someonewholikesadam 30.07.2014 23:17 |
So all of you Queen fans, what do the lyrics of Killer Queen mean? When I Googled it, it says it is about a high-classed call girl. I assumed it was about a flamboyant and fabulous gay man. Thoughts? Did the word "queen" have that meaning during that time in the UK? |
GERRYISADICK 30.07.2014 23:19 |
I think its like a high class women like royalty. |
BETA215 30.07.2014 23:30 |
To me is about a high-class prostitute (or something like that). |
GERRYISADICK 30.07.2014 23:32 |
Or a dominatrix |
winterspelt 31.07.2014 00:43 |
Freddie said something its about a high class prostitute. |
Nitroboy 31.07.2014 21:31 |
The lyrics are quite clear and definitive about the meaning of the song... |
GERRYISADICK 31.07.2014 21:36 |
So a hooker? |
someonewholikesadam 31.07.2014 22:24 |
Nitroboy wrote: The lyrics are quite clear and definitive about the meaning of the song...Maybe on the surface. I think the song is about a gay man. I found these two references: In the "gay" vernacular, a "killer queen" is a young gay man who preys on unsuspecting men, ... The music video for “Killer Queen” features the band performing on a colorful set with a spotlight focused on Mercury. Although it was filmed when Mercury presented an androgynous persona, he appeared much more feminine in this video than in other 70s Queen videos. He wears black nail polish, much jewelry, a feminine fur coat, and very deliberately styled long hair. His femininity is highlighted by the fact that his band mates appear in traditionally male clothing, with May and Deacon wearing suits, and Taylor wearing a dress shirt and a tie. Thus, they appear as suitors, with Mercury assuming the role of a high class “killer queen.” This suggests that the song?s subject could be a biological male similar to Mercury. Because the individual who served as the inspiration for the lyrics was never revealed, the “killer queen?s” gender remains a source of contention (Smith). Eric Hall, Queen?s promotion manager at the time, claimed that Mercury told him that the song was about him, and that he was a “killer” because the heterosexual Hall would never reciprocate Mercury?s affection. He defended his claim by adding that he used to keep expensive champagne in a fancy cabinet, and that his hairstyle reminded Mercury of Marie Antoinette?s. Moreover, he regarded Mercury?s androgynous appearance and the aspects of his performance in the video as an “audio-visual mating call” (“Freddie?s Loves”), highlighting his overtly feminine act as an expression of homosexual sentiments. |
antiden 01.08.2014 04:16 |
someonewholikesadam, you're sick |
thomasquinn 32989 01.08.2014 04:26 |
Sick, unable to understand the term "anachronism", unable to see that a music video in 1974 was utterly insignificant, and unable to distinguish between reality and wishful thinking. Also, unable to check facts. The term "killer queen" originated in the late 1960s, and referred to gay men who, despite the legal ban, were in the military. It was, and remains, a highly obscure term, and the odds that Freddie deliberately referenced this term are practically zero. |
Holly2003 01.08.2014 05:34 |
Copied from: link |
Vocal harmony 01.08.2014 10:29 |
Holly2003 wrote: Copied from: linkWell spotted. It always makes me laugh when someone writes a line like, he wore black nail polish and long hair and jewellery for the video. It just shows a lack of knowledge of what Freddie's image was like in those days, both from the person writing that article and the OP of this thread! |
someonewholikesadam 01.08.2014 16:08 |
In another article someone mentioned that of course Freddie wouldn't admit that KQ was about a gay man. But I am not saying it is and you can't say that it isn't. And Freddie may have had both meanings in mind when he wrote the lyrics. Many of you Queen fans are so black and white and seem to think your opinion is the only right one. I think Freddie would think you are all a bunch of stodgy, old fuddy-duddies. |
winterspelt 01.08.2014 19:51 |
Its no secret that lots of lyrics in the history of rock are crystal clear for the person who wrote the words but their word selection is kind of vague so other people may reflect their own points of view, so I think this is one of those cases. |
Nitroboy 01.08.2014 20:37 |
someonewholikesadam wrote: In another article someone mentioned that of course Freddie wouldn't admit that KQ was about a gay man. But I am not saying it is and you can't say that it isn't. And Freddie may have had both meanings in mind when he wrote the lyrics. Many of you Queen fans are so black and white and seem to think your opinion is the only right one. I think Freddie would think you are all a bunch of stodgy, old fuddy-duddies. And Bohemian Rhapsody's about Freddie having AIDS... |
someonewholikesadam 01.08.2014 22:14 |
Nitroboy wrote:No. That song was written before he contracted the virus. I check my facts.someonewholikesadam wrote: In another article someone mentioned that of course Freddie wouldn't admit that KQ was about a gay man. But I am not saying it is and you can't say that it isn't. And Freddie may have had both meanings in mind when he wrote the lyrics. Many of you Queen fans are so black and white and seem to think your opinion is the only right one. I think Freddie would think you are all a bunch of stodgy, old fuddy-duddies.And Bohemian Rhapsody's about Freddie having AIDS... |
