| Shane Jazz 04.10.2004 23:37 |
Many of us don't particularly care for Delilah, although it can be viewed as an amusing indulgence to a dying friend....But the question is: would this indulgence have been better served as a B-side to a single such as Headlong or better yet, Slightly Mad? And to replace it on the album, perhaps Lost Opportunity, which I believe fits the somber, yet hopeful tone of the album, or a Freddie-on-vocals version of Driven by You, although that probably wouldn't have been finished in time for the album's release. It's just nitpicking, really, because Innuendo is a fine, fine album. But it was just a thought. |
| GonnaUseMyPrisoners 04.10.2004 23:42 |
well, it might have disappointed a lot of Queen fans who are also "golden shower" enthusiasts, who no doubt rejoice in the "pee all over..." line. what a god-awful song. |
| Gunpowder Gelatine 04.10.2004 23:51 |
I understand the reason for Delilah, but in the scheme of things, it's not that great of a song, at least compared to the other material on Innuendo. It kind of reminds me of Body Language in a way, because it's one of Freddie's indulgence songs. I agree, though, Lost Opportunity definitely could've fit the theme of the album. |
| Lester Burnham 05.10.2004 00:28 |
In a perfect world, 'Self-Made Man' and 'My Secret Fantasy' would have been completed, and 'Lost Opportunity' would have been featured as well, allowing for an altered track list: Side One: Innuendo / I'm Going Slightly Mad / Headlong / Self-Made Man / My Secret Fantasy / Don't Try So Hard. Side Two: These Are The Days Of Our Lives / Lost Opportunity / Ride The Wild Wind / The Hitman / Bijou / The Show Must Go On. One can dream, aye? *dreams* |
| Shane Jazz 05.10.2004 01:17 |
Good point, Lester....I heard Self Made Man recently for the first time and was very impressed with the rough dynamics of the song...With some polishing off, it would have been an excellent addition to Innuendo, or even Made in Heaven.... |
| juls 05.10.2004 02:42 |
Hi! would be a new tread: which song should be replaced by a B-Side on each album? (f.e. I go crazy -> Tear it up, Mad the Swine -> Seven Seas instrumental, Hijack my heart -> Rain must fall, Stealin' -> My baby does me) And in this case, Delilah is not even worth a B-Side IMHO. If I would write a song like this, and show it to my band (I am bass player BTW) the others would refuse it, that's sure. I don't know how Freddie managed to get a weak song on a brilliant album. |
| Scirocco1977 05.10.2004 02:48 |
I am not too sure about this, but I read somewhere that Lost Opportunity was recorded much earlier than the rest of Innuendo. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for being on the Innuendo album. they released a lot of old songs as B-sides (Mad the swine etc.). If Delilah would not be on Innuendo, then it would cease being Innuendo... because the song itself is an innuendo. Ah geez, need more coffee to write something worth reading... |
| Sebastian 05.10.2004 04:15 |
Or they could have just put Delilah as a B-Side and leave 11 tracks in the album. After all, ANATO has 11 too, Races has 10, Magic has 9... Innuendo would be 11 tracks then, but all very good. I agree Delilah lowers a little the album's standards, as did Sweet Lady in ANATO. But obviously it's a matter of opinion |
| Daburcor? 05.10.2004 04:25 |
Sebastian wrote: I agree Delilah lowers a little the album's standards, as did Sweet Lady in ANATO. But obviously it's a matter of opinionEXACTLY. I mean, I for one love Delilah. I think it's cute and I also like Brian's playing in it. :) |
| Regor 05.10.2004 04:41 |
juls wrote: Hi! And in this case, Delilah is not even worth a B-Side IMHO. If I would write a song like this, and show it to my band (I am bass player BTW) the others would refuse it, that's sure. I don't know how Freddie managed to get a weak song on a brilliant album.The song as such is an indulgence and like Leroy Brown or Lazing something which people either love or hate (I do love those tracks) but in the context and considering the subtile undertone of the album it fits... the dynamics and the tension of Innuendo are just perfect, it works like a concept-album (which, although they never were, in my opinion SHA, ANATO and ADATR do as well) - while you're still wondering what the hell this Miaouw-Song was, they kick your ass with "Hitman" As a song I think it's Freddie not taking things too seriously and meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. On the album it's part of a perfectly constructed puzzle, a rollercoaster-ride of different moods. Innuendo is such a great album ! |
