QueenZone discussion #1355737
Lyrically, What Went Wrong For Freddie in the 80's?
| Supersonic_Man89 18.08.2013 04:44 |
Freddie had always stated he found lyrics difficult, however I really struggle to understand how somebody went from writing Bohemian Rhapsody to Stop All The fighting in 10 years? Including his solo work, his lyrics seemed to take a large dip in the 80's, becoming more simplified, commercial and uninteresting. They were nearly all centred around love and relationships, however so had most of Freddie's mid-seventies work, but back then were much more inventively written (Lily of the Valley, Killer Queen, The Millionaire Waltz, Somebody To Love etc.) Thankfully, Freddie had Roger Taylor in the band, so his poor lyrics didn't stick out so much but it seemed that Freddie just didn't have time for lyrics in the eighties. Thinking about it, he wanted to do a cover album in 87 (no lyrics needed to be written there), and brought in Tim Rice and Mike Moran to help with his second solo project (Which do have some lovely written words, but again it's difficult to say how much Freddie did) It wasn't until The Miracle and Innuendo, that I believe he started to become more creative with his lyrics and themes. Thoughts? |
| liam 18.08.2013 05:04 |
Lots of partying, lots of drugs and lots of sex. I think his interests were elsewhere, |
| Sebastian 18.08.2013 08:22 |
Freddie turned into dance music in the early 80's, and those songs aren't usually meant to be an existentialist analysis of your life, they're meant to be escapism. So instead of 'Serpent of the Nile, relieve me for a while, cast me from your spell, let me go', he was into 'see what I've got, I've got a hell of a lot' type of things. He did write some love lyrics when he felt like it, though, and some of them were quite nice. |
| drmurph 18.08.2013 08:48 |
What Liam said. In addition, as with almost all bands/musicians the quality of material deteriorates with age, level of comfort, etc. I think the only thing that kept (returned) Queen's output to a good quality was the emotional turmoil brought into their lives by various factors. |
| Heavenite 18.08.2013 09:13 |
If Innuendo is anything to go by, then that's definitey true! It is well regarded as a return to form for the band, that had been far more patchy in the 80's than they were in the 70's. They still wrote some great tracks in the 80's though IMO. |
| Heavenite 18.08.2013 09:15 |
Heavenite wrote: If Innuendo is anything to go by, then that's definitely true! It is well regarded as a return to form for the band, that had been far more patchy in the 80's than they ever were in the 70's. They still wrote some great tracks in the 80's in my opinion though. |
| Thistle 18.08.2013 10:06 |
Sebastian wrote: Freddie turned into dance music in the early 80's, and those songs aren't usually meant to be an existentialist analysis of your life, they're meant to be escapism. So instead of 'Serpent of the Nile, relieve me for a while, cast me from your spell, let me go', he was into 'see what I've got, I've got a hell of a lot' type of things. He did write some love lyrics when he felt like it, though, and some of them were quite nice.^This! It's not that Freddie wasn't capable, or couldn't be arsed, it was just a change in influence and direction. An interesting insight from the OP, though. On a different note - I had forgotten about Freddie's urge for a covers album. It would have been great to hear one, as "The Great Pretender" is just amazing :) |
| pestgrid 18.08.2013 13:23 |
Also as a young man Freddie found it more that he needed to prove to everyone how good he was by creating great music,he put all his efforts into songs back in the seventies,and as he became more relaxed in the music industry found the lyrical writing stage of creating a song quite meaningless...they could be any words that were filled in there,the music was still the passion,so really he just did put any words that would suit his frame of mind at the time up until The Miracle album,where he was very concious of what words went in,for obvious reasons....x |
| The Real Wizard 18.08.2013 14:17 |
Sebastian wrote: Freddie turned into dance music in the early 80's, and those songs aren't usually meant to be an existentialist analysis of your life, they're meant to be escapism. So instead of 'Serpent of the Nile, relieve me for a while, cast me from your spell, let me go', he was into 'see what I've got, I've got a hell of a lot' type of things. He did write some love lyrics when he felt like it, though, and some of them were quite nice.Well said. |
| brENsKi 18.08.2013 16:30 |
Roger & John were starting to flourish as writers - they were like Harrison (later on in the beatiles life) - being alllowed to have more input - songs like While My Guitar, Here Comes The Sun, Within You Without You, Taxman & Something were GH with the reins removed....Roger & John were much the same. and...more importantly - most long-standing bands' lyrics descended into sh*t during "that" decade. Bands like Genesis, Yes and The Who were creating lyrical turds like "If you're wrapping up the world - Cos you've taken someone else's girl, - When they turn on the pillow, - Even when they answer the telephone" "Here is my heart - Waiting for you - Here is my soul - I eat at chez nous" and "Athena, my heart felt like a shattered glass in an acid bath - It felt like one of those flattened ants you find on a crazy path I'd have topped myself to give her time she didn't need to ask - Was I a suicidal psychopath?" see? freddie wasn't an exception...he was obeying the 80's rules for crappy lyrics |
