I Want to Break Free
Encyclopedia
"I Want to Break Free" is a song
by the British rock band Queen
, which was written by its bassist John Deacon
. The song was featured on the Queen's 1984 album The Works
and distributed as a single on 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl records
and 3-inch and 5-inch CDs. The song had three versions: album, single and extended, differing in length by a more than a factor of 2. It was included in most live concerts by the group, in several videos, and in The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
where it was sung by Lisa Stansfield
.
The song is largely known for its music video for which all the band members dressed in women's clothes, a concept proposed by Roger Taylor, which parodied the long-running British soap opera
Coronation Street
. The second part of the video included a composition rehearsed and performed with the Royal Ballet
and choreographed by Wayne Eagling
. Whereas the parody was acclaimed in the UK, it was considered controversial in the US and banned by MTV
and other stations. After its release in 1984 the single
of the song was well received all over Europe and South America, where it was listed within top ten and regarded as an anthem of fight against oppression. The single reached only the 45th position in the US charts
, but reached number 3 in the UK and was certified gold with 400,000+ copies sold.
, no chorus and relatively little section repetition. There are three versions of the song: album, single and extended.
The album version is 3 minutes 20 seconds long. Its first 6 seconds repeat the basic rhythm played with the drums (Ludwig
), an acoustic guitar (Gibson
), a bass guitar (Fender) and an electric guitar (Fender Telecaster
). This rhythm continues through most of the song, stopping only for its first line. The first verse ends at 0:37 and is followed by a very similar second verse, which is however shorter by one line. A stacked guitar accompaniment (Red Special
) appears at the end of the second verse (1:03), and between 1:15 and 1:17 it is replaced by a synthesizer
. A synthesizer solo starts at 1:33 that mimics the sound of brass instrument
s, it is assisted by a guitar. The last verse starts in the second minute, it additionally features a synthesizer and a Fender Stratocaster
guitar. The song pauses at the final line "I've got to break free", followed by the fade out. This version was released on the album The Works
and on some singles.
The regular single version lasts 4 minutes 21 seconds and differs from the album version by the 40-second introduction
and a longer synthesizer solo which starts at 2:33. The introduction is played on an electronic keyboard
and is assisted by cymbal
s, drums and a guitar (Red Special
). Otherwise, the composition copies that of the album version.
The extended version lasts 7 minutes 16 seconds and features longer introduction and ending. It lasts until 6:04, and the remaining minute contains fragments of other songs from The Works
, namely "Radio Ga Ga
", "It's a Hard Life
", "Man on the Prowl
", "Machines (or "Back to Humans")", "Keep Passing the Open Windows", "Hammer to Fall
", "Tear It Up" and "Is This the World We Created ...?". The extended version was mostly distributed as 12-inch vinyl records
and then reissued on the CD of The Works in 1991.
Besides The Works, the song was featured in the albums Greatest Hits II, Box of Tricks
, Greatest Hits (1992 U.S. edition) and Absolute Greatest and in the box-sets The Complete Works, The Crown Jewels
and The Platinum Collection
.
The single was received very positively over most of the world except for North America. In April 1984, it became No 3 in the United Kingdom, and was within top 10 in many European and Latin American countries, but only peaked at #45 in the US charts. The single was certified gold
in the UK. The video for the song, featuring Mercury in women's outfit with a thick moustache, and its ban by MTV and some other US stations played a role in the low US ranking. The ban was lifted in 1991 when the song was aired on VH1
's My Generation two-part episode devoted to Queen hosted by guitarist Brian May
. According to May in an interview about Queen's Greatest Hits, whereas the video was understood and taken as a joke in UK, the US audience failed to see the soap-opera connection and might have interpreted the video as an open declaration of transvestitism and Mercury's bisexuality.
In some other countries, especially in South Africa and South America, the song was praised because it was seen as an anthem of fight against oppression, and was treated separately with the video. Illustrative in this regard was the live performance of the song in Rio de Janeiro
in 1985. When Mercury appeared in front of an audience of 325,000 and started singing "I want to break free", stones were thrown into him. He quickly realized that his female outfit was the reason and removed his wig and false breast
thereby calming down the public. This incident however puzzled and disappointed the singer.
