https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOQ4pkUAFbA
I'm not claiming they're the same or Renegade is a rip off, but I can hear some similarities, especially when Fred sings "Hangman, hangman, waiting for me Hang that rope from the highest tree" and in the Styx song the way this line is sung: "Oh mama I'm in fear of my life from the long arm of the law."
Renegade has a busier guitar riff than Hangman, but the Hangman riff would fit quite neatly into the Styx song. It would be interesting to hear a side by side comparison or a mash up.
And of course the hangman theme is in both songs.
Maybe Tommy Shaw heard Hangman played live or on a bootleg and a few years later unconsciously used it as a kind of demo for Renegade.
ps Styx supported Queen in 1975 in Calgary but Hangman wasn't played.
Is there anyone left here who has even heard of Hangman? I know it wasn't in the movie but even so ...
:D
To add a little bit of context to my amazingly insightful observations, Hangman itself might have been influenced by Led Zep's Gallows Pole.
Holly2003 wrote:
...used it as a kind of demo for Renegade.
Speaking of similarities, demo is not the same thing as model.
And if you are talking about the subject of the songs then avoid the word theme.
"And of course the hangman theme is in both songs" sounds ambiguous, especially if your topic is "there is a common musical theme in both songs".
Are you attempting to linguistically program our brains? Unconsciously, of course.
Holly2003 wrote:
...used it as a kind of demo for Renegade.
Speaking of similarities, demo is not the same thing as model.
And if you are talking about the subject of the songs then avoid the word theme.
"And of course the hangman theme is in both songs" sounds ambiguous, especially if your topic is "there is a common musical theme in both songs".
Are you attempting to linguistically program our brains? Unconsciously, of course.
Ah my stalker is back, and unable to offer an opinion of any substance. What a surprise...
I finally had time to go back and listen to both again, and they have a bit of a similar style but I couldn’t say there is enough to make a possible inspiration from Hangman. It did make me wish that Queen had recorded and released Hangman though, I really like it. I’m sure someone must know the reason they never did? I suppose it didn’t fit with their album ideas at the time. In my opinion their early rock days were their best.