| matt z 18.08.2013 19:58 |
She's just a girl just a girl She's just a girl JUST a girl She's just a girl. Yeah. Pete's lyrics were bunk for the most part of that FINAL WHO ALBUM *(endless wire doesn't count) I found his book HORSES NECK unreadable. But then again. ... who knows if I pick it back of my shelf it'll make some sense or be interesting. But in fairness. ... he saved the bulk of his heart eighties writing for his Solo work. EMPTY GLASS is witty and heartfelt ALL THE BEST COWBOYS HAVE CHINESE EYES had its share of reminiscence too.. probably most of the v tracks were written before the era |
| brENsKi 19.08.2013 03:03 |
yes, i too like his solo albums. but my point was that lyrical content (for rock bands) went to ratshit during the 80s. even purple joined in the crass-fest " The log was in my pocket - When Lucy met the Rockett - And she never knew the reason why" |
| AssDudeRule 30.08.2013 22:05 |
...Money... lots of Money. |
| aion 04.09.2013 15:47 |
He became lazy when the band reached great success... it's not that he wasn't able anymore, but he just couldn't be bothered to go through the trouble and work hard on the lyrics when he was swimming in money and drugs and easy life. By comparison in the early 70s he was young and hungry and had everything to prove. |
| AssDudeRule 04.09.2013 21:26 |
Further to this....... Why did Freddie stop painting his nails? He grew up, he said it him self. Lyrically what happened? He grew up. |
| Snackpot 05.09.2013 01:19 |
As they became more an 80s-mold rock band songs about love or pining for it didn't really fit. |
| ITSM 05.09.2013 03:26 |
aion wrote: He became lazy when the band reached great success... it's not that he wasn't able anymore, but he just couldn't be bothered to go through the trouble and work hard on the lyrics when he was swimming in money and drugs and easy life. By comparison in the early 70s he was young and hungry and had everything to prove.I think so too. Also, as someone said, disco-music doesn't "need" great lyrics. |
| Supersonic_Man89 05.09.2013 08:37 |
[quote] Why did Freddie stop painting his nails? He grew up, he said it him self. Lyrically what happened? He grew up. [/quote] I don't think writing shitty lyrics constitutes growing up, in fact i think it's the opposite. |
| DLCVinnuendo 05.09.2013 08:49 |
well, in the 80's, he wrote it's a hard life, life is real, good part of the song the miracle, the album barcelona, the 70's was his great moment, but the 80's are good moments too |
| The Real Wizard 05.09.2013 11:45 |
I'd say his lifestyle of excess is the main (only?) reason. Touring with the band was one thing, but Mercury didn't stop when the tour stopped. By 1978 it all got to his head and he was changing dramatically. Brian May even says in retrospect that they saw the dangers of where Freddie was going in his lyrics to Don't Stop Me Now. Read the March 2005 issue of Uncut if you want to read the tour stories. Zeppelin paved the way, the Queen out-partied them tenfold if half of the stories are true. And if 1/4 of the stories are true, it's astounding that Mercury lived until 1991 as he could've easily been infected in the 70s. His work greatly suffered in the 80s. Only he can know if he was truly happy with his work, and if comments like "my music is disposable" is something he truly believed. |
| shannaschaffer 05.09.2013 11:55 |
Bob, do you have a copy of the article(s) you could share? |
| Poppingjay 11.09.2013 19:38 |
I think he struggled in the 70s with his sexuality and that caused a lot of emotional turmoil, which then became heartfelt lyrics. Once he started to become more comfortable with himself, some of that that heartache/inner struggle subsided and that inspiration may not have been there. |
| tomchristie22 11.09.2013 21:33 |
Poppingjay wrote: I think he struggled in the 70s with his sexuality and that caused a lot of emotional turmoil, which then became heartfelt lyrics. Once he started to become more comfortable with himself, some of that that heartache/inner struggle subsided and that inspiration may not have been there.This seems likely, especially considering his lyrics generally became more thoughtful again towards the end of his life. |
| QueenTwo 12.09.2013 08:37 |
Hi all, I would agree with a lot of whats been said above Though I wouldn't say it was because he got lazy I'd say it's because it was the 80's! - what I mean is for me anyhow the 80's is probably the worst decade ever for serious music I truly feel it was the video invasion that took over, - ALL the great artists as well as the rest thought more about making stupid trendy video's in the 80's in front of the music - and to me and a lot of other folk, the music suffered, video's took over and the music became secondry. All the bands done it, Queen, Bowie The Police etc etc....I'm first to admit I used to enjoy the MTV burst and used to watch all sorts of music video's but looking back now most are crap. - even Queen ones i'm sorry to say...My thoughts anyway....But there are still classics - Love me like theres no tomorrow, Barcelona!!! |
| TenamentFunster 14.09.2013 15:29 |
I always thought that Under Pressure was a good example of this.Ba da de ba de do.It seemed to me originally when first hearing the song that Freddie just left in a kind of scat phrasing from early recording rather than writing some actual lyrics.But what do I know the song was huge,and who knows who wrote what. I of course assumed that Bowie wrote the lyrics that he sung and Freddie likewise.It was a collaboration after all.It would be interesting to know more about it. |