| Stelios 18.05.2014 08:21 |
This one seems to have a bad reputation among Queen fans. A somewhat easy, synth based song with no soul. Personally i like it. It boosts my adrenaline, i find it very atmospheric and innovative for 80's trends, Freddie's performance is top-notch and ALSO makes driving while listening it loud quite a dangerous task ! Now 2 questions: 1) Do we know anything about Joan Armatrading's involvement with the song? ( from wiki: "Don't Lose Your Head" was composed by Taylor and features Joan Armatrading in a vocal cameo) 2) Is there any subtance in this rumor i found on you tube? "the song is about John Deacon being pulled over one night, being absolutely and completely drunk. This is where the song originated from etc. ... John was going through a tough period in his private life back then in 1985 / 1986 and was very "thirsty" for most of the time...... even during the Magic Tour." PS. An intrumental cover that i think does the song some justice :Queen - Don't Lose Your Head - Full HD Guitar Cover 1080p ( check out his channel. He does a very good guitar work in Queen tracks) Overall does anyone like the song or the or even the instumental version of it, A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling? |
| Holly2003 18.05.2014 08:34 |
It's awful. The lyrics are probably the worst I've heard from Roger and that's saying something! Perhaps in the whole Queen catalogue only The Call has worse lyrics. It also bears a resemblence to a much better song, Fred's solo effort, Love Kills, so I don't know why one is good and one so terrible, |
| Riku M 18.05.2014 09:41 |
Great melody and rythm with awesome vocals from Freddie. Sure, the lyrics aren't great but how many listens to queen because of the lyrics? |
| Djdownsy 18.05.2014 10:10 |
A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling is a decent rendition of the melody, but I personally think that DLYH is the worst song in Queen's entire catalogue, and there's a few contenders up there!! |
| The Real Wizard 18.05.2014 10:25 |
Whatever you do, don't listen to Queen II and then expect anyone to say this song is good. When the well is dry, it's dry.. |
| inu-liger 18.05.2014 13:09 |
Djdownsy wrote: A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling is a decent rendition of the melodyIndeed, one of the most interesting b-sides Queen ever put out. Has a bit of a mid 80's Genesis feel to it. Does anyone know who played what on that version, or if all 4 even played on it for that matter? |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 18.05.2014 15:11 |
Stelios, I absolutely love Don't Lose Your Head. I think it is proof, alongside Love Kills, that Queen were also a killer synth pop band when they wanted to. And yes, I can prove it is dangerous driving to it. Thank God me and my 1980s friend did not get hurt. Our car stopped offroad very few inches from two trees, one at each side of the car. Strangely enough, his name is Roger and I can tell you that is not a common name in Brazil, where we live. @Bob: of course I prefer Queen II. :) Cheers, Ogre- |
| FreddieFor3ver 18.05.2014 15:43 |
Awesome song! |
| brENsKi 18.05.2014 16:37 |
this thread is living proof of the diversity of opinion. i've never considered DLYH - musically and lyrically - anything more than dog dirt. there's really no accounting for taste |
| master marathon runner 18.05.2014 16:43 |
Love it. - superba cheese! |
| Stelios 18.05.2014 16:59 |
brENsKi wrote: this thread is living proof of the diversity of opinion. i've never considered DLYH - musically and lyrically - anything more than dog dirt. there's really no accounting for taste I also believe that musically and lyrically is not that special. Its in the ambience this track creates were it holds its power. Production-wise is also powerfull. And Freddie as always treats it, for what it is, with great artistry. |
| Stelios 18.05.2014 17:04 |
By the way i just realised that it feature the lyrics " Don't drink and drive my car, Don't get breathalised " wich is tottaly irrelevant to its Highlander concept. So that rumor i stated in the first post about Deacon, may be true. |
| RafaelS 18.05.2014 17:39 |
It's a filler. |
| Queenfansunite 18.05.2014 19:13 |
