Queen - Death on Two Legs Official Lyric Video (Reaction!!!!) 

Lesson from this song was ... Do NOT Piss Freddie and Queen off!

That Manager claimed the band didn't make money. But then he bought a new Rolls Royce. He deserved Freddie's wrath, lol.

I told you this was the most romantic song you'll ever hear, LOL! That guy SO deserved this song. He bought a Rolls Royce with the money he was making out of them, while the band wasn't literally seeing a penny. But the thing that made them explode was what he did to Deaky. He asked him for a loan to buy a house because he wanted to marry his girlfriend and current wife, and he got a plain no for an answer. That's when they all said "enough is enough". They found John Reid and he paid that asshole to release Queen from their contract. It was then when Freddie wrote this song. It doesn't mention who they're talking about, but the guy knew it was him as soon as he heard it. I LOVE this song!! And enjoyed so much this reaction!! Thank youuu!!

As a fan since 1974...it's so fun to see Queen through new eyes. Thank you for the musical respect you give them

Freddie was tough, he was no "fairy", cracks me up!! One time, a punk rocker named Syd Vicious tried to make fun of him, Freddie got RIGHT in face, and said "What's your name? "Kid Ferocious", or something? What kind of jacket is this, did you rip it and safety pin it together all by yourself?" He was 2 inches from the guys face & had him up against a wall!! ROFL! The rest of Queen just stood there and watched it. Classic!

4:30 I remember the first time I listed to this, I was wondering what was that sound, it turn out it was roger taylor, the drummer screaming hahaha

Wow I didn't see this coming with this Diss Record!!!!!

😂😂😂😂. I’m in tears from your reaction! You play your air guitar whenever you want. They got pissed when they saw their manager driving around in a Rolls while they were struggling and living in one room flats. Deaky was getting married and wanted to buy a modest house, but they hardly made any money from their music. Makes me laugh every time I hear it. 😂😜👑

By the time this song and album came out, they had already done 3 albums and tours and the band was nearly homeless because they hadn't made any money. Freddie didn't believe that their expenses were that great, and that the manager was stealing. After this song, the old manager filed a defamation suit and their new manager thought it would be cheaper to settle out of court and paid the old manager $100k out of his own pocket. That's a lot of money back in '75. When you see Freddie showing his ass to the crowd after a great song, that is Freddie's way of telling his old manager to kiss his ass, look at us now. Three years later they fired that manager and hired their lawyer, Jim Beach (Miami) to manage them. He still manages the franchise to this day, as well as produced the new movie "Bohemian Rhapsody". Keep spreading the love.

I’m thinking they should have believed Freddie when he sang, “I will destroy any man who dares abuse my trust” in Seven Seas of Rhye :)

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 we loved this when it came out we love it now. Love Queen just would'nt stay in the box no matter how hard managers and critics tried. You just made my night😉

We told ya, “first diss track”...😂😂

Now that is a hate letter.

Two other queen songs you should listen too with the same theme are "flick of the wrist" and "let me entertain you". The first is a song equating signing a record deal to signing a deal with the devil and the second is a sarcastic look at preforming on stage. you should actually listen to "tenement funster", "flick of the wrist", and "lily of the valley" together because they really bleed into one another.

There was no holding back for Freddie!! So feisty! I love it!❤️ Great reaction from you, thanks man!

Man, I personally like your air guitar. You keep doin you!! lol I'm so glad you're on the road of discovery with Queen, because there's so much to take in. Such a versatile band. They're one of those rare bands that the more you listen to their discography you realize that there's something for everybody, and that the people who don't like them probably don't just because that one song they heard years ago and liked, they didn't know it was done by Queen. They're legit legends!

Norman Sheffield was the manager who the song was referring to, and he was appalled, and did sued the band and the record label for defamation, which resulted in an out-of-court settlement, but also confirmed his connection to the song.

i think you’re one of the very few queen reactors left after the ‘hype’ has died down so thanks you very much from this queen fan! death on two legs is awesome! awful lyrics but the music is so SO GOOD!

