I'm in Love with My Car

Last updated

"I'm In Love with My Car"
I'minlovewithmycar.png
B-side label of the UK vinyl pressing of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" single release
Song by Queen
from the album A Night at the Opera
A-side "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Released
  • 31 October 1975 (1975-10-31) (UK)
  • 2 December 1975 (US)
RecordedAugust–September 1975
Studio Sarm East, London
Genre
Length
  • 3:05 (album version)
  • 3:11 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s) Roger Taylor
Producer(s)
Music video
"I'm in Love with My Car" on YouTube

"I'm in Love with My Car" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released on their fourth album A Night at the Opera in 1975. It is the album's only song written entirely by drummer Roger Taylor.

Contents

History

Taylor played the guitars in the original demo, but they were later rerecorded by May on his Red Special and Taylor also doubled on electric guitar in addition to drums. The lead vocals were performed by Taylor on the studio version and all released live versions. The revving sounds at the conclusion of the song were a recording of Taylor's then current car, an Alfa Romeo. The lyrics were inspired by one of the band's roadies, Johnathan Harris, whose Triumph TR4 was evidently the "love of his life". [3] The song is dedicated to him, with the liner notes mentioning, "Dedicated to Johnathan Harris, boy racer to the end".

When it came down to releasing the album's first single, Taylor was so fond of his song that he locked himself in a cupboard until it was agreed that it would be the b-side to the album's first single, "Bohemian Rhapsody". [4] This decision would later become the cause of much internal friction in the band, in that while it was only the B-side, it generated an equal amount of publishing royalties for Taylor as the main single did for Mercury simply because it was the B-side to "Bohemian Rhapsody". [3]

The song was often played live during the 1977–81 period. Taylor sang it from the drums while Mercury played piano and provided backing vocals. During the News of the World Tour, Mercury would often sing the chorus lines with Taylor. [5]

The song's title is used as a running joke in the 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody , starting with an argument between Taylor (Ben Hardy) and May (Gwilym Lee) over the song's lyrical content. Later in the film, fictional EMI executive Ray Foster (Mike Myers) suggests to have it or "You're My Best Friend" released as the first single to A Night at the Opera instead of "Bohemian Rhapsody". Shortly afterwards, on Kenny Everett's radio show, Mercury hands the single to the eponymous host, who then reads out "I'm In Love With My Car" rather than "Bohemian Rhapsody", which is then correctly played on air. [6]

Reception

Music writer Tom Reynolds described the song as "seriously, one of the greatest and most passionate love songs I've heard during the last thirty-plus years". [7] AllMusic appreciated it as a "solid, hard hitting rocker" from Taylor. They observed, "The music lives up to the macho tone of the lyrics by matching up verses that swagger in a midtempo hard rock style", regarding it as an "album highlight". [8]

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bohemian Rhapsody</span> 1975 single by Queen

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack of a refraining chorus and consisting of several sections: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It is one of the few progressive rock songs of the 1970s to have proved accessible to a mainstream audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert</span> 1992 benefit concert

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, England, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis, directed by David Mallet and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the world, with an audience of up to one billion. The concert was a tribute to Queen's lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury, who died of an AIDS-related illness on 24 November 1991.

<i>A Night at the Opera</i> (Queen album) 1975 studio album by Queen

A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 28 November 1975, by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the United States. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was reportedly the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release.

<i>Innuendo</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Queen

Innuendo is the fourteenth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 4 February 1991 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and was the band's first studio album to be released by Hollywood Records in the United States. Produced by David Richards and the band, it was the band's last album to be released in lead singer Freddie Mercury's lifetime, and their most recent one to be composed of entirely new material, save for The Cosmos Rocks by the Queen + Paul Rodgers collaboration. The album reached the No. 1 spot on the UK album charts for two weeks, and also peaked at No. 1 in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, staying at No. 1 for three weeks, four weeks, six weeks, and eight weeks, respectively. It was the first Queen album to go Gold in the US upon its release since The Works in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You're My Best Friend (Queen song)</span> 1976 single by Queen

"You're My Best Friend" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by the band's bass player, John Deacon, who wrote it for and about his wife. It was first included on the 1975 album A Night at the Opera, and later released as a single. The ballad also appeared on the Live Killers (1979) live album, and on the compilation albums Greatest Hits (1981), Absolute Greatest (2009) and Queen Forever (2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killer Queen</span> 1974 single by Queen

"Killer Queen" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and recorded for their third album Sheer Heart Attack in 1974. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and became their first US hit, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is about a high-class call girl and has been characterised as "Mercury's piano-led paean to a Moët-quaffing courtesan".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">These Are the Days of Our Lives</span> 1991 single by Queen

"These Are the Days of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Although credited to the whole band, it was largely written by their drummer Roger Taylor, and is the eighth track on the band's 1991 album Innuendo.

