I just read book The Invisible Man by H.G.Wells. Is this book was inspiration to Roger for song The Invisible Man? I read something about it, maybe on Wikipedia.
You're probably crediting Roger with a more sophisticated set of song writing skills than he has. A treatise on the social paranoia the novel expressed while tackling the rise of communism and the plight of 'everyman' feeling more and more distant in the increasingly unfamiliar industrial landscape of late Victorian England might have been good.
However, he just wrote a song about a person that happens to be see through.
I think the song is more personal to Roger than being about any particular book. The lyrics seem to be from the p.o.v of someone who is feeling ignored by the person he loves, as if he is invisible. It is more metaphorical than literal. That's my two cents on it...
^ I agree. And I was thinking the same way. I asked question about it because I read that on Wikipedia. Maybe only the book title was inspiration to him and maybe not.
Here's what Roger told the BBC in May 1989:
'I, do you know I can't remember, somebody was asking me the other day, and I, I, couldn't, can't remember where the idea did come from, I think it came from a book I was reading, but er, and it just seemed to fit in with a sort of, a, a, a rhythmic pattern I had in mind, and er, it sort of came there, from nowhere really.'
The song's lyrics are about the omnipresence of entities, government, everything that's within you but can't necessarily be grasped.
Other than that it comes together with the middle bit which has a totally different meaning. About someone who feels unnoticed who'll resist and plant their name across the world.
In the end it's just a throwaway that sounds cool to them
I always thought it's a song about depression.
I'm the invisible man,
I'm the invisible man
Incredible how you can see right through me
When you hear a sound that you just can't place
Feel somethin' move that you just can't trace
When something sits on the end of your bed
Don't turn around when you hear me tread
I'm the invisible man,
I'm the invisible man
Incredible how you can see right through me
I'm the invisible man, I'm the invisible man
It's criminal how I can see right through you
And I'm in your room, and I'm in your bed
And I'm in your life, and I'm in your head
Like C.I.A. or the F.B.I.
You'll never get close, never take me alive
I'm the invisible man, I'm the invisible man
Incredible how you can see right through me
I'm the invisible man, I'm the invisible man
It's criminal how I can see right through you
Hah, hah, hah, hello, hah, hah, hah, o.K. Hah, hah, hah, hello hello hello hello
Never had a real good friend, not a boy or girl
No one knows what I've been through, let my flag unfurl
So I make my mark from the edge of the world
From the edge of the world, from the edge of the world
Now I'm on your track, and I'm in your mind
And I'm on your back, but don't look behind
I'm your meanest thought, I'm your darkest fear
But I'll never get caught, you can't shake me, shake me dear
I'm the invisible man, I'm the invisible man
Incredible how you can see right through me - watch me now
I'm the invisible man,
I'm the invisible man
It's criminal how I can see right through you
Look at me, look at me
Shake me, shake me, shake me dear, sh shake, shake, fun
Dougie 4 wrote:
Why would you think that? Please explain
When I actually listen to the lyrics I imagine a depressed man who went through some negative emotional experience, maybe a breakup or something and he's think about how everybody he cares about behaves like he's not there, like he's invisible. He starts to think about his life and he realizes that he never had a real good friend, not a boy nor a girl. And he's saying this from "the edge of the world", meaning from a mental state where he even thinks about jumping down and ending his misery.
That's how I always took the song, I'm not claiming I'm correct :)
That's the beauty of a band like Queen. The listener can put their own meaning on the usually non specific lyrics. The Miracle is good for this - It's just a song for kids. On an album of songs for kids.
Of course, that all goes out the window when the author explains it. Like, I dunno, a folky song about the sea actually being about time travel and space flight WTF
Yes, I love that Queen and Freddie especially never gave exact interpretations for his songs...it becomes so interesting to read the various meanings people derive from the songs. All good