You know....the song that comes next in the album...is Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon...and it’s melody its so like...happy..i love Queen

If you want great and heavy bass, groovy/funk/soul melody, great beat, Brian's guitar improvisations and best Freddie in his prime - lets try song Dragon attack live version from Montreal or Milton Keynes concerts

Oh and i love this track so much I used to have it as a ringtone for my ex boss. It was beyond fitting 😈

Queen ended their association with Trident and signed up with Elton John's manager, John Reid. John Reid paid Trident £100,000 to get Queen out of their contract with Trident. Queen was under contract to Trident for the grand salary of £200 per week for the band. Queen was selling quite a few albums and doing a lot of concerts but weren't getting anymore money. Roger had been breaking drum sticks and they were told by Trident to stop doing that. Roger then saw one of the owners driving a new Rolls and that's when Freddie really lost it. Queen recorded, Flick of the Wrist, when the band was first getting upset that there wasn't anymore money coming their way. The Sheffield Brothers, told the band to be patient, the money from America's sales haven't reached us yet. It'll just take some time, be patient and wait some more. "Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)" is a song by the British rock band Queen, and is the opening track on their fourth album A Night at the Opera. The song was written by Freddie Mercury about the band's fall-out with their original manager and Trident Studios owner Norman Sheffield. Though the song makes no direct reference to him, Sheffield was appalled when he heard a playback of the song at Trident at the time of the album's release, and sued both the band and the record label for defamation. This resulted in an out-of-court settlement, thus revealing to the public his connection with the song. Roger Taylor also noted that despite the success of Killer Queen and Sheer Heart Attack, the album preceding A Night at the Opera, the band was broke before the album was made. Sheffield denied that he or his companies had mistreated the band in his capacity as manager, and cited the original 1972 management contracts between himself and Queen in his autobiography published in 2013, Life on Two Legs: Set The Record Straight, in his defence. The song was recorded and mixed at Sarm East Studios in late 1975. As with "Bohemian Rhapsody", most of the guitar parts on the song were initially played on piano by Freddie Mercury, to demonstrate to Brian May how they needed to be played on guitar. Composition The song is dominated by guitars, strong lead and backing vocals as well as piano. It's in 4/4 meter, and has a piano arpeggio intro with heavy guitars, bowed double bass, mechanical sounding noise and a loud shriek by Roger Taylor, which abruptly leads into the song in B minor. There are numerous subsections and layers, as was typical for Queen at the time. The verses have short sections with the tempo virtually halved, and the choruses are emphasized with strong harmonies and drum fills. Drum! magazine said of Taylor's drum work: "[...] Shortly after the 2/4 measure there’s an unusual snare accent on the & of 4 and a change to a half-time groove. These back-and-forth feel changes continue throughout the song and Taylor somehow makes them flow smoothly." Lyrics Mercury later recalled that he had tried to make the lyrics as "coarse as possible", and that the other band members were initially shocked at the harsh lyrics. However, the band agreed that the song should be performed as Mercury intended, and it was recorded as such. Author Michael Chabon remarked that "A Night at the Opera is where I progressed from 45s to albums. It was gate-fold, with the lyrics printed on the inside, and you could just sit there poring over them and trying to figure who Freddie might be talking about on songs like 'Death on Two Legs'." Live recordings "Death on Two Legs" was regularly performed live by Queen up to and including The Game Tour. Only one live version of the song has been officially released, on the 1979 album Live Killers. The piano introduction, however, was played during the Hot Space and The Works tours. During live performances Mercury would usually dedicate the song to "a real motherfucker of a gentleman." This line was censored (using bleeps) on their Live Killers album in 1979. On the Protomen's cover album, A Night of Queen, lead singer, Raul Panther dedicates the song to "a real asshole that Freddie Mercury used to know."

Again you hit the right song. You are on a roll man!!!! Keep digging there's more. ☮️

Very underrated song

7:04 “leave me alone” while playing air guitar is my new favorite mood 😎🎸

I absolutely love your reaction! You are my favorite by far. I appreciate the time you take to get the info before you watch the videos. Most other reactors don't.

Don’t let the dissers stop you from playing air guitar, they have no joy in their lives. Rock on and party on!

They were having hits and they saw no money. They were broke. Bass player John Deacon who had just gotten married couldn't even get an advance for a down payment on a house from their management. Then they saw their managers buying expensive cars and they realized something wasn't right. Norman Sheffield did sue them and it was settled out of court. Later he defended himself in a book called - "Life on Two Legs: Set The Record Straight." But it sure appeared Queen was getting screwed royally at the time.

