Queen, Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Reaction

[@Dillon12]

I am waiting for The March Of The Black Queen

[@paulvanholsbeck5615]

Please do Brian May’s “Good Company”. Pure guitar genius- He plays an entire jazz band (trombone clarinet tuba etc. on his guitar). He used instrumental phrasing and tones to create this Gem…..! Leads the song on Ukulele Something up your alley I believe

[@MiscellanyTop]

Yup, I mentioned that as a pair with this song in my reply (above) to Wayne Kitching. This is a genius album with not a single wasted opportunity. Hard to say my fav track because of the perspectives they offer. But Good Company is a fab offering from my fav guitarist of all-time.

[@unshaken95]

Yes! I really want Amy to listen to some of the Queen songs that have Brian or Roger in main vocals, and "39" or "Good Company" would be great choices for Brian in this album.

[@MiscellanyTop]

@@unshaken95 Yup :)

[@letsgomets002]

Yes not yup yep stop this crap!!!!😮😮😮

[@kentnottingham9635]

Ha, just asked for this too! Pure genius!!!!

[@deepermind4884]

This song gets an extra kick when it's heard as it is on the album, immediately following 'Death On Two Legs' with hardly a fraction of a second between them. 😂

[@dianecourtney2724]

Yes ✌🏼

[@staceybateman1315]

And immediately before ‘I’m in love with my car’!

[@heinz812]

Album sequence was critical. The contrasts are brilliant.

[@DrNothing23]

I've always taken the "Ordinary Guy" line, especially placed directly prior to the painting in the Louvre line, upping the ante on the latter's brag with a bit of facetiousness and VERY faux humbleness. "What am I going to do TODAY? Oh, nothing much, Dear; just a little painting in the Louvre. TOODLES!" :)

[@garetjax19]

Another sweet little song, that always reminds me of a seaside scene from Edwardian Britain. The new age of cycling and European excursions. The sights and sounds of the sea, hearing the distant megaphone, calling out sightseeing tours either by omnibus or little steamer, around the bay. With everyone in their 'Sunday best' and all wearing hats. Strolling to the end of the pier, before returning home tired, but looking forward to the next day, because it's one day closer to being Sunday. Peace All

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

Awesome reaction! The song seemed to make you especially cheerful! Freddie was an artist he went to art college he did actually do drawings and paintings as well, he did get a degree in graphic design. He drew and designed the Queen crest originally. He is describing the bohemian lifestyle. I hope you also do Seaside Rendezvous or The Millionaire Waltz. Perhaps that would be too many of these types of Vaudeville songs for some people. But I do really love these types of songs from Queen. Freddie could really do justice to these types of songs.

[@DENVEROUTDOORMAN]

Freddie and the Wmpboys...they suck

[@boletuserythropus8344]

Great suggestions, but don't forget Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, an absolute gem!!!

[@Keith_Butcher]

And bring back that Leroy Brown!

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

Yes, I do enjoy Good Old Fashioned Loverboy and especially Bring Back That Leroy Brown. Maye we can still get Good Old Fashioned Loverboy.

[@jeffidyle4957]

Agreed on Millionaire Waltz and Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy! Really anything from those two albums. I'd love to hear '39, Prophet's Song, or Good Company too.

[@CoxJul]

Brian May is on the record as being a big fan of a band called the Temperance Seven, a very British trad/Dixie jazz band from the very early sixties produced by George Martin (pre-Beatles) and I recognise a big connection in the style of this. Especially the hollow megaphone voice treatment.

[@stephenbryan219]

I'm so glad you're doing some of Queen's lesser known songs. I was somewhat disappointed that Queen II was glossed over with just the one hit song from it. Many Queen fans view it as being their best album so hope you go back to it for a few more songs.

