TALON'S TAKE:
We Will Rock YouWritten by: Brian May
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
Brian May - guitar, backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
John Deacon - handclaps, footstomps
Roger Taylor - backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
- If you look above you see that there are actually no drums or bass on the song. It is all handclaps and footstomps, Freddie's vocals, and then the guitar solo!
- Written with audience participation in mind, it became one of the most iconic songs in history.
- Issued as a double A-Side single with
We Are The Champions in the US where it hit #4, and also Canada, France, and Italy. In the UK it was actually the B-Side to
We Are The Champions- Played live at every Queen concert since it entered the setlist, sometimes twice when they decided to do the fast version and the slow version. Brian and Roger both also played it on their solo tours and they often played it with friends.
QUOTES:
- "Everybody thinks that’s drums, but it’s not. It’s feet. We sat on a piano and used our feet on an old drum podium. It’s rather hard to explain in words what we did, but what you hear isn’t drums. We must have recorded it, I don’t know, fifteen times or so. We put all sorts of different repeats on it to make it sound big. There’s a catch though. When we do ‘Rock You’ live, I have to do it with drums, so everything is slightly delayed. Everything is to suit the song. To have just one way of working would result in the inability to change or adapt. A good drummer must be flexible. It’s imperative.” – Roger Taylor – Modern Drummer - 1984
- "'We Will Rock You' was a response to a particular phase in Queen's career, when the audience was becoming a bigger part of the show than we were. They would sing all the songs. And in a place like Birmingham, they'd be so vociferous that we'd have to stop the show and let them sing to us. So, both Freddie and I thought it would be an interesting experiment to write a song with audience participation specifically in mind. My feeling was that everyone can stamp and clap and sing a simple motif, so 'We Will Rock You' was based on that. We recorded it at [Basing Street] Wessex, which is an old converted church that has a natural good sound to it. There are no drums on the track. It's just us clapping and stamping on boards, overdubbed many times over with many primitive delay machines. A bit of singing, a bit of guitar playing, and that's it. The amazing thing is to go to football [soccer] matches or sports events in general and hear people do it. It's very gratifying to find that it has become part of folklore, sort of. I'll die happy because of that." - Brian May - Guitar World 1992
- "At concerts, I discovered people tend to do three claps, rather than two stamps and a clap. The amazing thing is to go to football matches, or sports events in general, and to hear people do it. It’s very gratifying to find that it has become part of folklore, sort of. I’ll die happy because of htat.” – Brian May – Guitar World - 1993
- "It came very quickly. It was after an experience we had with an audience. It was fairly early on in our history. We used to like people to sit and damn well listen to the songs, you know. We weren’t a dnace band or a sing along group. Then suddenly, people would sing everything. In the beginning we thought ‘Oh god, what are we going to do about this It’s annoying!’ After a little while, we realized that that was how people felt and it kind of felt good if you actually conditioned yourself that way. One evening we finished a concert and we went off. It was actually in Birmingham, in England. And the audience sang to us a kind of football song or whatever, you know. It was a very moving experience. Freddie and I looked at each other and thought ‘Something important has just happened here, and we should embrace it rather than fight it.’ We both went away and started writing with the idea that we would involve the audience deliberately. And Freddie wrote ‘We Are The Champions’ and I wrote ‘We Will Rock You’. I think I woke up about three in the morning and I heard the initial beat in my head and I thought, ‘That’s what an audience could do. They could sing something along to it, something that was a kind of uniting feeling.’ That’s what happened. We did it very quickly in the studio. Roger thought it was a joke because there was no drums on it.” – Brian May – Undercover – 1998
ALTERNATIVE RELEASED VERSIONS
1991 HOLLYWOOD REMIX RUINED BY RICK RUBIN1991 HOLLYWOOD REMIX1991 RUINED BY RICK RUBIN 12"BIG BEAT ACAPELLARUINED INSTRUMENTALZULU SCRATCH ACAPELLAEFFECTS A CAPELLAEFFECTS INSTRUMENTALCLAP ACAPELLARUBIN CD EDIT- ESSENTIAL listening at least the first one and once. The others I couldn't find on YT and are just derivatives of the initial remix.
- Released on the 1991 Hollywood remaster of
News Of The World- Famous producer Rick Rubin dubbed it Ruined by Rick Rubin. It is a dancier remix with additional instrumentation by Chad Smith and Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
QUEEN + FIVE VERSIONQUEEN + 5IVEQUEEN + FIVE RADIO EDITQUEEN + FIVE SINGLE VERSION- NOT essential listening. Brian and Roger teamed up with boyband Five (5ive). Not their finest hour and pretty much unanimously rejected by hardcore fans.