| juls 05.10.2004 06:00 |
Regor, sure you are right - but unfortunately the musical quality of Leroy or Lazing is way higher standard! Okay, thats IMHO! :D Imagine, *you* (and not the three other queen members) would have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars (or pounds or whatever) for one hour working in the studio... and you would for example record Delilah, say... in 40,50,60 hours. Then the funny little Delilah is a quite expensive joke, don't you think? :D |
| Whisperer 05.10.2004 07:40 |
juls wrote: And in this case, Delilah is not even worth a B-Side IMHO. If I would write a song like this, and show it to my band (I am bass player BTW) the others would refuse it, that's sure. I don't know how Freddie managed to get a weak song on a brilliant album.When a very good friend of yours is dying in the next few months and comes and tells you that he has written a song about his favourite cat and would like to include it on the album you don't tell him to fuck off, do you? Delilah is a good song in my opinion. All songs don't need to be about death, heartache and pain. Of all songs on the Innuendo album Delilah is the one that is for me the most emotional - a song written by a sick and weak man (compare with Wembley-Freddie), who doesn't have anyone else who is important for him than his cats. |
| Fenderek 05.10.2004 08:14 |
Musically not my fav but... a dying man records a song about important thing in his life- his favourite cat; without being pretentious, without saying crap "I;m leavoing, I feel bad, blah, blah, blah"- he just records about one of the most beloved things for him... It fits the album IMO, it fits the way the album is constructed... Yeah, we can say- this song is better, should be there, but than we'll get a singles collection, not an album- sth as bad as Works or AKOM... And I totally disagree about Sweet Lady on ANATO- it's a great riff and a great song and it fits the album IMO- more than- let's say- You're My Best Friend... Don't get me wrong- I like the song, but... It stops the dramaturgy for me... |
| Mr.Jingles 05.10.2004 08:34 |
We all know that Delilah would have never made it into a Queen album if Freddie didn't have a foot on his grave. It's sad but it's true. Not good enough for a Queen album, although it would have fit the standards of a Freddie Mercury solo album. |
| Whisperer 05.10.2004 10:06 |
What makes Slightly Mad better than Delilah in your opinion (I like both)? It's just as "ridiculous" and no-Queen-ish. |
| Adam Baboolal 05.10.2004 10:56 |
I like Delilah. I remember being embarassed about playing it in the presence of others, but after I got over that, it was a great pleasure. Especially Brian's guitar touches. Nice little track. There's something that feels really good about it. Nice feeling to it. Peace, Adam. EDIT: Lost Opportunity is dull from the word, go. |
| Rick 05.10.2004 13:39 |
I like Delilah, there's nothing wrong with it. It has a nice Queen-sound and its pure for fun, just like Fat Bottemd Girls. It's a nice epic song, with the nice, warm May guitar sound and I love the Meoow-thing! I don't understand why people don't like this song, although I have to agree that this is the weakest song from the Innuendo-album, but it's certainly not bad! |
| Giacco 73 05.10.2004 14:08 |
Delilah is a lovely song,a divertissment in pure Freddie style.Most of all I like the miao guitar solo and like him I really love cats too! It fit perfectly in Innuendo IMHO,maybe The Hitman is slightly out of place on this album,even though I really like that song too. |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 05.10.2004 14:52 |
Delilah shouldn't be a b-side. In fact, it should have been put-aside. BTW: meow?!!! Cheers, Ogre- |
| Smartie 06.10.2004 03:34 |