After the release of The Works, the song was performed at almost every live concert of the group. Spike Edney
usually played the synthesizer introduction, after which Mercury appeared on the scene, often in the outfit of the video – dark bobbed wig, pink blouse and false breast
, which he would remove later during the song. Brian May played the guitar solo on his Red Special
. Some lines were let sung by the audience, and "God Knows" was chanted by the whole group. Live recording of the song appeared on the concert albums Live Magic
, Live at Wembley '86
and Return of the Champions
. In addition, the song was performed at the concerts which were then included in the Queen's videos such as Queen at Wembley, We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan
, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
and Return of the Champions
.
Lisa Stansfield
led the song in The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
. She appeared on stage with a vacuum cleaner, dressed as a housewife, as in the original video. The song was also performed in many concerts of the project Queen + Paul Rodgers
, where Paul Rodgers
took vocals, Danny Miranda played the bass guitar and Spike Edney
was at the keyboard.
Starting in July 2004, a remixed one-minute version of the song was leading a Coca-Cola C2
video advertisement.
.
It was shot on 22 March and 4 May 1984 in the studio "Limehouse Studios" and cost about 100 thousand pounds. It was included in the collections Greatest Video Hits 1
, and Greatest Video Hits 2
. Footage from the video was later used for the song "The Show Must Go On
".
The first part of the video was a spoof of the northern British soap opera
Coronation Street
, as proposed by Roger Taylor.
The video depicts Mercury as a housewife, loosely based on Bet Lynch
, who wants to "break free" from his life. Although Lynch was a blonde in the soap opera, Mercury thought he would look too silly as a blonde and chose a dark wig. May plays another, more relaxed housewife based on Hilda Ogden
. Deacon appears as a conservative 'grandma', while Taylor plays a schoolgirl, who like Mercury wants a different life.
At the beginning, during the synthesizer prelude, the clip shows a common British brick house (as featured in Coronation Street) and then moves into May's bedroom. May is woken up by a Teasmade
. He gets up, dressed in a pink shirt, pink socks and pink bunny
-shaped slippers, with hair roller
s in his head. The camera moves to the living room and the kitchen where Mercury is vacuuming the floor. He wears a black wig, pink earrings, pink blouse with a sizeable false breast under it, black leather miniskirt
, tights
and heeled shoes. During the trials Mercury realised that he couldn't walk freely in high-heeled shoes and settled on 2-inch ones. His own thick moustache remains in place. May descends the staircase and goes to the kitchen. He passes Deacon, who is sitting on a couch, dressed in a black cloak, gloves, grey wig and a hat. Deacon reads a newspaper, constantly snorting and shaking his head. Taylor is busy with dishwashing in the kitchen, dressed as a stereotypical schoolgirl - blonde wig, white blouse, grey miniskirt, coloured tie and a straw hat behind his back. Mercury stops vacuuming and starts singing.
During the first verse, Mercury opens the door of a storage room that briefly reveals a dark place, which is further used in the second verse; it appears to be a coal mine. There, the group features in their normal-life look (with Mercury naked above the waist that was common for his live and studio performances). It is surrounded by a crowd wearing black robes and miner's helmets with headlamps. The crowd moves in sync with the music. The camera is constantly closing up on the musicians who are arranged in the same pattern as in the video for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody
". Mercury sings, while Deacon, May and Taylor just stand around him with their heads down. During the third verse, Mercury moves to another set and hides behind a big white box. In the beginning of the synthesiser solo, the box "explodes" and falls apart revealing a large stone. Mercury sits at the top of the stone, playing on a copper pipe
, though the sound is of electric guitar. He is surrounded by two men and two women, all wearing the same spotty tights. In the second part of the solo, more people wearing the same outfit join in and together they perform a choreographic composition. In its first part, Mercury is carried through a row of people who pass his body over their heads. He then climbs the stone and dives in between two rows of people who catch him on the fly. After that, Mercury moves over a group of people who lie parallel on the ground and roll him over their bodies by turning around, as on a lineshaft roller conveyor
. This part is finalized by a static scene of Mercury with a female dancer in a dry ice
smoke.