TomP63 02.08.2014 05:55 |
KILLER QUEEN LYRICS He keeps Moet et Chandon In a pretty cabinet 'Let them eat cake' he says Just like Marie-Antoinette A built-in remedy For Khrushchev and Kennedy At anytime an invitation You can't decline Caviar and cigarettes Well versed in etiquette Extraordinarily nice Chorus: He's a Killer Queen Gunpowder, guillotine Dynamite with a laser beam Guaranteed to blow your mind Anytime Recommended at the price Insatiable in appetite Wanna try? To avoid complications He never kept the same address In conversation He spoke just like a baroness Met a man from China Went down to Geisha Minah Then again incidentally If you're that way inclined Perfume came naturally from Paris For cars he couldn't care less Fastidious and precise Chorus Drop of a hat he's as willing as Playful as a pussy cat Then momentarily out of action Temporarily out of gas To absolutely drive you wild, wild He's out to get you Chorus Recommended at the price Insatiable in appetite Wanna try? You wanna try? Come on folks, these are the original lyrics for Killer Queen, Freddie wrote this with a guy on his mind....well I don't give shit........even if he wrote it with 100 guys on his mind for that matter.... Oh and Delilah is a nice diddy about Tom Jones, for a fact this is so true.... |
queenUSA 02.08.2014 08:44 |
Killer Queen is about a woman. White Queen about a woman. Black Queen a woman. Fat Bottomed Girls about women. A shout out to Mama in Bo Rap, also a woman. Mother Love! You guessed it, a woman! It's all so boring! Just kidding (of course)! In British society in the 60's and 70's no big deal wearing the things Freddie had on as a performer ( very common wardrobe for the arts). Going back much further Victorian and Edwardian styles of dress borrowed from royalty brings lace, ruffles, fur, opulent fabrics etc to the rest of society - it's an aspirational look. Look at the long curly hair of French kings, manner of dress etc - for Europe, these things are normal there for Kings and Queens depending on the times. For a band called Queen these looks are must haves early on. Getting back to Killer Queen, she is not a struggling streetwalker but a high class call girl with upper tier clients. The song celebrates her, admires her. She gets to sleep with a great many men, an activity Freddie might be interested in?? Does he feel a connection with her in this song, in a way that would not be taboo at the time? So the song relishes her. He is a fan. He does not put a ring on it, he puts a crown on it! In the We Will Rock You production the Killer Queen springs to life as a woman - she's a fierce predator of men ( so bossy!) watch out! Liza Minelli, Cher, Lady GaGa (to name a few) get the same kind of attention - all of them have legions of straight and gay admirers. So the song to me is not him singing in code about a man but singing quite openly about the virtues of a certain scarlet woman he's elevated. For Queen, unlike White Queen and the March of the Black Queen, the Killer Queen was a huge hit for them that helped to introduce them further as Queen, both within and beyond Britain, and reinforce the band name Queen thru the song title of Killer Queen. Genius, of course! Many folks out there don't even know about the earlier White and Black Queens but they sure know about that Killer Queen song. So despite AL sprawled on a couch and fluttering his eyelashes singing the song (an enjoyable, decadent interpretation - thanks Adam!) the song is about a woman, not a man. But have the song any way you like it best! |
Holly2003 02.08.2014 09:51 |
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Fred had a man in mind, but it's not likely. Brian has said he sometimes worked with Fred's lyrics to make them more appealing to the widest possible audience i.e. not just a gay audience, although I suspect he was talking about late 1970s, early 1980s lyrics,. In 1974, however, I think Fred was writing about a woman - the high class call girl mentioned in previous interviews. |
TomP63 02.08.2014 10:19 |
I was only joking with the lyrics I printed, I altered the she into he...my point, seriously I could give not a damn if Freddie had written about a guy, a woman....those pointless debate about the meaning of songs, lyrics...in that light what was Brian his intention during the guitarbreak....I don't know........ |
someonewholikesadam 02.08.2014 10:27 |
This is what Freddie wrote about picking the name Queen. "Years ago I thought up the name 'Queen'… It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid…It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one face of it." I think the same could be said of lyrics of KQ. And as to not caring what lyrics mean, isn't it fun to debate and speculate? |
Invisible Woman 19.07.2017 11:43 |
She may be a high society girl which of life and men takes everything that can. She may be an actress, a prostitute, a politician, a member of some secret organization... I can imagine her in various roles. And what this song exactly saying is only Freddie knew. I like Killer Queen very much. |