I'm confused here because i always thought Freddie wrote A Winters Tale but recently i have been told it was Roger who did. I dont really mind who wrote it, infact it does suit Rogers style of writing, i mean take a look at These Are The Days Of Our Lifes....
In the album Made In Heaven it's credited to Queen but i know one of them wrote it. Who was it Freddie or Roger?
I see your point for some extent: 6/8 (or related) beats had been applied by Roger ocassionally (I'm In Love With My Car, Drowse, A Human Body, Thank God It's Christmas), but otoh note Freddie did that as well: Champions, Somebody To Love, Jesus.
I > bVII modulation has been used by both, but Roger tended to do it more abruptly (e.g. A Nation Of Haircuts) while Freddie applied pivots (e.g. Made In Heaven, The March Of The Black Queen). In this case it's made through the i chord of the first key, a function much more common in Fred's pieces (Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon, Staying Power, Barcelona), than Roger (no examples found so far).
The other modulation (I>III) is again more Freddie-esque (Seven Seas, Good Old Fashioned). Again I haven't found any case of that thing being applied by Roger, but one by Brian (Back To The Light goes from Ab to C for the solo).
The fact the song ends in the bVII chord reminds me of PD's analysis of 'Coming Soon', where he interprets it as being in A Major (except for the intro). In my opinion, the entire track is in G Major, thus making it finish in the tonic, no similarities with 'A Winter's Tale' whatsoever. But it's a matter of opinion, nobody's got the gospel truth.
If you ever go to the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame, you can see the lyrics there, in Freddie's handwriting. Shamefully, theres a crapload of stuff from contemporary boy bands etc that shouldnt even be displayed. Queens display has those hand written lyrics, a bass from John, the butterfly outfit that Bri wore (the one with the "salsa" theme, not the plain white one) a vest Freddie wore, Freddies harlequin catsuit (ie orange and green checkers) a few records, and not much else. The picture I took didnt turn out worth anything, which sucks, since you arent supposed to take em anyway (they confiscated a lot when I was there). Theres a MIH songbook which has reproductions of the notebook pages.
I have the MIH songbook which reproduces lyrics for a couple of songs, scratched out lines, post-it notes from montreaux showing what notes/keys used etc. When I dig it out of my moms garage I can scan some pics if anyone hasnt by then.
JamieSureWould<br><font size=1>QOQOW wrote: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
i told her that
i saw that roger wrote it
i dont remember where but it was credible like someone told me then i saw it on a sight
Maybe you confused it with "Thank God It's Christmas" which Roger originally wrote.
A winter's tale is Freddie's song. Brian said in a interview that Freddie wrote it in a, an i quote: "beautiful sunday morning" ( or smth like that, i don't remember correctly)
JamieSureWould<br><font size=1>QOQOW wrote: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
i told her that
i saw that roger wrote it
i dont remember where but it was credible like someone told me then i saw it on a sight
And if you really want a credible source, read "Mercury and Me". I was reading about A Winter's Tale in that book long before MIH was released, so when I went to the store to get the album on the day it was out, I expected this song to be on the album, and it really was. What a hoot.
Jan