Day 11: “Father to Son” from Queen 2
Love how the songs flow together. This album will be the album that shows people of today how flawlessly a band could produce a record so that when you listen to it, it is seamless. Nowadays, we don’t have that quality in albums, because each track is individual, but back at this time, Queen made this LP with the idea that someone like hypothetical teenage 1974 me (with my Freddie Mercury t-shirt and lipstick stained poster) was going to play it back to back and hear it in all its infinite glory.
I think Brian May wrote this one, too.
“A word in your ear…from father to son…”
Oh baby, this one starts so strong. It’s very intense for such a young guy. I mean, I say young guy but they were like late 20s by now, so I guess not exactly teeny-boppers anymore. Still, this song is pretty deep.
I get emotional from this song. It is very masculine, in such a lovely way. The lovely, gentle masculinity of love and tenderness. For some reason, it just gives me vibes of a man finding his way as a father while reminiscing about his own father at the same time. It’s funny, because Brian wasn’t a father yet at the time of the writing of this song.
“Take this letter that I give you. Take it, sonny, hold it high!”
I love this song live, too. I mean the album version bangs, but live, this one rocks my socks off.
Brian is in top form on this one. His guitar ROCKS in this. I mean, he shreds it. But yet it’s still so soulful and reverent. I love that about Brian May. He never holds back, but yet he still manages to tell such a story with his guitar. It’s never just “Oh this is a guitar solo…okay now back to the song”. His guitar enhances and pushes the song forward and makes the song. I mean, like Freddie says, Queen worked because four talented men came together at the perfect time and complemented each other beautifully.
“But the air you breathe I live to give you…” – really beautiful.
There’s so much vocal range here, too. Freddie, plus our beloved Roger Taylor hitting those high notes.
Anyway, I adore that song. Live and album version, both.
