Marking
it's golden jubilee today is Queen's third single, Seven Seas of Rhye,
which was released on February 23rd, 1974 and became their first UK hit,
peaking at #10 on the charts after the band performed it on Top of the
Pops two days before the single's release.
The song was originally used to close off the group's debut album, albeit in a simplified instrumental form. The original intent was for their follow up album to feature the full version as the opening track, but that plan was changed after the "black vs white" concept came into place for Queen II, where it was ultimately used to close the second album, morphing into a sea shanty at the end of the song. It was a theme that was picked up on the beginning of the third album, Sheer Heart Attack, which opens with a similar refrain before breaking into Brighton Rock.
The song was written by Freddie Mercury, beginning life as far back as 1969, though Brian May contributed some elements in its final form, but was not given writing credit at the time it was published. At that time, Queen were of the habit that the principal songwriter was always given full credit for their song, an arrangement that wouldn't change until much later in their career, when they began to share writing credit among the band members more equally.
The theme of the song was based on an imaginary kingdom Freddie and his sister had dreamed up as children, the land of Rhye. This fairytale kingdom would also be referenced on the band's next album, in the song, Lily of the Valley, and would ultimately become an integral part of the Queen jukebox musical, We Will Rock You (2002), as a place where the Bohemians are taken after they are brain-drained by Khashoggi.
The song is exemplary of Queen in all their grandeur, highlighting their fiery guitar histrionics and vocal harmonies, and driven by a rapid-fire piano arpeggio by Mercury. It's the kind of pomp and pretense that only Queen could pull off with credibility. When Mercury commands, "Bring before me what is mine!", you don't question it, you get the man whatever the fuck he wants.
The B-Side of the single was a rare non-LP track, See What A Fool I've Been. The single release predated the release of their 2nd album by a few weeks as delays held up the LPs production.
The song was originally used to close off the group's debut album, albeit in a simplified instrumental form. The original intent was for their follow up album to feature the full version as the opening track, but that plan was changed after the "black vs white" concept came into place for Queen II, where it was ultimately used to close the second album, morphing into a sea shanty at the end of the song. It was a theme that was picked up on the beginning of the third album, Sheer Heart Attack, which opens with a similar refrain before breaking into Brighton Rock.
The song was written by Freddie Mercury, beginning life as far back as 1969, though Brian May contributed some elements in its final form, but was not given writing credit at the time it was published. At that time, Queen were of the habit that the principal songwriter was always given full credit for their song, an arrangement that wouldn't change until much later in their career, when they began to share writing credit among the band members more equally.
The theme of the song was based on an imaginary kingdom Freddie and his sister had dreamed up as children, the land of Rhye. This fairytale kingdom would also be referenced on the band's next album, in the song, Lily of the Valley, and would ultimately become an integral part of the Queen jukebox musical, We Will Rock You (2002), as a place where the Bohemians are taken after they are brain-drained by Khashoggi.
The song is exemplary of Queen in all their grandeur, highlighting their fiery guitar histrionics and vocal harmonies, and driven by a rapid-fire piano arpeggio by Mercury. It's the kind of pomp and pretense that only Queen could pull off with credibility. When Mercury commands, "Bring before me what is mine!", you don't question it, you get the man whatever the fuck he wants.
The B-Side of the single was a rare non-LP track, See What A Fool I've Been. The single release predated the release of their 2nd album by a few weeks as delays held up the LPs production.