I like the song. Great lyric also, Remember love conquers.. Remember , love walks through walls. Jesus walked through walls. After his resurrection! |
| ITSM 18.05.2014 20:16 |
I like the song, it took me some years, though. Especially the "Don't drink and drive..."-bit. Freddie sings so wonderful - maybe his best period vocally. The song is also different from the other Queen songs, which I like. I don't like the A Kind of Magic album very much, but this song is one of the high lights for me, along with Pain is so close to Pleasure (but they are excused since it's a sound track). |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 18.05.2014 21:24 |
RafaelSomma, I would not say it was a filler. It would be very strange that they decided to release two versions of a filler (DLYH and ADRRFMD). I guess it is easier to understand the song in context, since it sounded up to date in 1986, but could sound very dated for younger years who did not live that period. Synth pop, as opposed to hard rock, did not age that well in the public's eye. Cheers, Ogre- |
| MadTheSwine73 20.05.2014 01:34 |
Holly2003 wrote: It's awful. The lyrics are probably the worst I've heard from Roger and that's saying something! Perhaps in the whole Queen catalogue only The Call has worse lyrics. It also bears a resemblence to a much better song, Fred's solo effort, Love Kills, so I don't know why one is good and one so terrible,At least The Call has great instrumentation. Don't Lose Your Head lacks both, really. Probably their worst song. One of the few I skip over when listening. |
| inu-liger 20.05.2014 03:01 |
Nobody wants to take a crack at answering my question from earlier? |
| Stelios 20.05.2014 03:18 |
inu-liger wrote: Nobody wants to take a crack at answering my question from earlier?Strangely there is not info on the net about the song. Strange becouse it even features a cameo from another singer but all seem to went under the radar so far. My guess is Roger did all the synth/bass/drums programming. Perhaps May added some guitar lines becouse there is not a real solo in the song. * also at 3:47 these is an audioable editing "crack". |
| inu-liger 20.05.2014 04:50 |
My question was actually to do with the instrumental spinoff b-side "A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling" but thanks anyways Stelios :) |
| inu-liger 20.05.2014 04:51 |
Stelios wrote: * also at 3:47 these is an audioable editing "crack".That has always bugged me. Why has that never been fixed? |
| Holly2003 20.05.2014 08:48 |
Yeah I agree. The Call is a musically ambitious song with an epic quailty, but is let down by dreadful lyrics. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MadTheSwine73 wrote:Holly2003 wrote: It's awful. The lyrics are probably the worst I've heard from Roger and that's saying something! Perhaps in the whole Queen catalogue only The Call has worse lyrics. It also bears a resemblence to a much better song, Fred's solo effort, Love Kills, so I don't know why one is good and one so terrible,At least The Call has great instrumentation. Don't Lose Your Head lacks both, really. Probably their worst song. One of the few I skip over when listening. |
| KJ 20.05.2014 09:17 |
I like the song, it has some good parts and it is very 80's. Lyrics schmyrics, I like Mustapha as well. |
| thomasquinn 32989 20.05.2014 10:28 |
I appreciation some things about Don't Lose Your Head. For instance, after 4 minutes and 38 seconds, I *really* appreciate that it's over. Don't mind A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling, though. Don't love it either. |
| Saint Jiub 20.05.2014 19:49 |
I really like aDRRfMD, but am ambivalent about DLYH. aDRRfMD was the perfect accompaniment to The Kurgan's driving "skills". I was disappointed when aDRRfMD was not included on the bonus disk of the reissued A Kind of Magic CD. |
| Mike G 22.05.2014 00:53 |
Easily one of the worst Queen songs is Don't Lose Your Head...Magic has some good songs on it, but this is not one of them... |
| TomP63 22.05.2014 10:21 |
The worst Queen song, nah, in my humble opinion Don't Lose Your Head is by far better than, My Baby Does Me, Rain Must Fall, Cool Cat, Pain Is Close..... On Don't Lose Your Head things are happening, pounding drums, a great bass line, besides all that Freddie's vocal perfomance is great. |