The composition was choreographed by Wayne Eagling – a friend of Mercury who had helped him before with the choreography of the "Bohemian Rhapsody". Eagling was then a leader of the Royal Ballet
which was involved in the video (one of the dancers was Jeremy Sheffield). Specially for this part, Mercury shaved his trademark moustache to portray Nijinsky
as a faun
in the ballet L'après-midi d'un faune. The shooting took much practice, especially the conveyor rolling episode. According to Eagling, despite being a natural performer on stage, Mercury could not stand performing any choreographed act himself, which is why he was mostly picked up and moved around in the ballet part of the video. The rehearsals with the Royal Ballet were organised by Eagling secretly from his superiors, that put him into a serious trouble when this was discovered later.
The fourth verse, with the words "but life still goes", returns to the Coronation Street set of the first part, with some minor changes. May, Taylor and Deacon sit in the living room; May and Deacon are reading and Taylor is doing "her" school homework beside a table. Mercury walks around them and goes up the stairs, while singing. In the final, the action moves back into the coal mine set of the second part, but this time the miners surrounding the Queen musicians move erratically.
". The single was released in 1984 on 7-inch and 12-inch records
and the 3-inch and 5-inch CDs.
The 7-inch records were distributed in 16 countries. In most countries the other side of the disk contained the album version of the song "Machines (or 'Back to Humans')", in the US and Canada there was an instrumental version of this song, and in Brazil the other side featured the song "It's a Hard Life
". The label also depended on the country: Capitol Records
in the US and Canada, Toshiba Records in Japan, and EMI in other countries. In UK, US, Portugal and South Africa
several records of the song were sold at the same time, differing only by covers. There were special editions, such as a record with empty side B in UK. The song title Argentina song on was "Quiero Ser Libre".
In all countries except for US the A side contained the extended version of the song, side B featured "Machines" and the disk had EMI label. In the US, side B had either an instrumental version of "Machines" or the album version of "I Want to Break Free" and the label was from Capitol Records
.
The single was also distributed on the 3-inch and 5-inch CDs. In the UK the 3-inch CD featured "I Want to Break Free" (album version), "Machines" and "It's a Hard Life" and had a Parlophone Records label. In Germany, the 5-inch CD had an EMI label and contained "I Want to Break Free" and "It's a Hard Life
", as well as the video of "I Want to Break Free".
Single covers contained pictures of the group from the cover of the album The Works. In countries where the single went in four different versions, each version had a picture of one Queen member, otherwise four images were placed together. The inscription "Queen. I Want to Break Free" was red, white, gold or black and the frame was red or white. The German 5-inch CD had the cover for the single of "Radio Ga Ga
". The reverse side was the same – a photo of the group on a red background, except for CDs which had a white background and no pictures.
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
by the British rock band Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, which was written by its bassist John Deacon
John Deacon
John Richard Deacon is a retired English multi-instrumentalist and song writer, best known as the bassist for the rock band Queen. Of the four members of the band, he was the last to join and also the youngest, being only 19 years old when he was recruited by the other members of the band...
. The song was featured on the Queen's 1984 album The Works
The Works (Queen album)
-Radio Ga Ga:"Radio Ga Ga" was composed on keyboards, after Roger Taylor heard his son Felix saying "radio ca ca". He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterwards John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Mercury reconstructed...
and distributed as a single on 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and 3-inch and 5-inch CDs. The song had three versions: album, single and extended, differing in length by a more than a factor of 2. It was included in most live concerts by the group, in several videos, and in The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was an open-air concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the...
where it was sung by Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
.
The song is largely known for its music video for which all the band members dressed in women's clothes, a concept proposed by Roger Taylor, which parodied the long-running British soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. The second part of the video included a composition rehearsed and performed with the Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet, London
The Royal Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the four major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois, it became the resident ballet...
and choreographed by Wayne Eagling
Wayne Eagling
Wayne Eagling is a former Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet in London and is a leading international choreographer and director....
. Whereas the parody was acclaimed in the UK, it was considered controversial in the US and banned by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and other stations. After its release in 1984 the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
of the song was well received all over Europe and South America, where it was listed within top ten and regarded as an anthem of fight against oppression. The single reached only the 45th position in the US charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, but reached number 3 in the UK and was certified gold with 400,000+ copies sold.