This track never gets old. It blew my mind in 1975. Still does. Listen to the bass line in that break in the middle

The Matthews Fam - lately you became MY the most favourite reaction man of Queen songs! Congratulations, man! :)

I love your air guitar...dont you let people stop you from being you....keep playing that air guitar 🎸🎸🎸🎸I love a guitar and wish so bad that I could but air is the only guitar I can play 😎

One of the best albums ever.

I pressed the like button before I even watched your video. Knew you would like this song. If you want to see Queen‘s most beautiful video, react to the miracle. The lyrics are amazing as well.

LOL! and after this on the album comes a very happy light hearted song, it's a hilarious feeling to hear! Freddie might have been bi-sexual, but he certainly wasn't a pussy. Did you know he was a regional boxing champion when he was at boarding school in India? There is a picture of him with a HUGE champions cup. :) Gotta love that personality :)

dude u don't understand the extent of it!! basically, what management did, was trick them into signing this contract that basically said that what ever music they produced, they would be getting ZERO money for any of it. It was so bad, they were all living in these tiny places each (freddie was considered to be the best off, cause he actually had a living room in his place), when friends came over they brought their own drinks because the band itself couldn't afford to. This band that was selling thousands and thousands of records every week was not only broke, but indebted. To add insult to injury, the band saw the manager come in with a Rolls Royce one day (presumably paid with the money they had generated with their music) and had the balls to tell Roger not to break any more drumsticks (he'd been breaking some because he'd been hitting his drums pretty hard while recording) cause management didn't have money to pay for them so next time it would come out of their pockets. It's all explained in detail in the Days Of Our Lives documentary.

I just love how you enjoy their music 😎

The thing about Freddie was that he was usually a really nice and forgiving guy...unless you screwed with his friends. The final straws for him were Roger Taylor being told they couldn’t afford drumsticks and John Deacon (bassist) being refused when he asked for a loan for a down payment on a house for himself and his pregnant wife. All the while, their manager gained enough from their album sales to buy a new Rolls Royce. The guy totally deserved it.

The song was written by Freddie Mercury about the band's fall-out with their original manager and Trident Studios owner Norman Sheffield. Though the song makes no direct reference to him, Sheffield was appalled when he heard a playback of the song at Trident at the time of the album's release, and sued both the band and the record label for defamation. This resulted in an out-of-court settlement, thus revealing to the public his connection with the song.

Freddie's piano work...so good.

O M G!! OUCH!! Damn! He MUSTA done them REAL dirty! I had no idea of all that. I’ve always been just a fan of the songs. But.... damn!! Lol

Freddie wasn’t shy about saying how he felt!

You play away! Doesn't bother me at all, good to see you have fun. Brilliant reaction, thanks, am laughing so hard right now 😁😁😁🤣 this was a well deserved song.

No official video on this one as it was an album track, not really intended to be played live. This was on the same album as "Bohemian Rhapsody", released in 1975

QUEEN-I'M GOING SLIGHTLY MAD QUEEN-BREAKTHRU FREDDIE MERCURY-LIVING ON MY OWN

ba-BAM! Awwwww, our sweet Freddie.

You’re fantastik! I love that you love Queen! Keep em coming!

It was the worst ever they were actually living in a room. They had not even money for New strings for there guitars they really believed him when he kept saying that they were just making costs then they saw him driving big cars and living the live. Then they found out that they made a lot of money already and he kept it all for himself. This is the short version of the story_fbid. The basic .

The former manager did sue the band & the record label & there was an out of court settlement supposedly.

I had heard of Queen at the time but I had never heard anything by them. I bought A Night at the Opera and this was the first song I ever heard by them. It was the same thing the first time I heard Hendrix (Purple Haze). It was like culture shock. And then I got into their music a lot.

You just go on and air guitar all day long man! I do it too. I love that you appreciate Brian May's playing. Tear it up my friend!

You should check out green day crowd singing bohemian rhapsody at Hyde park.

Ever wonder why Freddie flashed his arse at the crowd during concerts? That was him telling their old management to kiss their arses... “look where we ended up, and where did you end up?” Never let them forget! Killer Queen!

I'm left-handed, so your air guitar looks fine to me lol I played the hell out this album when it came out, and this song is a huge fave. They were going for the jugular, and certainly made their point!

