| Holly2003 29.04.2009 14:23 |
I have always assumed it's about the pressures of going into the studio and having to perform i.e. write, play and compose to meet a deadline. However, having a "dragon on your back" and "chasing the dragon" are also druggie terms. Some of the lyrics support this view e.g. "out of my head" is English slang for being high (or perhaps crazy). On the other hand, references to "stack" and Mack" suggest the studio/music interpretation. What do you think? DRAGON ATTACK - LYRICS Take me to the room where the reds all red Take me out of my head is what I said yeah Hey take me to the room where the greens all green And from what Ive seen its hot its mean -gonna use my stack -its gotta be mack -gonna get me on the track -got a dragon on my back Take me to the room where the beats all round Gonna eat that sound - (yeah yeah yeah!) Take me to the room where the blacks all white And the whites all black take me back to the shack -she dont take no prisoners -gonna give me the business -got a dragon on my back -its a dragon attack Get down - I said so Hey hey - all right Shes low down -she dont take no prisoners Go down -gonna give me the business No time -yeah chained to the rack! Show time -got a dragon on my back Show down -go find another customer Slow down -i gotta make my way |
| mickyparise 29.04.2009 15:45 |
Here's some comments about Dragon Attack, not mine, btw ... lol link |
| mickyparise 29.04.2009 15:45 |
Here's some comments about Dragon Attack, not mine, btw ... lol link |
| Legy 29.04.2009 15:53 |
I always thought it was about working with Mack, their producer for The Game. From what I've read, their working relationship didn't get off on the right foot. But they later worked with him on several occasions, even on solo projects. |
| Micrówave 29.04.2009 18:14 |
The dragon is EMI/Elektra |
| Yara 29.04.2009 19:46 |
Hi, Holly2003. How are you? I hope you're doing fine. Thanks for creating this topic. :-) What a great thread. This is one of my all-time favorite Queen songs and, in my humble opinion, Brian May's best tune after "39 and "It's Late". I always thought about the lyrics as being both, in fact: I do feel there are references to drug-related effects and slangs, but I think they work in the song as a metaphor for the compulsion for doing and experiencing music and responding to the challenge of creating new, different sounds. The song seems to play deliberately with the notion of doing and selling music as being similar in some figurative way to being addicted to drugs and having to both overcome the addiction and sell it. The "Dragon on my back" is probably a metaphor to the challenge of keeping Queen's identity as a band while exploring new pathways to music and trying to reach - or pander to... - a different audience too as the whole pop music scene changes ("show down, go find another costumer"). It seems to me that "black is all white" and vice-versa is a reference to this new, funky sound that Queen was starting to explore. Funk was in U.K at the time, it seems, a synonim for "black" - I remember Freddie saying before introducing "Staying Power" in MK: "We gonna try some sounds in the funk, black category, whatever you call it - it doesn't mean we lost...". So I guess you are right on both accounts: the song plays with all these references to convey ultimately a message about the composer's experience in an ever-changing music business. That's just my reading, the question about lyrics is that it's all so subjective that many interpretations, or any, for that matter, are valid. Each one interprets it in his/her own way in the end and there's no way of telling whether it's wrong or right. I hope you're doing fine! Take care! Yara |
| Sheer Brass Neck 29.04.2009 21:08 |
Very interesting topic, and part of what makes music so powerful in that one person's take on a song is totally different, and in this case, many different views on what it's about. I always thought that the song had some relation to the Sugar Shack in Munich, where the band hung out while recording The Game. Freddie apparently was a regular there, and for some reason I always thought that this was Brian's introduction (he married young, wasn't a renowned party guy) to a scene he wasn't necessarily familiar with. Of course he was part of the legendary Queen parties in the past, but that's the imagery I had of this song. |
| thunderbolt 31742 29.04.2009 22:07 |
Puff the Magic Dragon on steroids. |
| mike hunt 01.05.2009 11:47 |
love the song, but I have no idea what it's about. I think it's one of those queen songs that have no meaning. |
| RohemianBapsody 01.05.2009 13:02 |
My first impression and ever lasting one until this thread was about visiting a house of ill repute. It must have been from the fact when they first played the song live all the lights were red |
| MmP 03.05.2009 13:58 |
In Brian's starlicks video he tells that he did the solo late in the night probably very drunk, that might also go for the lyrics. |
| pittrek 07.05.2009 03:37 |
I don't know why but I always thought it's about cocaine |
| john bodega 07.05.2009 03:43 |
What's it about? It's four letters and sounds like fades. |
| john bodega 07.05.2009 03:44 |
MmP wrote: In Brian's starlicks video he tells that he did the solo late in the night probably very drunk, that might also go for the lyrics.I thought that was "Put Out The Fire"? Being drunk on two songs like that ... woah! That's a lot of Guiness. |
| doxonrox 10.05.2009 14:17 |