I really like Delilah. Innuendo has a lot of melancholy Songs on it, but Delilah is a fun song,Freddie wrote this one just for the cat he really loved. Its nice to see that although he was so ill at that point he still had his old humour. I think this song could also be on "Mr. Bad Guy" its simply Freddie... |
| Regor 06.10.2004 04:46 |
juls wrote: Regor, sure you are right - but unfortunately the musical quality of Leroy or Lazing is way higher standard! Okay, thats IMHO! :D Imagine, *you* (and not the three other queen members) would have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars (or pounds or whatever) for one hour working in the studio... and you would for example record Delilah, say... in 40,50,60 hours. Then the funny little Delilah is a quite expensive joke, don't you think? :DI agree with the overall more complex and thus perhaps more sophisticated way of recording in the 70's, but complexity does not make a song better or worse. Think for example of "She makes me", the verse consists just of two chords, add a few echoes and reverbs and some taped extravaganzas at the end and you have a wonderful and dramatic song. As simple as that. And I dont think "Delilah" was meant as a joke: it was stepping aside from that terrible death sentence over his head, that he had to deal with 24/7, therefore it was uplifting an fun - but not a joke ! And if you record a track,(and I just did record an album with my band) you are convinced of it (at the time), otherwise you would not put it on tape. So the money-thing is definitely negligible. Anyway, it depends on personal musical taste as always. I can understand the topic, cause "Delilah" is everything but a standard pop-tune - but we have to take "Innuendo" as it is, and for me personally it is a wonderfully constructed masterpiece with all the typical and "typically non-typical" aspects of Queen. |
| Libor2 06.10.2004 05:46 |
We all can have different opinion on Delilah. I think, it never should be on Innuendo. It’s one of their best album and such (weak IMO) song don’t fit for it. Agreed with Mr. Jingles, it’d be fine for Freddie solo record. On the other side, I understand circumstances, why it’s on Innuendo. |
| egret 06.10.2004 06:34 |
I actually thought one of the reasons "Delilah" (which I happen to like) was on there is because Freddie had reached a point where he no longer had to care about an audience. Marketability had ceased to matter to him. So he wrote what he found entertaining for himself. Though of course the thing about the cat being the only loved one is a bit of a rebuke -- perhaps a continuation of his catlovers dedication on his solo album. Probably they were relieved it wasn't disco. Actually, what makes The Miracle and Innuendo better than previous albums is that the band turned inward again. Their best stuff was always a little weird (MOTBQ, BoRhap) and when they tried to hard to be consumable, they got a little boring (AKOM album). So in that sense, "Delilah" fits the "weird" mode. --Egret |
| Lord Blackadder 06.10.2004 10:55 |
I quite like the guiatr solo in Delilah. It's o.k. But there are worse Queen songs. |
| brENsKi 06.10.2004 14:47 |
the riff in sweet lady sounds like something from an earlier ELO album |
| Loz4ant 07.10.2004 08:15 |
yeah i think it should of been a B Side! it's such a sweet song! |
| Robbe100 17.07.2013 11:33 |
I love that song ! Should have been a B side for sure ! |
| last-horizon 42265 17.07.2013 13:29 |
Robbe100 wrote: I love that song ! Should have been a B side for sure !Somehow, I find it fascinating that a nearly 9 years old topic gets a response like if the last post was submitted only hours ago. |
| Robbe100 17.07.2013 15:20 |
Haha , google brought me here ! I didin't look at the dates ! |
| silver_salmon 17.07.2013 15:21 |
Why didn't you wait one more year to reply this topic?.....so we celebrated "Should Delilah have been a B-side? post - 10th anniversary edition" |
| Stelios 18.07.2013 03:34 |
It may be true that (even in a subconscious level) Freddie understood that Innuendo could portay him as a hero. A strong dying man looking at the abyss. Now, him beeing so into diversity and self-mocking he created two songs that added more aspects to that scenario. Slighly mad provided the off-beat kind of almost mental persona and Delilah provided the child-like aspect. If you put the character behind TSMGoOn and the character behind Delilah they are as apart as they can be. And this is complexity at its most adventurous/entertaining. Its like Freddie leaving an epitaph saying "dear, you can never really catch me" or beeing elusive ( like a feline) till the very end. |