[@marsfer]

Please, do a reaction to "The Prophet Song", in my humble opinion the best song in A night at the Opera.❤

[@adamelliott18]

I figured that you'd like this one. As young teens there was so much diversity in rock during this period we would just take it all in stride. Looking back, so much of the music was teaching us of different styles and history of music by incorporating jazz, classical blues, folk etc.😊

[@andreakormosnekacso4804]

Dear Amy, you give us so much fun with your reactions, thank you. (Hardly waiting for the next one.) Freddie was a free spirit who hated the compulsions, besides he was also very hyperactive. He mentioned several times, that he lived his life like a chameleon, changing himself day by day. He always underrated his piano skills, but as Brian said „He had a wonderful touch on the piano, Freddie. Really he didn’t think he did, you know? He was very depricating about his piano playing and in later years really didn’t do any of it. He played less and less piano, because he wanted to run around and deliver it to the audience, which he did so magnificently. He didn’t have the classical range, but he could play what came from him, inside him, like nobody else -with incredible rhythm, incredible passion and feeling.”

[@13down13]

Amy, I think you've missed something here. Freddie has a sense of humor, so when he says that he's a normal guy, then says he goes painting in the Louvre, that is contradictory. Obviously, it's not normal. Seaside Roundevouz, also from this album, is very similar in tone. You should enjoy that one too.

[@alexandrocinta]

Another day asking for My Fairy King from Queen's first album 🛐

[@WayneKitching]

Yay! Looking forward to it. These novelty songs are like palate cleansers between the heavier numbers.

[@dianecourtney2724]

😀✌🏼

[@DaCatz_FurEver]

Brian once said Freddie played the piano almost drum like. He was very precise!

[@karentargaryen7959]

Excellent. These are the "little" songs that I love soooo much. With this one and Seaside Rendezvous (hopefully you can do that one too) I just imagine them in the studio fooling around with sounds and equipment and having fun, smiling and laughing.

[@kentnottingham9635]

Yes please!!!!!

[@kendallneason3645]

Yay! You found another Queen hidden gem. Such diversity. Queen music is really unique. Freddie was always so experimental and the whole band were talented enough to make each member’s visions come alive. Great reaction!

[@nellgwenn]

The song does have a British Music Hall feel to it. You can picture this character in a French Impressionist painting. He's in there somewhere just doing an ordinary thing in the background. There is a painting by George Seurat called Sunday on La Grande Jatte. I'm sure you know it. It's the famous painting with people hanging out in a park by the water. Our hero in this case would be a guy in a canoe in the background. He's having the time of his life just happy to be there. There is a certain amount of freedom when you are anonymous. That's probably the whole point of the song.

[@solino2002andrea]

I think that when he sings “…painting in the Louuuuvre”, that elongated word is the final brushstroke of a self satisfied artist given to his last masterpiece (or he thinks it is, at least) and is the same formula as the bicycle bell: how does a paintbrush sound? Louuuuvre ( like Zorro’s sign done by his sword). Absolutely genius.

[@Concreteowl]

The emphasis on the oo makes it sound like he paints in the bathroom but no he pops over the channel to Paris 😁

[@solino2002andrea]

@@Concreteowl 😂😂Respect: Everyone sees his own meaning into an abstract painting 🖼️

[@j6samsung679]

​@@ConcreteowlAbsolutely agree with you. Thursday I go waltzing to the zoo. Fridays I go painting in the loo.. rhyme with zoo, but he cheekily ended with Loo......uvre 😅

[@JK-ld8cd]

A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races are 2 masterpiece albums released back to back....

[@LeeKennison]

A really clever song that provides a throwback to a 1920s vaudeville style (in a very Queen like manner). Loved how you made a Gilbert and Sullivan connection. You have a good memory for lyrics and melodies, and on other occasions for poetry. Emily Dickinson comes to mind when you quoted her poetry once, whereas I only remember her mentioning bees a lot. You had such a wonderful take on the lyrics. I really got a kick out of Vlad's "maybe he's an artist" comment, since the same thought crossed my mind right before he said it. Also, as a bass player, I really like how you have been noticing the bass a lot more in songs lately.

