Y12 AS Pop Notes - Killer Queen - Queen

Killer Queen (1974) Analysis

Structure

Verse 1 – chorus – interlude – verse 2 – chorus – solo chorus/interlude – solo verse – verse 3 – chorus- fade on interlude

Interlude connects chorus and verse but doesn’t change back from Bb to C minor. It seems to be more to do with allowing Brian May to imitate Freddie’s playfulness. This is considered to be an adult song with sophisticated lyrics using a wide range of references – champagne, Cuban missile crisis – and has music to match: it combines swing style beat with a playfully rhythmic melody.

Motives and Links

Finger clicks at the beginning are arresting and become the steady 4 in a bar beat. “Moet et Chandon” is rhythmically altered to become the basis for the interlude. Sequences are a feature of the verse: “built in remedy/Kruschev and Kennedy” and “Perfume came naturally from Paris/for cars she couldn’t care less”. The chord pattern and key structure is similar (although very different in style) to We Are The Champions: Cmi – Gmi – Eb, with a verse in the minor followed by a chorus in the major. The use of chord IV over a dominant pedal, as used in the interlude, is also a feature of Somebody To Love.

Keys

Verse 1	C minor – I, Eb - III
Chorus	Bb – VII, but also Dmi – II and Cmi - I
Interlude	Bb – VII, but also Dmi – II and Cmi - I
Verse 2	C minor – I, Eb - III
Chorus	Bb – VII, but also Dmi – II and Cmi - I
Interlude	Bb – VII, but also Dmi – II and Cmi - I
Solo chorus/interlude	Bb – VII, but also Dmi – II and Cmi - I
Solo verse	C minor – I, Eb - III
Verse 3	C minor – I, Eb - III
Chorus/fade	Bb – VII, but also Dmi – II and Cmi - I

Verse typically moves quickly away from the minor. Chorus starts in Bb but doesn’t stay there for long. Changes from Dmi to Cmi are sequences. The Eb/F chord (IV over a dominant pedal) which ends the chorus and interlude builds up an expectation of Bb which is never realised. Even at the end the chord is just repeated (imperfect cadence). This not settling on the key chord of the chorus is typical of the playful nature and adult style of the song.

Harmony

Chord pattern for verse: Cmi – Gmi – Cmi – Bb – Eb – Bb/D – Eb7/Db – Ab/C –

                                                                                    Descending bass line

Abmi/Cb – Eb/Bb – Bb – G7 – Cmi – Bb7 – Eb – D7 – Gmi – F7

                                                Sequences

Chord pattern for chorus: Bb – Dmi – Gmi – Dmi – Gmi – A7 – Dmi – G7 – C – A7 –

                                                sequences

Dmi – G7 – Cmi – Eb/F

                                    Somebody to love “gospel” chord

Descending bass line and harmonic/melodic sequences give the song a secure harmonic foundation, classical and piano rather than guitar based, adding to sophisticated atmosphere of song.

I – III of chorus is like chorus of We Are The Champions

Melody

The combination of strong harmony, sequences and playfully syncopated rhythm make the melody of the verse memorable, if not catchy. The slide on the word Queen in the chorus almost takes us into anthem territory but subtle sequences and modulations prevent this. As usual, Brian May’s solos are as melodically strong as the vocal lines.

Rhythm and Metre

The beat is a steady four in a bar, with each crotchet emphasised by finger clicks and piano chords. The melody breaks away from this using triplet rhythms and syncopation “just like Marie-Antoinette”. The bass line works around the crotchet beat, using pedal notes and then dotted rhythms. The quaver-dotted crotchet rhythm used for the gospel chord at the end of the chorus is arresting as it completely breaks up the crotchet beat.

Texture and Instrumentation

A typical mature Queen song – a great deal of thought has gone into the arrangement. As usual for a Freddie Mercury song there is a strong piano part. The opening grabs your attention straightaway – finger clicks, followed by simple piano chords. Piano, guitar and bass all seem to be free to do their own thing – it’s more “orchestrated” – the parts add colour to the basic song with a sense of imagination – than simply played by a group. Multilayered backing vocals fill in between phrases in the second verse and add depth to the chorus melody. The guitar echoes Freddie’s vocal phrases and in the solo has some subtle multilayered sections. The piano, along with the drums, act as the rhythmic anchor, allowing the bass to be more independent, almost polyphonic at times.

Context

From the 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack, perhaps the first single which got Queen noticed as a mature song writing band. The influence here is more Broadway than rock – Liza Minnelli in Cabaret. Freddie often shows such influence – the video from Bohemian Rhapsody and the album photo from Queen II – darkly lit with arms folded across chest – deliberately copies an image of another famous cabaret singer, Marlene Dietrich.