference about mid summers night eve. Also it runs into another song called nevermore so it would good to hear both chris
The "rest of the song" is further along the album. Well, not exactly... I've listened to those early albums a lot as a teenager. They always felt like a full story aurally and lyrically. So I can appreciate that "where's the rest of it" moment. All of that is to say, listen to the rest of the album.
@@sethkaicer319 How can it be when that song was written by Brian May? Lyrically, if there IS a continuation, the trilogy would be: _My Fairy King_ _Seven Seas of Rhye_ _Lily of the Valley_ on their first three albums. {:-:-:}
@@minmodulation _Messenger from Seven Seas has flown to tell the King of Rhye he's lost his throne_ _Wars will never cease, is there time enough for peace?_ _But the Lily of the Valley doesn't know..._ {:-:-:}
LOVE this song, thank you for choosing it!! John Deacon (credited as Deacon John on this album), fortunately (as he put it) never sang with Queen even though he lip-synced a couple of videos but not in concert.
Hi Doug, i did meet Freddy on May 17th 1977 in Rotterdam... and studied all his interviews... as far as the song not finished? the first 4 Albums the songs flow over, like Pink Floyd did These 4 Albums will forever be master pieces only just to be discovered, mostly as they did not get Famous in USA since Dumb and Dumber