Song
The song was written in 1983 by John Deacon and released at the beginning of April in 1984.It was influenced by male attitudes to the women's liberation movement. The main idea of the song lies in its title which is repeated through the text. A love theme is also present as the protagonist "has fallen in love", "can't get over the way you love me like you do" and "don't want to live alone". Most of the song follows the traditional 12 bar blues progression in E Major. It has three verses with one bridgeBridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
, no chorus and relatively little section repetition. There are three versions of the song: album, single and extended.
The album version is 3 minutes 20 seconds long. Its first 6 seconds repeat the basic rhythm played with the drums (Ludwig
Ludwig-Musser
Ludwig-Musser is a drum and percussion instrument manufacturer that is part of the Conn-Selmer division of Steinway Musical Instruments.The first product made by the Ludwig brothers, William and Theobaldner , was a bass drum pedal capable of playing faster beats than was typical of products of the...
), an acoustic guitar (Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
), a bass guitar (Fender) and an electric guitar (Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
). This rhythm continues through most of the song, stopping only for its first line. The first verse ends at 0:37 and is followed by a very similar second verse, which is however shorter by one line. A stacked guitar accompaniment (Red Special
Red Special
The Red Special is an electric guitar owned by Queen guitarist Brian May and custom-built by May and his father. The Red Special is also sometimes named in reviews as the Fireplace or the Old Lady, both nicknames used by May when referring to the guitar. A guitar that would define May's signature...
) appears at the end of the second verse (1:03), and between 1:15 and 1:17 it is replaced by a synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
. A synthesizer solo starts at 1:33 that mimics the sound of brass instrument
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
s, it is assisted by a guitar. The last verse starts in the second minute, it additionally features a synthesizer and a Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
guitar. The song pauses at the final line "I've got to break free", followed by the fade out. This version was released on the album The Works
The Works (Queen album)
-Radio Ga Ga:"Radio Ga Ga" was composed on keyboards, after Roger Taylor heard his son Felix saying "radio ca ca". He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterwards John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Mercury reconstructed...
and on some singles.
The regular single version lasts 4 minutes 21 seconds and differs from the album version by the 40-second introduction
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
and a longer synthesizer solo which starts at 2:33. The introduction is played on an electronic keyboard
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
and is assisted by cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, drums and a guitar (Red Special
Red Special
The Red Special is an electric guitar owned by Queen guitarist Brian May and custom-built by May and his father. The Red Special is also sometimes named in reviews as the Fireplace or the Old Lady, both nicknames used by May when referring to the guitar. A guitar that would define May's signature...
). Otherwise, the composition copies that of the album version.
The extended version lasts 7 minutes 16 seconds and features longer introduction and ending. It lasts until 6:04, and the remaining minute contains fragments of other songs from The Works
The Works (Queen album)
-Radio Ga Ga:"Radio Ga Ga" was composed on keyboards, after Roger Taylor heard his son Felix saying "radio ca ca". He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterwards John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Mercury reconstructed...
, namely "Radio Ga Ga
Radio Ga Ga
"Radio Ga Ga" is a 1984 song performed and recorded by the British rock band Queen, written by their drummer Roger Taylor. It was released as a single with "I Go Crazy" by Brian May on the original B-side and was included on the album The Works...
", "It's a Hard Life
It's a Hard Life
"It's a Hard Life" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was featured on their 1984 album The Works, and it was the third single from that album. It reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and was their third consecutive Top 10 single from the album...
", "Man on the Prowl
The Works (Queen album)
-Radio Ga Ga:"Radio Ga Ga" was composed on keyboards, after Roger Taylor heard his son Felix saying "radio ca ca". He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterwards John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Mercury reconstructed...
", "Machines (or "Back to Humans")", "Keep Passing the Open Windows", "Hammer to Fall
Hammer to Fall
"Hammer to Fall" is a 1984 song by the British rock group Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song is the eighth track on their 1984 album The Works....
", "Tear It Up" and "Is This the World We Created ...?". The extended version was mostly distributed as 12-inch vinyl records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and then reissued on the CD of The Works in 1991.