[@damiendorman3215]

I feel I've had cloth ears for 40 odd years.... You're priceless... Wonderful.... Keep teaching us, please....

[@rogerhoffmore9262]

The guitar solo at the end - which sounded like multiple guitars, playing at the same time all together - made me think of a chorus, such as in Gilbert and Sullivan doing a call and response…

[@Suzismymom]

I'm literally praying you do a song with Roger Taylor, the drummer, singing. I'm In Love With My Car follows this song on the album. Roger Taylor is an incredible vocalist!

[@jay-remedy-plz]

^ That’s a must at this point. Actually I’m pleading here! I’m so used to hearing these songs in the original order.

[@markwilliams6394]

'39 with May singing wouldn't be too bad either.

[@markwilliams6394]

Sorry, I meant May wrote the song, I think but Freddie sings it.

[@yvrkid7070]

@@markwilliams6394 Brian sang the song on the album. Freddie sang it live.

[@markwilliams6394]

@yvrkid7070 I thought he did but really wasn't sure since I last heard the song live. Haven't heard the album version in about 10 yrs.

[@kentnottingham9635]

So many gems on this album. GOOD COMPANY may be of interest. Brian May uses his guitar to make a Dixieland Jazz band. He made Trombone, trumpet, etc. It starts with him playing a Banjo/Ukulele that his dad had in the war. Please listen to this, very incredible!!!!

[@sporg]

Your comment about Brian May's guitar solo reminded me of what he said in his interview with Rick Beato (well worth watching), particularly talking about Bohemian Rhapsody. He said that he approached these solos as though they were continuing a conversation with the vocalist. That feels just as relevant here. Another wonderful analysis; many thanks.

[@dianecourtney2724]

Great comment Amy when you said Freddie plays like he sings ☺️ You’re right … Freddie plays and sings freely … the sign of a true artist ! Brian once said Freddie was a human metronome. I think torture for Freddie would be if you could stop him from feeling the next beat in his psyche. You and Freddie would have had so much fun hanging around together in the studio !! TY Waiting for your next one ✌🏼

[@ellet6560]

Thanks, Amy! You’ve done it again. Your analysis has opened up my tone-deaf ears to fall in love with a song that I Initially dismissed as “not my style” . This song is endearing, playful, charismatic & a bit mysterious. Just like Freddie.

[@fernandobarreto1418]

I´m a singer and guitar player in a rather succsessful band in Rio and you don´t know how much i´ve been learning from you. Your song analysis has incredibly broadened the different feelings that you can put in a performance to touch or reach people´s hearts, thank you so much! (And I will say it again your hands are beautiful).

[@brucedillinger9448]

I always got 20's or 30's vibes from this short sweet romp. Great lead in to I'm In Love With My Car...if memory serves. ✌

[@brianswift2706]

It's weird to hear it NOT leading into I'm in love with my car

[@41Forethought]

I'd like to know how the heck Brian May got his guitar to sound like a steam calliope! Great review and reaction as always, Amy - thank you!

[@kendallneason3645]

Brian May credits the Deacy amp, which bass player John Deacon built from scrap, with allowing him to change his guitar sounds drastically depending on the songs. Check out his interview with Rick Beato’s analysis of Bohemian Rhapsody.

[@Arbosh4]

A Night at the Opera is my favourite Queen album. I do hope you listen to songs written by the other members of the band, and even those sung by Roger and Brian. I'm in Love with My Car (the track immediately after this one) is a great vocal and guitar track.

[@patrik3083]

The song actually reminds me of Beatles' Lady Madonna and also When I'm 64. The playfulness, piano sound and the voice effect.Thanks for another great reaction video.

[@fercus_inc]

I love when you enjoy a song. This particular song it seems a kind of joke but its not, for me its such a classic and it fits perfect into the whole album. Thanks a lot for your reaction and analysis.