Queen wasn’t making any money under Trident studios, so they signed with EMI where they released Bohemian Rhapsody on Night of the Opera album and started making money. Sheffield did sue them for defamation and settled out of court. He published an autobiography in 2013, Life on Two Legs: Set the Record Straight. He died in 2014. So the fictitious character in the movie was really about that, although they didn’t make it about him directly.

Loved your reaction! Told 'ya, first time I heard it my eyebrows shot up and didn't come back down for an hour! I love that Freddie had the balls to stand up for himself & his bandmates. And in such an amusing way. Hope you do Dragon Attack, either Montreal '81 or Milton Keynes.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrow_boy “Barrow boy is a British expression with two meanings, occupational and social. Street traders since the 19th century (and perhaps earlier) sold seasonal goods (especially vegetables) from two-wheeled barrows.[1] London street traders were called costermongers (from costard, the mediaeval word for apple) and more generally barrow boys, since anything could be sold from a barrow (including clothes, crockery, etc.)”

next you have to react to "stone cold crazy" live version & the entire live aid performance!

👍👍👍 older Queen tunes!!! Great reaction!

The band was driving around in a broken down van then one day Roger saw their manager driving a rolls. That’s when they realized they were being screwed. You go ahead and play your air guitar!!

Love this reaction! Freddie snapped 👏👏 PLEASE do Live Aid next! I know everyone has requested it but it's the best live performance of any band ever, in my eyes

Great reaction to a great song. Saw them do this live in 76.

Yeaaaah - reading of the lyrics and emotions were even greater than listening to song :)))

Love this song, always play it when I'm pissed off lol

Hi from Cleveland Ohio. Love your reaction and glad you became a queen fan. And a Freddie fan. WOOT WOOT

I think you play that air guitar beautifully LOL

I go off to work on Monday morning. (Every Queen fan started singing those words the second Dedicated To was over)

The best diss song ever... so melodic and clever lyrics... as every song of queen and freddie . thats a diss song in style

The manager did try to sue them. it was settled out of court but it revealed to the public who the song was "dedicated to"

go ahead, rock that air guitar

Even funnier still is the FACT it's the first song on the album ! 😂 This is the first album I ever bought when I was 12 way back in 1975 . My All-time Favorite album , I still have my original copy ☺

The very first song on the album A Night At The Opera!

Well done!,

I saw the Night At The Opera Tour live in 1976. I was 16 yrs old, I sat (or stood) in the 15th row. It was Fantastic.!!! I really enjoy your reaction videos.. If I could request a song I would like to see your reaction to the Queen song I'm In Love With My Car , The only Queen song that i know of that Roger Taylor the drummer sings lead vocals and Freddie sings backup vocals,It was written by Roger Taylor also.

You probably didn’t grow up in the 80’s but I’m sure you’re familiar with the music of that time...funk, prior to disco I think it was. ANYWAY, please listen to Cool Cat and Staying Power on the Hot Space Album. You will be pleasantly surprised at the group’s versatility. The base player was really into funk and R and B. He wrote Another one bites the dust.

As the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword. Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers had a similar thing happen with his record company, so he declared himself bankrupt. And went to a meeting with all the lawyers and execs, and pulled out a knife to (what he said) clean his nails. But it did the trick and the record company caved.

awesome !! another of my favorites!! that guitar intro BURNS! when i was a teenager listening to this on the house stereo, my dad heard the line 'now you can kiss my ass goodbye'. he was NOT happy. by the way...your air guitar is ass-kickin!!!

Queen suffered, they put their hearts and souls into compositions, touring in Europe and Japan, they had no money, they were broke AND in debt because of this manager. The bassist saw the manager in a brand new rolls Royce. They realized they were being robbed blind and lied to.....the manag knew he was wrong.....and didn’t care, and Queen knew he didn’t care. Finally, they asked their lawyer Jim Beach to get them out of the contract.....they moved onto Jim Reid to manage them.....Reid also managed Elton John...... They never completely got out of the deal, and somehow ended up paying a smaller % royalty for the next 6 albums.....they took a hit, but John Reid rolled up his sleeves and told them to not worry and go into the studio and writ hits. They came out with this song, Bohemian rhapsody, the whole night at the opera album. The mood was felt in England, not so much in the USA.....that issue was personal in England

Freddie is one of those guys that will say exactly what he thinks - some of the stories out there about him are bloody hilarious ! My particular fave has to be when he and Francis Rossi (status Quo) were having fun backstage but Rossi got a bit to cheeky and said something about Freddie’s sexuality so Freddie got him in a bloody headlock!