| Holly2003 22.05.2014 10:33 |
TomP63 wrote: The worst Queen song, nah, in my humble opinion Don't Lose Your Head is by far better than, My Baby Does Me, Rain Must Fall, Cool Cat, Pain Is Close..... On Don't Lose Your Head things are happening, pounding drums, a great bass line, besides all that Freddie's vocal perfomance is great. I think on some of those songs Brian's guitar work saves them from being totally dreadful, but with DLYH his guitar contributes to the sum total of its crapness. |
| The King Of Rhye 22.05.2014 11:40 |
Holly2003 wrote:I totally agree with that.........about My Baby Does Me, anyway.....I always kinda dug that song, and there is some nice guitar...........I'd even say John's guitar work is a highlight of Cool Cat! (doesnt he play rhythm guitar on that?)TomP63 wrote: The worst Queen song, nah, in my humble opinion Don't Lose Your Head is by far better than, My Baby Does Me, Rain Must Fall, Cool Cat, Pain Is Close..... On Don't Lose Your Head things are happening, pounding drums, a great bass line, besides all that Freddie's vocal perfomance is great.I think on some of those songs Brian's guitar work saves them from being totally dreadful, but with DLYH his guitar contributes to the sum total of its crapness. |
| kosimodo 22.05.2014 13:17 |
Is joan ever interviewed about the song? Wonder how and why... She is one of the few to be on a queen record. |
| Mr.QueenFan 22.05.2014 18:32 |
I like the song, but i really love the AKOM album from start to finish. This song is what it is, a great pop song with no pretentions to be something else.
Stelios wrote: By the way i just realised that it feature the lyrics " Don't drink and drive my car, Don't get breathalised " wich is tottaly irrelevant to its Highlander concept. So that rumor i stated in the first post about Deacon, may be true.Some people say that this was a private joke to John Deacon because he was pulled over by the police and got breathalised, but i don't know if this was the original inspiration behing the song. |
| Vali 23.05.2014 03:07 |
I love it because it's so 80's, and can't count the quantity of 80's synth driven tunes from other bands besides Queen that I love so much as well ! Guys, in case you wanna give the track another (fresh!) try, pls head over to the fan mixes section and check what the brilliant Matt is doing with his HD album revisions. He's currently working on AKOM and a few days ago posted his take on DLYH. To me, it sounds better than ever! http://www.queenconcerts.com/queenzone/1379104.html |
| TomP63 23.05.2014 08:06 |
Holly, you're right the guitar solo in Rain Must Full is by far the only exciting bit, pity the fade out starts so soon. But it is a bit of a long shot to like a Queen track just because Brian's solo. Remember it is my view on a Queen song, or for that matter Queen songs, in my believe Rain Must Fall, Pain is So Close, Cool Cat are a 'bit' below the Queen standards. But that's the thing with music, especially Queen music. Tracks I don't care that much, about can be a highlight for somebody else, but that is another and differnt topic. Tom |
| Nathan H 20.03.2019 08:08 |
Joan Armatrading once said this about her guest vocals on Don't Lose Your Head: "I was in the Townhouse studio making The Key album and Queen were in the next studio to me, and Roger Taylor came over and asked me if I would just walk over to his studio and say these words on the song, which I did, and then after I'd finished, the next thing I knew was Roger walking in with a MASSIVE bunch of flowers!" |
| Nathan H 20.03.2019 08:17 |
MusicFan15 wrote: Joan Armatrading once said this about her guest vocals on Don't Lose Your Head: "I was in the Townhouse studio making The Key album and Queen were in the next studio to me, and Roger Taylor came over and asked me if I would just walk over to his studio and say these words on the song, which I did, and then after I'd finished, the next thing I knew was Roger walking in with a MASSIVE bunch of flowers!"I just found this from another interview: "We were in the same studio at the townhouse and Roger Taylor just came and asked me if I’d come in and do it and I said 'yeah, sure', Freddie wasn’t there at the time but all the guys are really nice." |