[@trevorgoddard2278]

I think because it's so short a lot of people just assume it was thrown in to make the album the right length, but like most (if not all) of Freddie's creations it's a work of art and should be appreciated as such.

[@MikeBruno-qt5es]

Great reaction Amy. This song has always been an enjoyable piece of music for me. I'm happy to see that you've enjoyed it as well. Seaside Rendezvous and Good Company, both from this album, are also worth a listen.

[@pumagutten]

I loved your reaction to this gem, Amy! I can tell that you enjoyed this as much as I have for several years!

[@caroleann_2142]

Such a Wonderfull Album. So much talent. ❤😊

[@lisaargyrou1488]

Wow 🎉 beautiful sweet Freddie ❤️ I adore dear Freddie's songs ❤🎉

[@AndersonDawesWasRight]

I've always heard "painting in the Loooovre" as a pun. You think he is painting in the loo (the toilet) until the last second, then it switches to the Louvre, a very different image. Very Vaudeville/ British Music hall comedy.

[@BarleyC]

Another wonderful reaction! I always loved this side of Freddie's creativity in the mid-70s. I hope you'll react to other songs of his that are in a similar vein: Seaside Rendezvous, The Millionaire Waltz, and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy!

[@krisnunney8030]

Two other great ones for Freddie being camp and arch are “Good Old Fashioned Loverboy” and “The Millionaire Waltz”. Genius.

[@YourBeingParanoid]

I so needed Roger to come in with the heavy drum at the end with I'm in Love With My Car

[@manofconstantsorrow]

15:15 I can't wait when she does Bicycle Race 😸

[@DruncanUK]

Fat Bottom Girls is going to be a fun one.

[@normalasamsudin1891]

Yup.

[@thorobliterator1934]

I always interpreted it as a parody of the elite, who thinks of himself as a common man, but in fact is not. Sure, he goes to work on Monday. Does he go to work any other day? No. He honeymoons, he bikes, he waltzes, he paints at the Louvre, he reposes. And then after this exhausting week he lays about doing nothing on Sunday. So he's a parody of these people who claim to understand the common man but who have no idea what being a lower class person is like.

[@thedarcbird]

This little ditty flies into Roger Taylor's piece, "I'm In Love With My Car".

[@bernhardfbuttner5694]

Thank you, again! - Hope you enjoyed this precious little jewel like i enjoyed you're reaction!

[@christineirving4491pluviophile]

Yes, this was a fun little one. There are a couple more in a similar vein, Freddie's 'Seaside Rendevous' and Brian's 'Good Company.'

[@timothyjones6323]

When I hear this song, and that brightly abrupt ending, I can’t help but think of it in the context of the album, where it immediately sort of detonates into the distorted hard rock guitar intro of the next song, I’m In Love With My Car. They are so linked together in my mind that they seem like one composition, though the pairing is like sonic whiplash. I have always thought of the line “I’m just an ordinary guy” as being ironic, since the character seems clearly to be a somewhat well-off eccentric. This has always been a highlight of the album for me. Thanks for exploring it with us!

[@deboraclark5791]

Great reaction as always. Love that Queen did all types of music.

[@YourBeingParanoid]

Fun fact - in my teenage years (ages ago now) I had some acid, and stayed awake for 2 days and nights with this track stuck on a loop in my head.

[@nickjoy8868]

The opening piano always reminds me of the Cuckoo song which was the theme to Laurel and Hardy! Very daffy and daft, both the cuckoo song and Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon- and I find both to be highly enjoyable and cheering. Actually I think this is not Freddie singing autobiographically- this a persona, much like Bertie Wooster from the Jeeves and Wooster books by PG Wodehouse. It explains the bucket trick on vocals to give a comic take on the clipped English upper class accent. Also the activities are absolutely bang on for Bertie Wooster, an idle son of landed gentry doing all sorts of things 'just for a laugh' as they never have to worry about money. That's my interpretation- sorry it differs from yours; I greatly enjoyed your video and very much look forward to more Queen please!