QUEEN + JOHN FARNHAM VERSIONQUEEN + JOHN FARNHAM- ESSENTIAL listening.
- John Farnham, an Australian singer best known for his song
You're The Voice, recorded a version with Brian and Roger. It seems they used the same stomps and claps and possibly even the original backing vocals but they rearranged the song completely...and this may be blasphemy but this is my favorite arrangement of the track! Luckily I have a live version with Brian on vocals - not that John is bad, but I like keeping it in the Queen family. The song does two verses before guitar solo and then does the third verse with more instrumentation and it just flat out rocks.
QUEEN + PINK/BEYONCE/BRITNEY SPEARS VERSION- INTERESTING.
- Done for a Pepsi commercial, Pink definitely fits the song best and there is a quick glimpse of Brian and Roger in the audience.
QUEEN + VON LICHTENQUEEN + VON LICHTEN- A mashup in 2012 with Von Lichten who composed the theme for the NFL on CBS - this will feature on CBS football games
- Brian added new symphonic guitars to the track
UNRELEASED VERSIONS:
BBC SESSION #6- ESSENTIAL listening.
- It has the band doing a part of the slow version and then kicks it into the fast version - the only studio version of the fast version.
ACETATE VERSION- NOT ESSENTIAL listening.
- I could not find a YT but there isn't much difference.
OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:
LIVE KILLERS FAST VERSIONLIVE KILLERS FASTLIVE KILLERS SLOW VERSIONLIVE KILLERS SLOW- Audio Only
ROCK MONTREAL FAST VERSIONROCK MONTREAL FASTROCK MONTREAL SLOW VERSIONROCK MONTREAL SLOW- Great versions both.
ON FIRE AT THE BOWL FAST VERSIONMILTON KEYNES FASTON FIRE AT THE BOWL SLOW VERSION- Complete with sombrero or pirate hat...not sure which
LIVE MAGIC VERSION- Could not find a YT Version - nothing really different)
LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM 1st DAY VERSIONWEMBLEY 1LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM 2nd DAY VERSIONWEMBLEY 2HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY VERSION- Another 1986 version!
QUEEN + AXL ROSE - FREDDIE MERCURY TRIBUTEQUEEN + AXL ROSE - FREDDIE TRIBUTE- An interesting version. Brian liked it supposedly.
BRIAN MAY - LIVE AT BRIXTON ACADEMY- Brian's version does a slow version into the fast version much like the old BBC version.
ROGER TAYLOR - LIVE AT CYBERBARN- An awesome rock/rap version that RT did as a different arrangement.
QUEEN + WE WILL ROCK YOU CAST - PARTY AT THE PALACE 2002 PARTY AT THE PALACE- Brian and Roger at the Queen's Golden Jubilee - the first year of the
We Will Rock You Musical. The cast join the band to back them up for this track.
QUEEN + ANASTASIA + AMANONDO WOMEN UNITE - 46664 - 200346664 CONCERT- From the 46664 Concert in South Africa that Queen and Dave Stewart organized with Nelson Mandela to fight AIDS in Africa. It's a lively version for certain.
QPR - RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS VERSIONNO YT VID
QPR - LIVE IN UKRAINE- Paul definitely sings it bluesier with a "QUEEN WILL ROCK YOUOOUUO". I actually dig the way he takes on the track.
UNRELEASED LIVE VERSIONS- I won't bother with any Queen with Freddie versions as there were enough official.
ROGER TAYLOR LIVE IN 1994ROGER LIVE IN 1994- ESSENETIAL listening
- A double drum version.
- Roger's more hardcore live version.
QUEEN + FIVE - 2000 BRITS AWARDSTHE BRITS 2000- Despite not liking the collaboration this was kind of cool. Five mimed and then at the end the stage opened up for Brian and Roger to come out and play.
QUEEN INDUCTED INTO ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME VERSION- Excellent version with Brian and Roger sharing verses!
QUEEN INTO SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME VERSION- The band does the John Farnham version with Brian taking vocals!
QPR + FOO FIGHTERS - VH1 ROCK HONORS - 2006- THREE drummers! Dave Grohl/Taylor Hawkins/Roger Taylor. Awesome version.