Besides The Works, the song was featured in the albums Greatest Hits II, Box of Tricks
Box of Tricks
Box Of Tricks is a compilation box set by Queen which was sold in England in 1992 for £50.-Contents:* The 12" Collection* PAL video tape of Queen - Live at the Rainbow* Album and single covers poster* A sew-on cloth Queen patch* A metal Queen pin...
, Greatest Hits (1992 U.S. edition) and Absolute Greatest and in the box-sets The Complete Works, The Crown Jewels
The Crown Jewels
The Crown Jewels is a box set by Queen which comprises their first eight studio albums; Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, News of the World, Jazz and The Game; in sleeves replicating the original vinyl packaging...
and The Platinum Collection
The Platinum Collection (Queen album)
The Platinum Collection is a box set by British rock band Queen which comprises their three greatest hits albums, Greatest Hits, Greatest Hits II and Greatest Hits III. The album was originally released on 13 November 2000 on the Parlophone label. A booklet with song facts and images is also...
.
Charts and live performance
| Country | Peak position |
Held during |
Charted for (weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 9 | July | 13 |
| Austria | 1 | 1 June – 1 July | 14 |
| France | 9 | 8–15 December | 16 |
| Germany | 4 | 11–17 June | 20 |
| Ireland | 2 | 10 | |
| New Zealand | 6 | 19 | |
| The Netherlands Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 | 26 May – 2 June | 12 |
| Switzerland | 2 | 17–24 June | 16 |
| UK | 3 | 28 April – 19 May | 15 |
| US | 45 | May | 8 |
The single was received very positively over most of the world except for North America. In April 1984, it became No 3 in the United Kingdom, and was within top 10 in many European and Latin American countries, but only peaked at #45 in the US charts. The single was certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in the UK. The video for the song, featuring Mercury in women's outfit with a thick moustache, and its ban by MTV and some other US stations played a role in the low US ranking. The ban was lifted in 1991 when the song was aired on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's My Generation two-part episode devoted to Queen hosted by guitarist Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
. According to May in an interview about Queen's Greatest Hits, whereas the video was understood and taken as a joke in UK, the US audience failed to see the soap-opera connection and might have interpreted the video as an open declaration of transvestitism and Mercury's bisexuality.
In some other countries, especially in South Africa and South America, the song was praised because it was seen as an anthem of fight against oppression, and was treated separately with the video. Illustrative in this regard was the live performance of the song in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
in 1985. When Mercury appeared in front of an audience of 325,000 and started singing "I want to break free", stones were thrown into him. He quickly realized that his female outfit was the reason and removed his wig and false breast
Falsies
In fashion, falsies is a term used in American English to denote padding for use in a brassiere to create the appearance of larger breasts. The term is also, more rarely, used for pads which create the appearance of larger buttocks. In both cases, there is a note of amusement conveyed by the term...
thereby calming down the public. This incident however puzzled and disappointed the singer.
After the release of The Works, the song was performed at almost every live concert of the group. Spike Edney
Spike Edney
Philip 'Spike' Edney is a British musician who, since early 1970s, has performed with a number of bands, most notably, Queen, where his participation, starting in 1984, has been so extensive that some writers have described him as the "fifth member of Queen". In the earlier phase of his career,...
usually played the synthesizer introduction, after which Mercury appeared on the scene, often in the outfit of the video – dark bobbed wig, pink blouse and false breast
Falsies
In fashion, falsies is a term used in American English to denote padding for use in a brassiere to create the appearance of larger breasts. The term is also, more rarely, used for pads which create the appearance of larger buttocks. In both cases, there is a note of amusement conveyed by the term...
, which he would remove later during the song. Brian May played the guitar solo on his Red Special
Red Special
The Red Special is an electric guitar owned by Queen guitarist Brian May and custom-built by May and his father. The Red Special is also sometimes named in reviews as the Fireplace or the Old Lady, both nicknames used by May when referring to the guitar. A guitar that would define May's signature...