"The Prophet's Song" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by their guitarist Brian May, originally released on their fourth studio album A Night at the Opera in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death on Two Legs</span> 1975 song by Queen

"Death on Two Legs" 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 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. Mercury said that his lawyer had cautioned him against discussing the lyrics, but that it was written from a "very emotional" place for which he felt music was the best outlet. 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 lacking money 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammer to Fall</span> 1984 single by Queen

"Hammer to Fall" is a 1984 song by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song is the eighth track on their 1984 album The Works. It was the fourth and final single to be released from that album, although the single version was edited down by thirty seconds from the version on the album. Different sleeves were used to package this single and the live picture sleeve is now a collector's item. The song harks back to the old roots of the band, being built around a hard angular and muscular riff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somebody to Love (Queen song)</span> 1976 single by Queen

"Somebody to Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer and pianist Freddie Mercury. It debuted on the band's 1976 album A Day at the Races and also appears on their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liar (Queen song)</span> 1974 single by Queen

"Liar" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1970. The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album Queen. A heavily truncated version of "Liar" was released as a single – backed with "Doing All Right" – in the United States and New Zealand by Elektra Records in February 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Now I'm Here</span> 1975 single by Queen

"Now I'm Here" is a song by English rock band Queen, released on their third studio album, Sheer Heart Attack (1974). Written by guitarist Brian May, the song is noted for its gritty guitar riffs and vocal harmonies. In the UK, the song reached #11 on the charts when released as a single in 1975. The song was a live favourite, performed at virtually every concert from late 1974 to 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustapha (song)</span> 1979 single by Queen

"Mustapha" is a song written by Freddie Mercury and recorded by British rock band Queen. It is the first track of their 1978 album Jazz, categorized as "an up-tempo Arabic rocker" by Circus magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Palabras de Amor</span> 1982 single by Queen

"Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)" is a rock ballad by the British rock band Queen. It was released as the third single from their 1982 album Hot Space. It is sung mostly in English, but with several Spanish phrases. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song proved more popular in the United Kingdom than their previous single ("Body Language"), reaching No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Winter's Tale (Queen song)</span> 1995 single by Queen

"A Winter's Tale" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven, released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991. It was written after the Innuendo sessions, inspired as Mercury was staring out the windows of various places in Montreux. The song has a psychedelic, dreamy feel, and describes what Mercury saw outside the windows.

<i>Queen Rock Montreal</i> 2007 live album by Queen

Queen Rock Montreal is a live album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 29 October 2007 as a double CD, Blu-ray, DVD, and triple vinyl in the UK and the following day in the US.

The News of the World Tour was the fifth headlining concert tour by the British rock band Queen, supporting their successful 1977 album News of the World. The tour spanned from 11 November 1977 to 13 May 1978 over three tour legs: North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Rehearsals for the tour took place at Shepperton Studios in October 1977.

<i>Live in Ukraine</i> 2009 live album by Queen Paul Rodgers

Live in Ukraine is a double live album and video and also last release by British rock collaboration Queen + Paul Rodgers. It was recorded in September 2008 during the Rock the Cosmos Tour at Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine and was released on 15 June 2009. A companion DVD was also released.

<i>Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest</i> 1987 live album by Queen

Queen – Live In Budapest was retitled later as Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest is a concert film of the British rock band Queen's performance at the Népstadion in Budapest on 27 July 1986. It was part of the band's final tour with original lead singer Freddie Mercury, The Magic Tour. Queen were one of the few bands from Western Europe to perform in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. The film had a limited theatrical release in Eastern Bloc countries in 1987/1988 with the concert physically released on VHS and Laserdisc in the UK and Japan on 16 February 1987 under the original title Queen Live In Budapest, and on CD, DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on 5 November 2012 worldwide, except in the United States where it was released a day later.

References

  1. Prown, Pete; Newquist, HP (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 106. ISBN   978-0-793-54042-6.
  2. Dome, Malcolm (29 August 2016). "Queen albums ranked from worst to best". Classic Rock Magazine . Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  3. 1 2 Mark Blake, Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen (Da Capo Press, 2013), ISBN   978-0306819735. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  4. The Mojo Collection (4th ed.). Canongate Books. 2007. ISBN   9781847676436 . Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  5. "QUEEN: Every time FREDDIE MERCURY sang I'm in Love with My Car LIVE - YouTube". YouTube .
  6. Orquiola, John (2 November 2018). "Every Queen Song In Bohemian Rhapsody". Screen Rant . Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  7. Tom Reynolds, Touch Me, I'm Sick: The 52 Creepiest Love Songs You've Ever Heard (Chicago Review Press, 2008), ISBN   978-1556527531, p. 249. Excerpts available at Google Books.
  8. "I'm in Love with My Car - Queen". AllMusic.
  9. "A Night At The Opera". Queen Songs. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2019.