BRIAN MAY + KERRY ELLIS - PROMS IN THE PARK - 2010PROMS IN THE PARK- This includes
Anthems and
We Are The Champions with
WWRY in the middle. Couldn't find a separate one.
QUEEN + TOM JONES/TOM CHAPLIN/PHIL COLLINS - PRINCES TRUST 2010PRINCES TRUST- Interesting version - not sure it's essential but it's fun.
BRIAN MAY + MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - READING 2011READING FESTIVAL- Gerard Way is a huge Queen fan. Brian Fucking May indeed!
BRIAN MAY + TANGERINE DREAM - TENERIFE 2011STARMUS FESTIVAL- Interesting experimental gig for Brian.
BRIAN MAY + DAPPY - WE WILL ROCK YOU RADIOBRIAN + DAPPY- Brian recorded with Dappy who is big in the UK. They jammed out for a radio broadcast. It's...um...interesting....not very popular amongst fans.
QAL KIEV FAST VERSIONQAL LONDON DAY 3 SLOW VERSIONQAL FASTQAL SLOW- I enjoy Adam's versions but I have to say he's even campier in these performances than Freddie even!
It's a bit more theatrical than I like for the song about Rocking people but it does rock...just in a different way.
PERSONAL NOTES:
- What can I possibly say about the song. People can get sick of it but it is simply an iconic song that will never die. I personally have one more YouTube if you can suffer it. It is a remix that I made personally throwing together some parts of the live, Farnham, and Freddie versions!
TALON REMIXWe Are The ChampionsWritten by: Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, piano
Brian May - guitar
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums
- Little known fact nowadays, this was actually the single in the UK, not
We Will Rock You. It hit #2 in the UK (and with
We Will Rock You as a Double A-Side it hit #4 in the US. Reissued as a single in 1992 in the US and hit #52. It also hit #11 in Australia, #12 in Austria, #2 in the Dutch charts, #13 in Germany, #3 in Ireland, #6 in Norway, and #14 in Sweden,.
- This was Freddie's response to Brian's
We Will Rock You in terms of writing a song designed for audience participation.
- In 2011, a team of scientists determined that
We Are The Champions is the catchiest song of all time. Seriously. Read more here:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043089/Queens-We-Are-The-Champions-voted-catchiest-pop-song-time--scientists.html- After a few try outs in the last song before the encore placing, it soon slipped into the final Queen song of the concert and has remained there ever since!
QUOTES:
- "I was thinking about football when I wrote it. I wanted a participation song, something the fans could latch on to. It was aimed for the masses. I thought we’d see how they took it. It worked a treat. When we performed it at a private concert in London, the fans actually broke into a football chant between numbers. Of course I’ve given it more theatrical subtlety than an ordinary football chant. You know me.” – Freddie Mercury – Circus – 1978.
- "I certainly wasn’t thinking of the press when I wrote it. I never think about the British music press these days…I supposed it could also be construed as my version of ‘I Did It My Way’: we have made it, and it certainly wasn’t easy. No bed of roses as the song says. And it’s still not easy.” – Freddie Mercury – Circus – 1978
- "You know, songs aren’t always about what the words say. Messages in songs can appear different. I always see that as the difference between prose and poetry. Prose can mean exactly what it says, while poetry can mean the opposite. That goes for this song. Freddie’s stuff is often tongue-in-cheek anyway as you know. This song is very theatrical. Freddie is very close to his art. You could say he’s married to his music, whether it’s ‘I Did It My Way’ or his ‘ There’s No Business Like Show Business’. I must say, when he first played it for us in the studio, we all fell on the floor with laughter. So many of the people in the press hate us because we’ve sidestepped them and got where we have without them. But there’s no way the song says anything against our audiences. When the song says ‘we’, it means us and the fans. When we did that special concert, the fans were wonderful. They understood it so well. I know it sounds corny, but it brought tears to our eyes.” – Brian May – Circus – 1978
ALTERNATIVE RELEASED VERSIONS:
TOP OF THE POPS VERSION- Nothing different except added audience noise so I didn't bother with a YT video.
RICK RUBIN REMIXRICK RUBIN REMIX- NOT essential listening.
- Yup, Rick did this one too...Same fashion.
GEORGE BUSH REMIX- I couldn't find a YT video. Basically it was the song with interspersed parts of George Bush's victory speech after liberating Kuwait in 1992. It was sent to the US Armed Forces overseas as a promo.
BRIAN MAY + HANK MARVIN VERSIONBRIAN + HANK MARVIN- NOT essential but nice.