| Mr.QueenFan 18.07.2013 09:00 |
Last-Horizon wrote:LOL, and i was about to reply to this too :-)Robbe100 wrote: I love that song ! Should have been a B side for sure !Somehow, I find it fascinating that a nearly 9 years old topic gets a response like if the last post was submitted only hours ago. But here it goes, i love the song Delilah. Absolutelly love this song and i think it's a musical "masterpiece" by the band. It's different from what any other rock group would record, and i find it to be very soothing for the ears and great production overall. It's a very sweet song with a great feel to it. My other fav of Innuendo is "All Gods People". If i want to listen to normal rock music i will buy other artists records but with Queen i want to be stimulated with something different, that still sounds good to me. |
| Rick 22.07.2013 04:18 |
Rick wrote: I like Delilah, there's nothing wrong with it. It has a nice Queen-sound and its pure for fun, just like Fat Bottemd Girls. It's a nice epic song, with the nice, warm May guitar sound and I love the Meoow-thing! I don't understand why people don't like this song, although I have to agree that this is the weakest song from the Innuendo-album, but it's certainly not bad!Wow, a post by me from nine years ago. NINE YEARS. I feel old :-( |
| IanR 30.07.2013 07:34 |
Funnily enough, the demo version seems to capture a spirit and liveliness that the over-produced album version lacks. Plus, the line 'You make me smile when I'm just about to die' is heartbreaking. |
| ITSM 31.07.2013 07:36 |
No, "Delilah" is wonderful, I think. Positive beat and funny lyrics. I always try to pause it when it's finished, because the intro of "The Hitman" is SO noisy. It took me about 15 years to really appreciate "Delilah," but now it's great. I had the same experience with "Hijack My Heart," and I hope the same thing will happen with "Coming Soon." |
| DLCVinnuendo 31.07.2013 08:03 |
For me, ride the wild wind would be the B side of headlong, delilah is a very strange song, but i respect this song just because of freddie |
| john bodega 31.07.2013 09:06 |
It should've been an A-side - it should've been the lead single, it should've been his last music video, and it should've been played at the Tribute. As a final 'fuck you' to everyone. |
| rhyeking 31.07.2013 09:27 |
Well, "Lost Opportunity" could not have appeared on the album, since it was recorded after the album was completed and delivered to the record company. Innuendo was completed in November of 1990. "Lost Opportunity" was put down in January of 1991, when the band returned to the studio to start recording what would become the Made In Heaven material. This track was recorded in a day (possibly one of the days Freddie wasn't available, but the others were). If anything, it might be better considered an unused MIH track, but since it was included on the "I'm Going Slightly Mad" single (which was the next single to go out), it's associated with the Innuendo album. As for "Delilah," as much as I'm not a fan of it, musically and on quirky-ness level, it does fit the album's tone. That being said, I wouldn't have missed it if it had been left as a B-side. |
| Ghostwithasmile is BACK! 31.07.2013 10:10 |
NO! |
| Missreclusive 31.07.2013 22:39 |
Zebonka12 wrote: It should've been an A-side - it should've been the lead single, it should've been his last music video, and it should've been played at the Tribute. As a final 'fuck you' to everyone.And this is in the top 3 of my favorite posts! lol Mayyybe you weren't serious however, I AGREE. That song is a total Freddie FU ...he did as he wanted, he pleased himself and that pleases me. |
| dysan 01.08.2013 16:03 |
Listening to the album recently (inspired by the AGP thread on here) I think it was only Bijou that tested the patience for me. I always skip TWTDOOL as it's over familiar and oh so sad. Innuendo is a great album. To be honest, it's The Hitman that I never liked on it. |
| Mr.Jingles 03.08.2013 18:53 |