My favorite Queen song, it not only rocks it cuts like a knife lol

Awesome reaction -and love your air guitar!!!! Gotta keep going, try Dragon Attack, Stone Cold Crazy, Tenement Funster/Flick Of The Wrist/Lily Of The Valley, Get Down - Make Love. These all have been covered by other bands (Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Testament). These will give you some serious air guitar time!!!!!

If the guy didn't sue them nobody would even know who it was about 😂 they settled outside the court iirc. And tbh Queen were really bad off financially while the management was reaping all the benefits stuffing their own pockets. I think the last drop was them refusing to loan John money for a house. Not sure if I remember this correctly tho.

We Will Rock You at the tribute concerttt!!

I don’t think anyone could be more blunt than Freddie. It had been said that were stealing stuff to sell so that they would have money to survive. They didn’t understand why they were selling millions of albums and still had no money. I would have been a little pissed 😡 when you see your manager with a brand new car.

You should check out the song "It's Late". John's bass playing is fantastic...especially at the end.

What I think is funny is that the manager Norman Sheffield, he made a book called 'life on two legs" lmao

Someday you have to try "How Do You Sleep" by John Lennon. Post beatles break up, this was a diss against McCartney and all the other 3 band members were on that record. Great song and maybe the first diss ever! But this here also very good because it comes from the heart! Hate can sometimes be helpful lol ☮️

On a different note could you please react to only you (only the good die young) Brian roger singing to Freddie it is so beautiful, also shows how good Brian & roger are at singing 😘

Lethal lyrics! Love it...

There is a live performance. Montreal 1981

Their managers in the early days were the Sheffield brothers Norman and Berry and they were probably the biggest thieves that the group encountered in the those days, after with a little advice from Elton John they hooked with his manager John Reid and after him there final manager was Jim Beach who to this day is still Queen's manager.

Holy crap, you make me laugh so much! You are, by far, my favourite reactor. Keep it up!

This is great! 😂 Check out You Take My Breath Away -live at Hyde Park.

dude- you rock out on your air guitar anyway you want - when you feel it...FEEELLLL ITTTT.....loved it buddy.

Queen have been part of the soundtrack of my life, and it's good to see others discovering their talent. If you want to explore some other songs/artists from that time, I have a few suggestions: Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street: You may have heard the song before, as it has been covered several times. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights: This is something very different. Watch the British (white dress) video, not the American (red dress) version. Peter Gabriel - Don't Give Up (feat. Kate Bush): This one is emotional, so fair warning.

This was a masterpiece. The album before this, they hinted at this coming with the song "Flick of the Wrist" which is also a diss song. Not as good as Death on Two Legs, but you could see that they were pissed!!!!!

Straight Fire and Venom!!!

"We had our third record out, Sheer Heart Attack. We had a fairly major global hit single with Killer Queen.... and we were broke. We wanted to know why." - Roger Taylor. Another fun fact about that era is that Brian May was living in his parents basement.

The manager sued and won the definition case. Queen could have said it was about a factious person but we know Freddy wasn't having any of that. The Queen movie never made any mention of this incident but movie studios aren't into lawsuits.

THE greatest F-U song ever!

When Freddie showed up to the studio with this song, Brian didn't want to play or sing on it because it was too scathing and downright insulting. Freddie insisted and the band rallied and did the song. The manager got so mad he sued the band. They settled out of court but Queen didn't care because by him suing them it was him admitting that the song was about him. The guy was a thief. Queen had already made two hit albums and been touring like slaves for the manager but the members of the band were not making any money and there was no money for them to produce another album or go on tour. However the manager was able to buy himself a brand new Rolls Royce. Subsequently, Queen fired the guy and decided to manage themselves. They did not reconcile at all. The guy tried to save face and show contracts and say he didn't steal anything but in fact the contracts, the way he wrote them, were actually illegal. At that time taxation in England was about 90% and as I understood it, instead of the manager getting his percentage on the net income, which is standard practice, he took his cut off the gross income which left no money for the band after his percentage and taxes. He took it all and then said that the band still owed him more money. You go on that air guitar, this is a no judgement zone.