Friends Will Be Friends

Last updated

"Friends Will Be Friends"
Friend Will be Friends.jpg
UK single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album A Kind of Magic
B-side "Seven Seas of Rhye"
Released9 June 1986
Genre Rock
Length
  • 4:07 (7-inch album version)
  • 5:58 (Friends Will Be Friends Will Be Friends version)
  • 6:15 (12-inch extended version)
Label EMI
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"One Year of Love"
(1986)		"Friends Will Be Friends"
(1986)		"Pain Is So Close to Pleasure"
(1986)
Music video
"Friends Will Be Friends" on YouTube

"Friends Will Be Friends" is a song performed by Queen, written by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, released on 9 June 1986 as a single for the album A Kind of Magic . [1] It was the band's 30th single in the UK upon its release, reaching number 14 in the UK.

Contents

"Friends Will Be Friends" was performed live on The Magic Tour. It is remarkable in that it was the first and only song that was sung at the end of concerts between "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" since the News of the World Tour in 1977. [2]

The song was included in various greatest hits compilations by Queen such as Greatest Hits II , Greatest Flix II and Greatest Video Hits II.

Musical arrangement

The song's key signature is G major, and makes heavy use of Brian May's melodic guitar playing style. The song was debuted on the second show of The Magic Tour (Leiden). Queen played the complete version of the song for the first two Leiden shows then the arrangement was shortened on 14 June (Paris). The shorter version is featured on the Live At Wembley release. On all live versions, the song was performed in F major, modulated down a tone.

Music video

The video was directed by DoRo and filmed at JDC Studios, Wembley in May 1986 and features the band performing the song in front of fan club members. During the show, Freddie Mercury "high fives" audience members, and at the end cuts the mic and sings along with them, letting them lead. Because of this, this performance was nicknamed "Queen's Greatest Show Never Performed".

Critical reception

Upon its release in the UK, reviews were largely negative. Di Cross of Record Mirror considered "Friends Will Be Friends" to be "more overblown pomposity from a band who have made anthemic pop big business", although she noted it is "a bit mellower and slightly less theatrical than their usual performance". She was critical of the "banal lyrics", but concluded it was one of two "bearable" songs on a "disturbingly dull album". [3] Stuart Husband of Number One awarded one out of five stars, calling it "more of the usual hard-driving over the top drivel". [4] John McCready, writing for the NME , noted its chart potential and popularity but added that it is "so sad to see bags full of bombast translated into pound notes". [5] Howard Johnson of Kerrang! stated, "I used to be big musical friends with Queen, but I'm veering sharply towards enemy ground! The same as usual and not as good as A Night at the Opera days." [6]

Track listings

7" Single

A Side. "Friends Will Be Friends" (Album Version) – 4:07

B Side. "Seven Seas Of Rhye" – 2:46 [7]

12" Single

A Side. "Friends Will Be Friends" (Extended Version) – 6:15

B1. "Friends Will Be Friends" (Album Version) – 4:07

B2. "Seven Seas Of Rhye" – 2:46

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1986)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [8] 18
Ireland (IRMA) [9] 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [10] 17
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [11] 16
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [12] 50
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [13] 19
UK Singles (OCC) [14] 14
West Germany (GfK) [15] 20

References

  1. ↑ Yonemochi, Tak (March 1986). "Brian May". Young Guitar Magazine (in Japanese).
  2. ↑ Information about Queen's concerts with typical setlists Archived 7 September 2012 at archive.today
  3. ↑ Cross, Di (14 June 1986). "Singles". Record Mirror . p. 10. ISSN   0144-5804.
  4. ↑ Husband, Stuart (14 June 1986). "Singles". Number One . No. 156. p. 38.
  5. ↑ McCready, John (14 June 1986). "45". New Musical Express . p. 10. ISSN   0028-6362.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Howard (26 June 1986). "Short Kutz". Kerrang! . No. 123. p. 35. ISSN   0144-5774.
  7. ↑ "Queen "Queen II" album and song lyrics". www.ultimatequeen.co.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. ↑ "Queen – Friends Will Be Friends" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Friends Will Be Friends". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  10. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Queen" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Queen – Friends Will Be Friends" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  12. ↑ "Queen – Friends Will Be Friends". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  13. ↑ "Queen – Friends Will Be Friends". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  14. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  15. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen – Friends Will Be Friends" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.