Zebonka12 wrote:MmP wrote: In Brian's starlicks video he tells that he did the solo late in the night probably very drunk, that might also go for the lyrics.I thought that was "Put Out The Fire"? Being drunk on two songs like that ... woah! That's a lot of Guiness. It was Put Out the Fire - I think MmP got them confused. There is no meaning to the lyrics of that song. They rhyme and and have rhythm - which sounds cool. That's it. |
| Ed226 28.09.2010 17:26 |
IMHO - I am gonna go with the drug/heroin interpretation. You pointed out the obvious dragon and "on my back" references. Maybe these other things are coincidental, but together they point to heroin and other drugs: Reds and Green- both a possible drug reference (Reds - common name for pills in the 70's (barbiturates or speed, I think) and Green, pot. "Take me out of my head" - obvious drug reference "Gonna use my stack" - 10 folds of heroin are called a "stack" by users and dealers. Could be a reference to using a stack of money to buy drugs, too. "Gonna get me on the track" - Track marks? The telltale marks/scars left behind by IV drug use. Could also be getting on the fast track to inebriation. "Beats all around, gonna eat that sound" - LSD/acid trip, anyone? Ozzy even says "Swallowing colours of the sounds I hear". Close enough to tripping in both cases. "She don't take no prisoners" - Cocaine is often referenced to as "girl" by speed-ballers, heroin as "boy". Death is the eventual outcome in both cases. No prisoners. "Got a dragon on my back, it's a dragon attack" - Two heroin terms twined together - Monkey on my back= A heroin addiction and as you stated, Chasing the "dragon" is smoking heroin. "Go find another customer" - Drug dealer... Hey, I don't see conspiracies in many things at all. Just not the way I am. All these little innuendos strung together kinda makes you think there may be something here. Or maybe I'm nuts. :P |
| Gregsynth 28.09.2010 17:32 |
It's about dragons! |
| rhyeking 28.09.2010 19:43 |
On the "In The Studio with Red Beard: The Game", Brian talked about the making of this song, which, in short, entailed taking the best parts of an in-studio jam and editing them together, then adding the finishing touches, which might have included the lyrics and Freddie's final vocal. I think some of the vocals might have been present from the original jam, probably in the form of random-sounding, made up on the spot lyrics. The band has been known to incorporate those vocals into the finished songs, such as on tracks like "Stealin'" and "Hang On In There", where listening to the demos, you can here they incorporated some of the vocals from the early stages of the so-called "Fiddley Jam". The "Stealin'" demo has all the vocals present, just re-editted down from 12 minutes, with some removed. All of that may mean nothing to "Dragon Attack", but it sounds to me that given that the song came out of a jam, Brian probably kept the non-sensical bits and may have even built off them. The references may be veiled comments on various shenanigins, but I don't think they're meant to be taken very seriously. I put this song in "Fat Bottomed Girls" territory, just an excuse to make some noise and have some fun. |
| Sheer Brass Neck 28.09.2010 22:27 |
As for the "gonna use my stack", never thought of heroin. Especially as a row of amps are referred to as a stack, and if "it's gotta be Mack", I'd assume Mack is going to help Brian use his stack of AC 30's to "get me on the (music) track. Or, to help him sell heroin to the Triad to finance the WWRY musical, one of the two. |
| bigV 29.09.2010 14:04 |
I thought it was about a drug overdose... V. |
| Wiley 29.09.2010 17:04 |
Gregsynth wrote: It's about dragons! --------------- Now THAT's a stretch! haha :) Funny how nobody pointed that out until many posts later. |
| iron eagle 06.10.2010 20:56 |
Kaedin would say its about dragons then say 'got to eat that sound yea yea yea' and shake his finger at you..... somone could ask the man... be sure to praise WWRY and SM and just maybe..... *LOL* |
| Holly2003 07.10.2010 13:53 |
You are all wrong. Dragon Attack is about 4:18. |
| Ed226 08.10.2010 01:47 |
Holly2003 wrote: You are all wrong. Dragon Attack is about 4:18. LOL! It only took me about 5 minutes and 3 internet searches to figure that one out! Nice... |
| John S Stuart 23.10.2010 14:20 |
Drugs: Google chasing the dragon! |
| Scouseaphrenia 02.12.2014 17:36 |
I saw a clip once of queen behind the scenes playing an Atari 2600 and doubtless I'll be ridiculed for my nerdy madness but Ive thought for years that the dragon attack was atari's adventure game which had several rooms some red some green and some which were colour inverted white on black or black on white etc and of course there were dragons on the loose (dragon on my back). Also, to win you had to get back to your castle ("shack"?) to win. |
| Sue Dounim 02.12.2014 20:45 |
Honestly I've never thought too much about the lyrics for this one. I'm always too distracted by the badass bassplaying and Brian's shredding. |
| Martin Packer 03.12.2014 08:17 |
Basically Dragon Attack is saying "Bohemian Rhapsody is NOT about AIDS but I AM". :-) |
| matt z 03.12.2014 21:52 |
Really? An Atari 2600 game? That sounds like something to be researched and added to a wiki note. I always thought it was about music production, Gerry Stickells was name called in LMEY so why not Rhein...hardt? Hold? MACK be mentioned? Great discussion. At least nobody said it was a sequel to Ogre Battle |
| dysan 07.12.2014 05:55 |
Dragon Attack is the coolest Queen song title. |