[@davidsweet9163]

The statement of a true artist. ' I'm just an ordinary guy"

[@endreszatmari2302]

Great review. I'd like to note that England have always been famous because of its eccentrics, and of course there were circles of bohemian artists as well in many periods and places. Although I'm not British, I think English culture, while being somewhat strict in social norms and expected behaviours, is paradoxically also rather forgiving towards eccentric behaviour. Much so than the traditional culture of the US, for comparison. But of course this is my personal opinion. I've read somewhere an opinion that stated, the number of eccentric people a country has is an indicator of the healthiness of its society.

[@DavidLindes]

Hah, I've clearly listened to this album a lot of times... my brain went straight to In Love With My Car right after 4:21 (and 20:00). :D And my thought at 20:02: of course it is, the engine is running already, no time for being lazy anymore! gotta get in the car! :D

[@proflcr8779]

One might say that Freddie was very mercurial.

[@GiordanoBruno42]

Hmm that makes me wonder if that was why he chose that name?! 🤯

[@bobtheskutterbot]

I was looking for this comment! Amy kept saying changeable as if mercurial was not right there...

[@IanHodgetts]

I find it interesting that you mention the "character" of the song. I often find myself imagining it's Oscar Wilde singing it. Also, I'm glad you picked up on both the Vaudeville style and the humour, as I think of this track as the core of the "A Night at the Opera" album because it clearly draws on the Marx Brothers film of the same name which was the inspiration for the album title. Indeed the following album was also titled after a Marx Brothers movie "A Day at the Races". One of the things I notice in this track is the piano style reminds me a lot of Chico Marx (I imagine the final two notes being played with his "finger gun" (shooting the keys) style. Another nod is to Harpo Marx in the use of the harp in "The Prophet's Song" and "Love of My Life". If you haven't seen it, watch the film; it's classic Marx, and this album has evident influences.

[@tootsmcdunno5244]

When I watched this, I immediately wondered if she knew the album was named after the Marx Brothers movie. I was going to comment on the similarity between the piano flourishes in this song and those of Chico, who cut his teeth in Vaudeville. I guess I'm a year too late, but I'm glad someone else had the same insight!

[@IanHodgetts]

@tootsmcdunno5244 Thanks for affirming my observations. Glad it's not just me :-)

[@tootsmcdunno5244]

@@IanHodgetts for sure. By the way, you had me laughing out loud with your reference to Chico's finger-gun style of playing!

[@IanHodgetts]

@@tootsmcdunno5244 LOL! How would you describe it? :-D

[@tomlegge4880]

And remember, listening to this side of Queen’s music, that they are often cited as an influence by many metal bands, then an now. Maybe not for this kind of song, but I’ll bet you many a metal guitarist has listened to May in this song and at least had a little think.

[@davidsweet9163]

As someone has mentioned We hope you do "Good Company". It is a long the same idea of doing older Vaudeville,music hall.

[@barriehull7076]

It’s important to note that this is not the first song about Sunday afternoons. The Small Faces first released “Lazy Sunday Afternoon” a few years prior and The Kinks released “Sunny Afternoon” in 1966 where the chorus lyrics end with “Lazin' on a sunny afternoon…”. Just a thought! Channel Tunnel, also called Eurotunnel, rail tunnel between England and France that runs beneath the English Channel. The Channel Tunnel, 50 km (31 miles) long, consists of three tunnels: two for rail traffic and a central tunnel for services and security. Launched in 1994, the Eurotunnel is an excellent alternative way to take your car to France, using the Channel Tunnel's two double railway tunnels which have been dug beneath the sea bed in the English Channel. St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, France and the Netherlands to London. Eurostar runs high-speed passenger services through the Channel Tunnel between London and a number of other European cities, including Paris, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Avignon and Marseille. So some other "common Londoner" could paint in the Louvre today.