- Hank Marvin is one of Brian's guitar heroes. He played with The Shadows and Hank decided to do an instrumental cover of
We Are The Champions and asked Brian to help him out. The result is not bad...Brian adds a lot to the second verse and beyond so get past the first verse and it is better!
QUEEN + ROBBIE WILLIAMS VERSION- ESSENTIAL listening.
- This was on the soundtrack to
A Knight's Tale (THIS is not a live performance - the video was fanmade)
- Long considered a collaboration bound to happen, Brian and Roger finally got together with Robbie to re-record this track. The result is certainly worth listening to. Brian adds an extra solo at the end that is unique and quite awesome!
- Reportedly John Deacon was not impressed. Supposedly he didn't realize he was talking to a reporter when he said something to the effect of:
He did supposedly patch things up with Brian and Roger afterwards.
- Supposedly the original idea was to change the song completely and again supposedly a demo exists of it in which it was done acoustically (at least somewhat) and was quite different but the soundtrack people wanted something much closer to the original.
UNRELEASED VERSION
1985 HIGHLANDER EXPERIMENT- There is no YT video and it wasn't worth uploading the demo I have as it is only 19 seconds long. It is actually not very good and I'm glad it was not actually used for the
Highlander film. It just had a guitar playing over a very 80s keyboard.
INTERESTING COVER VERSION:
GAVIN DEGRAWGAVIN DEGRAW COVER- A very bluesy take. I'm a big fan of Gavin.
OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:
LIVE KILLERS VERSIONLIVE KILLERS- Great version
ROCK MONTREAL VERSIONROCK MONTREAL- Powerful version
ON FIRE AT THE BOWL VERSIONLIVE AT WEMBLEY DAY 1WEMBLEY 1LIVE AT WEMBLEY DAY 2WEMBLEY 2HUNGARIAN RHAPSODYHUNGARIAN RHAPSODY- Another final tour version
QUEEN + LIZA MINELLI + CAST - FREDDIE TRIBUTE VERSIONQUEEN + LIZA - FREDDIE TRIBUTE- One of Freddie's heroes! And the whole cast up there is just fun.
QUEEN + WILL YOUNG - QUEEN'S JUBILEE 2002QUEEN + WILL YOUNG- Queen's first run with a reality tv winner..UK Pop Idol Will Young. Um. They did much better later on.
QUEEN + ANASTACIA + CAST -46664 VERSION- Another big cast this time with Bono and Beyonce in the background. Just awesome.
QPR - RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONSNO YT VID
QPR - LIVE IN UKRAINE- Also includes
WWRY- Paul's bluesy voice does this song very well and while not as theatrical, is still as together!
UNRELEASED LIVE PERFORMANCES:
QUEEN + TRIJNTJE OOSTERHUIS - QUEEN'S DAYQUEEN + TRIJNTE OOSTERHUIS- Gets a little cut off but the lass ain't half bad! She's a Dutch star and this was Amsterdam's Queen's Day (not OUR Queen
)
QUEEN + ZUCCHERO - PAVORATTI & FRIENDS- Zucchero is an Italian star and a longtime friend of Brian. You'll see him again. Italian is his native language so he sings with an accent but he's got a very powerful growl to him and complete respect for Queen's material!
QUEEN + ZEMFIRA - MTV RUSSIA AWARDSQUEEN + ZEMFIRA- The same Zemfira who joined QAL in Moscow this year. This is the first and only other time they've collaborated.
QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT & KRIS ALLEN - AMERICAN IDOL- The moment where it truly began for QAL.
BRIAN MAY + KERRY ELLIS - PROMS IN THE PARKPROMS IN THE PARK- Again same vid as before so it also includes
Anthem and
WWRYQUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT - KIEVQAL KIEV- This is a song that is right up Adam's alley, so positive, theatrical, and awesome. I do love Adam doing this one. A little more straight forward than Freddie who always had a bit more of a mischievous twinkle in his eye when he sang it but still a worthy performance!
PERSONAL NOTES:
- One of Freddie's greatest triumphs. Iconic song that just screams to be sung at the end of every concert - full of positivity and just all out love for everyone to join together. I love it...it's definitely got a little cheese factor but damn...
CHANCES:
WE WILL ROCK YOU/WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS.....100% - The only question is if they do the fast version of WWRY as well...
. Please
. Please
AKOM is also another one that could EASILY be played...
for us!
Let's celebrate the music together!