"Spread Your Wings" | ||||
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Single by Queen | ||||
from the album News of the World | ||||
B-side | "Sheer Heart Attack" | |||
Released | 10 February 1978 | |||
Recorded | 1977 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | Hard rock [1] | |||
Length | 4:32 | |||
Label | EMI (UK) | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Deacon | |||
Producer(s) | Queen, assisted by Mike Stone | |||
Queen singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Spread Your Wings" on YouTube |
"Spread Your Wings" is a power ballad by the rock band Queen, from their 1977 album News of the World . [2] Written by bassist John Deacon, it was released as the A-side of the single "Spread Your Wings"/"Sheer Heart Attack" in 1978. According to music writer Benoit Clerc, "Spread Your Wings" was chosen as the 2nd single from News of the World because the band regretted releasing "Tie Your Mother Down" as a single from A Day at the Races over Deacon's "You and I." [3]
The lyrics of "Spread Your Wings" tells of a character named Sammy, who works cleaning floors at a bar but dreams of improving his life despite his boss telling him that he has no ambition. [3] Deacon has said:
The song has to do with a number of personal experiences from recent years. I'd rather not say in detail, because I don't like to explain songs. People should figure it out for themselves, I think...It's not always easy, let me tell you. You deal with a lot of things that are not always pleasant. Of course, money is wonderful, but I don't need to be very rich. I just don't want to fall back into a state of poverty, which a number of fairly famous musicians have ended up in. I want to try to keep something for the future. [3]
Queen FAQ author Daniel Ross described "Spread Your Wings" as Deacon's "first attempt at narrative songwriting." [4] Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury considered it to be the best song Deacon had written to date. [5]
Musicologist Nick Braae describes the structure of "Spread Your Wings" as being somewhat unusual, in that after the initial verse and refrain centered on the key of D major, there is a bridge centered on the key of B minor, followed by an instrumental bridge that starts moving back to D major for the next verse-refrain pair. [6] Deacon used this double-bridge strategy in several other songs, including "You and I" and "Need Your Loving Tonight." [6]
The track features Freddie Mercury on piano and vocals, Brian May on electric guitar, Roger Taylor on drums, and John Deacon on bass and acoustic guitars. [3]
The song is unusual for Queen in that it uses a 3rd person narrative. [7] It is also the only Queen single that does not have the rest of the group providing backing vocals to Mercury's lead. [3] [7] [8]
"Spread Your Wings" was not released as a single in North America. However, the live version from Live Killers was featured as the B-side to Queen's 1979 hit, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. [9]
Dayton Daily News critic Gary Nuhn called it "a song with Beatles-like lyrics of a man pulling himself up. [10] Courier-News critic Bill Bleyer says that it makes a similar point as the more popular song, "We Are the Champions," – that "while the established order continues to hold down the young, they can still make it if they try" – it does so better and "without overpowering the listener." [11] Ross described it as a "melancholy anthem" that has "the same sense of bombast as 'We Are the Champions' but shot through with existential sadness and a desire to burst the shackles of mundane employment." [4]
Clerc praised Mercury's vocal delivery, saying that he sang the song "superbly, emphasizing the lyrics with his compelling vocal dexterity." [3] Andrew Wild said that it's a "commercial song with a terrific chorus" and is "sung with real conviction by Freddie Mercury." [8]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated the song as the 4th best song Deacon wrote for Queen, praising its "rising appreciation of musical drama." [7] Classic Rock History critic Millie Zeiler rated it John Deacon's 4th best Queen song. [12]
A live version of the song appears on the band's 1979 album Live Killers . [2] The song peaked at number 34 in the UK Singles Chart.
The music video for "Spread Your Wings" was shot in January 1978 in the garden of Roger Taylor's house in Surrey, on the same day the band also shot the video for "We Will Rock You." [3] [5] The video was directed by Rock Flicks. [3]
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
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Germany (Official German Charts) [14] | 29 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [15] | 20 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [16] | 26 |
UK Singles (OCC) [17] | 34 |
This song was covered by German power metal band Blind Guardian on their 1992 album Somewhere Far Beyond . The same recording reappeared on their 1996 album The Forgotten Tales . [18]
"We Are the Champions" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released from the band's sixth album News of the World (1977). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems. The song was a worldwide success, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart, number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, number three in Canada and the top ten in many other countries. In 2009 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and was voted the world's favourite song in a 2005 Sony Ericsson world music poll.
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1979, the track is included on their 1980 album The Game, and also appears on the band's compilation album Greatest Hits in 1981. The song peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, becoming the group's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 1980, remaining there for four consecutive weeks. It topped the Australian ARIA Charts for seven weeks. It was the band's final single release of the 1970s.
News of the World is the sixth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 28 October 1977 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. News of the World was the band's second album to be recorded at Sarm and Wessex Sound Studios in London, and engineered by Mike Stone, and was co-produced by the band and Stone.
Sheer Heart Attack is the third studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 8 November 1974 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Digressing from the progressive themes featured on their first two albums, the album featured more pop-centric and conventional rock tracks and marked a step towards the "classic" Queen sound. It was produced by the band and Roy Thomas Baker, and launched Queen to mainstream popularity in the UK and throughout the world.
"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).
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A Day at the Races is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 10 December 1976 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Recorded at The Manor, Sarm East, and Wessex Sound Studios in England, it was the band's first completely self-produced album, and the first completed without the involvement of producer Roy Thomas Baker; engineering duties were handled by Mike Stone. It serves as a companion to Queen's previous album, A Night at the Opera, with both taking their names from Marx Brothers films and having similar packaging and eclectic musical themes.
"Tie Your Mother Down" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead guitarist Brian May. It is the opening track and the second single from their 1976 album A Day at the Races. On its original release as a single in 1977 the song peaked at 31 in the UK Singles Chart. More than 20 years later, it was released as a double a-side to "No-One but You " where it reached 13 in UK Singles Chart. On the album the song is preceded by a one-minute instrumental intro featuring a Shepard tone melody, performed by Brian May, which is reprised in the ending of "Teo Torriatte": this was intended to create a "circle" within the album.
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"Sheer Heart Attack" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released on their sixth studio album News of the World in 1977. It is one of two songs on the album entirely written by Roger Taylor, the other being "Fight from the Inside".
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