[@shacharh5470]

I didn't expect you to include this song in the project. At this rate you might as well do the whole album :-P

[@buca505]

Great analysis as always Amy 👍 It is strange bland of modern production with try to get that old sound from old records on wining turntables with the big trumpet speaker, and they nailed that. Vaudeville style of funny little tune with lots of humor in one, and technical difficulty to record the guitar solo only one one left channel that it shared with vocals, once again May make the guitar sing joyful la, la, la melody on the end like it is vocal himself, no classical solo guitar piece. This little song is much complex and significant in Queen music, than it looks on first listen. Once again thanks Amy and Vlad for this wonderful experience and kiss the little one✌️

[@jj-xt1yz]

'Maybe he's artist' - he WAS an artist in every sense of the word. Degree in graphics and designer of the Queen crest😮

[@davidmaholchic6146]

Cannot wait to watch this queen journey is wonderful love you

[@BostonBobby1961]

As a Queen fan since 1976 and someone who had some music training including some basic music classes at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston your explanations and interpretations of their music is phenomenal. I would have loved having you as my piano teacher. Great job!!!!!

[@MrJvne]

Freddie also played the bass during his schoolyears in Zanzibar, and could basically played guitar in his later years. He was a curious mind, with an incredible thirst for experimentation.

[@davidsweet9163]

very Victorian. I have commented before you will in the end apciate Zappa,Yes, Pink Floyd,Queen.and the Likes

[@MobiusBandwidth]

Freddie was a genius. they all were. that guitar solo is exquisitely crafted to somehow not sound out of place, in what otherwise could pass for a record from the 20s.

[@timnotbrianmay]

It sounds to me like he's self-deprecating... He doesn't think that he's anything special, BUT... HE IS! And Brian's guitar solo at the end is ABSOLUTELY ICONIC!!!!!!!!!!! I had to actually learn it from the sheet music that I got from the queen fan club in England!... And I don't sight read! VERY HARD! 😸 And, I imagine that Freddie actually felt that way, because he was born and raised in Zanzibar!!!

[@hippydippy]

Nice breakdown as usual. I can't wait until you get to "The Prophet's Song" on that album. I think it's one of the greatest songs they ever did. Freddie's lyric's are quite moving.

[@lilharleymama]

Please make room for Queen's "Seaside Rendezvous"...so many sound effects!

[@realshaoran4514]

This and Seaside rendezvous are one of my favorite songs of Queen, specially because they are not afraid to just do a happy little song just for fun.

[@pedro19611969]

I believe this song was written in the style of Noel Coward , the vocal effect is inspired by old 1930s 40s BBC light service

[@TootlinGeoff]

Possibly trying to capture the effect of singing through a megaphone which some 20s/30s vocalists used in the days before decent mic/amp combinations

[@misery.machine15]

Don’t stop with just 50. You’ll miss so many phenomenal songs written and performed by the very best of all time!

[@indeovertuin]

In the Bible, God created everything in six days and the seventh he rested. In his early work Freddie often refered to gods or to planets/the universe. Because his name Mercury refers to the god Mercury and the planet Mercury. He gave (by choosing this name) himself universal proportions (I don't want to be an artist, I want to be a legend). Also remember 'The seven seas of Rhye': I descent upon your earth from the skies...

[@timnotbrianmay]

Somehow, from your listening to this, you actually absolutely nailed Freddie's personal life!

[@auralfixxation6702]

I've suggested this to you and I'm so glad you did it.

[@chattikathy4391]

I think your "Queen 50" will need to be expanded to at least "Queen 100"! Queen has so many styles that 50 will just not cut it! (Unless the "50" is just an anniversary number...)

[@ellet6560]

Vlad better be working on “Queen, the next 50”, fast & furiously!

[@scyz2807]

I bought this album when it first came out. : - ) I heard this song, like you said, as an old time (78 rpm) 1910-1920s recording. Considering the character of the voice and the "I'm just an ordinary guy" lyric, the song comes off as intentionally sarcastic in a funny enjoyable way. Ironic may be the better word here. It certainly makes me smile imagining this "ordinary guy" doing all these things, then lazing on a Sunday afternoon.

[@andreulcf]

I think you're going to love my favorite Queen song... "Fairy Feller's Master Stroke"... next queen song by Virgin Rock 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@lk5355]

Thank you for covering less famous songs by Queen. If you haven't i suggest "Good Company" by Brian May.

[@chattikathy4391]

Amy, you really need to listen to the whole A Night at the Opera album in one go. The arrangement of tracks is truly spectacular. Right after Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon comes Roger Taylor's I'm in Love with my Car. Two totally different songs and Roger's follows this one beautifully. This album is truly a masterpiece!

[@Blackadder75]

When I was a schoolboy I got this album on tape cassette, copied of course, and I didn't know at first when some songs ended and a new one began, but I liked all of them except Sweet Lady

[@VWrijder77]

The flow of that album is great. I tend to listen the Queen albums in the original order when I can. It adds another layer of greatness to this formidable band

[@chattikathy4391]

@@Blackadder75 Give Sweet Lady another listen. Now that you're older, you may view it differently. I, personally, do not think there's a bad song on the album. Each was selected with care of where they would fit in.

[@Blackadder75]

@@chattikathy4391 I don't hate the song, but I will never like it. I have listened to the album more than 50 times so I don;t think anything will change it...

[@chattikathy4391]

@@Blackadder75 Well, I guess it's true that every song isn't for everybody! Heck, I've even heard Brian and Roger say they didn't like every song (or like to perform every song...I cannot remember), so there's that! You're in Good Company! 😁

[@rsmallfield]

Your delight in music is infectious. Thank you. I wonder if another interpretation might be that this is an unreliable narrator - a fantasist? No one goes painting in the Louvre, do they?

[@kentnottingham9635]

As I’ve mentioned, this album was my very first album purchase as a kid in Jr High. Every breath, beat, harmony and instrument, I know like my own heartbeat! I wore side one out and moved to side two and have been a Queen fan ever since!

[@thedarcbird]

I hope you are going to listen to '39 by Brian May. (Sung by Brian May with backing vocals from Freddie and Roger.)

[@lindieb5278]

Ironically, Freddie didn't come from London. He was born in Zanzibar and educated in India! But he always maintained that his life didn't really start until he came to England. He was very British and enjoyed serving afternoon tea to his friends!

[@philproffitt8363]

A fine and fun feast of an album. From the shark fin soup to the royal jelly...I usually scoff it down in one go :-p

[@simonwatkins3236]

The Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band influence is strong in this song.

[@coreywilliams923]

Thanks guys, loved it. English cousin to "Bring back that Leroy Brown" perhaps? As a long time Queen fan (became hooked in '86 as a 12 year old), your analysis of these songs, BoRhap in particular, have really shown me new aspects to the music otherwise missed. Keep it up.❤

[@cosmos586]

I love your awesome reation about Queen 😀 thanks

[@DukeEnlil]

Freddie liked paintings and he ended up as a bachelor in school of art! There are a few drawings by Freddie in the internet and they are pretty impressive!

[@barrymitchell6444]

I assume you mean the ones of Jimi Hendrix, Roger Moore and Rock Hudson? Have you seen any of his drawings and Imperial Leather ads being sold at Sothebys next month yet?

[@barrymitchell6444]

He actually didn't want to be an artist or graphic designer. He went to Ealing College of Art to get into music. Meeting Tim Staffell there set him on that path. I think it was Pete Townsend and Ronnie Wood who had attended the same college.

[@DukeEnlil]

@@barrymitchell6444 I never sad that he wanted to be a graphic designer! As I sad I am a Queen fan since 1995, I watched all documentaries, interviews I could find on KZbin, books etc...

[@barrymitchell6444]

@@DukeEnlil No... *you* didn't say he wanted to be graphic designer (or an artist, actually) but many books and articles claim he was a graphic designer/illustrator.

[@barrymitchell6444]

@@DukeEnlil I've been a fan since 1973, and saw Queen live a number of times, but only in London. It must have been fun, catching up on all that Queen studio and live music.

[@normalasamsudin1891]

I'm waiting for seaside rendevous and my melancholy blues. 😊

[@spiritusinfinitus]

It is interesting to note that from the 1980s Freddie ended up living in Garden Lodge at Logan Place in Kensington, London, that was built for the painter Cecil Rae in the early 1900s. I think Freddie was giving us a clue of the sort of chap he envisaged himself turning into. The vocal is sung in an intentionally old-school, posh English accent.. The sort that a gentleman who lives in such a residence might be expected to have.

[@spiritusinfinitus]

Search for Self Portrait Cecil William Rea (1860-1935) Laing Art Gallery... This picture is exactly how I imagined the character Freddie was playing in this song looked like!! ,😆

[@spartakistmk2557]

The Gilbert & Sullivan connection is an interesting idea, but I think the major influence on this song is Noel Coward, particularly that ironic line about painting in the Louvre. Coward was a master of one-line quips where the second part slyly contradicts the first (e.g. "I'm not a heavy drinker, I can sometimes go for hours without touching a drop!"), and given that the protagonist of the song is clearly an interwar upper-class dilettante like Bertie Wooster, it seems straightforward that Freddie's depicting him as an endearingly empty-headed chap, so privileged that he doesn't even realise painting in the Louvre isn't something the average man does on a Friday. Given that Noel Coward was also gay, at a time when it was still illegal, I think Freddie (whether consciously or not) must have seen something admirable in his life and work that he wanted to emulate. During the war, Coward was one of the 3,000 people on the SS's Sonderfahndungsliste GB, a list of anti-fascist British public figures who were to be rounded up and executed in the event of a successful Nazi invasion of the UK; when he discovered this fact after the war, Coward's response was to joke to one of his fellow listees (with tongue-in-cheek snobbery): "darling, the people we'd have been seen dead with!" That strikes me as Freddie's sense of humour too, right down to the ground.

[@frostyone1967]

Great work - keep it up,and 97,000 subs too!

[@burtrangle3546]

Your channel is immaculate. I would love your reaction to, The Kinks ( mid period), Pentangle, Dukes of Stratosfear aka XTC, Genesis (Peter Gabriel era), the Left Banke, The Stranglers ( '77- '90), Mott the Hoople, and perhaps the Lionheart LP by Kate Bush. Thank you so much as I have internalized the sonics rather than the form, of many great songs.

[@J0hnC0ltrane]

Brain May is a killer guitarist/genius.

[@alexmctear5420]

This song is a pastiche of early British music hall, rather than vaudeville, although I am surprised that Freddie was familiar with it as he was brought up in Zanzibar and then educated in India at an English school, It does show the wide musical knowledge he exposed himself to, I as an ninety year old just caught the tail end of this type of music.

[@antiqueinsider]

Some references that are being evoked here: "Sunday in the park with George" (Serat) by SONDHEIM as well as Tiny Tim "Tiptoe through the Tulips" and Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band! "Jollity Farm" (Viv Stanshall). finally this is a carefully placed lollipop next to some real meat (in the style of an opera!)

[@attichatchsound-bobkowal5328]

I interpreted " ordinary guy" as ironic. An aristocrat professing they're like plain folk- but having no idea what that's like.

[@Pugwash.]

I don't think I've ever heard that track without immediately hearing "I'm in love with my car" afterwards.