. Some lines were let sung by the audience, and "God Knows" was chanted by the whole group. Live recording of the song appeared on the concert albums Live Magic
Live Magic
Live Magic is a live compilation album by British rock band Queen. It was recorded at various 1986 live shows during the European Magic Tour and released on December 1, 1986. However, it was not released in the United States until August 1996. It received strong criticism by fans, due to the heavy...
, Live at Wembley '86
Live at Wembley '86
Live at Wembley '86 is a double compact disc live album by English rock band Queen.It was recorded live on Saturday July 12, 1986 during the Magic Tour at Wembley Stadium in London, England and released on May 26, 1992...
and Return of the Champions
Return of the Champions
Return of the Champions is a double live album by English rock band Queen + Paul Rodgers. It was recorded in May 2005 during the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England and released on 19 September 2005...
. In addition, the song was performed at the concerts which were then included in the Queen's videos such as Queen at Wembley, We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan
We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan
We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan is a live concert video of English rock band Queen's performance at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo on May 11, 1985 as part of the Japanese leg of The Works Tour....
, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was an open-air concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the...
and Return of the Champions
Return of the Champions
Return of the Champions is a double live album by English rock band Queen + Paul Rodgers. It was recorded in May 2005 during the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England and released on 19 September 2005...
.
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
led the song in The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was an open-air concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the...
. She appeared on stage with a vacuum cleaner, dressed as a housewife, as in the original video. The song was also performed in many concerts of the project Queen + Paul Rodgers
Queen + Paul Rodgers
Queen + Paul Rodgers was a supergroup collaboration between Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen and Paul Rodgers...
, where Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
took vocals, Danny Miranda played the bass guitar and Spike Edney
Spike Edney
Philip 'Spike' Edney is a British musician who, since early 1970s, has performed with a number of bands, most notably, Queen, where his participation, starting in 1984, has been so extensive that some writers have described him as the "fifth member of Queen". In the earlier phase of his career,...
was at the keyboard.
Starting in July 2004, a remixed one-minute version of the song was leading a Coca-Cola C2
Coca-Cola C2
Coca-Cola C2 was a cola-flavored beverage introduced by The Coca-Cola Company first in Japan, then later on 7 June 2004 in the United States , in response to the low-carbohydrate diet trend...
video advertisement.
Video
The music video "I Want to Break Free" was directed by David MalletDavid Mallet (director)
David Mallet is a British director particularly noted for his work on music videos, including David Bowie's innovative "Ashes to Ashes", Rush's "Distant Early Warning, and Queen's "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free" videos. He has also served as a producer on television programmes including...
.
It was shot on 22 March and 4 May 1984 in the studio "Limehouse Studios" and cost about 100 thousand pounds. It was included in the collections Greatest Video Hits 1
Greatest Video Hits 1
Greatest Video Hits 1 was the first Queen video collection on DVD. Most of the content was released previously on the VHS cassette Greatest Flix in 1981. It was released in October 2002, and included video hits of the band between 1973 and 1981. There is also a Greatest Video Hits 2.The DVD...
, and Greatest Video Hits 2
Greatest Video Hits 2
Greatest Video Hits 2 is the second DVD of music videos from the English band, Queen. It was released in November 2003, and included video hits of the band between 1982 to 1989. It was at number one in UK, in its first week. It also peaked at number 1 in Ireland. In that same year the DVD was...
. Footage from the video was later used for the song "The Show Must Go On
The Show Must Go On (Queen song)
"The Show Must Go On" is a song by English rock band Queen, featured as the twelfth and final track on their 1991 album Innuendo. It is credited to Queen, but written primarily by Brian May. The song chronicles the effort of Freddie Mercury continuing to perform despite approaching the end of his...
".
The first part of the video was a spoof of the northern British soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, as proposed by Roger Taylor.
The video depicts Mercury as a housewife, loosely based on Bet Lynch
Bet Lynch
Elizabeth Theresa "Bet" Lynch is a fictional character from the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character is no longer part of current storylines. Portrayed by actress Julie Goodyear the character first appears onscreen during the episode airing on 23 May 1966. The character...
, who wants to "break free" from his life. Although Lynch was a blonde in the soap opera, Mercury thought he would look too silly as a blonde and chose a dark wig. May plays another, more relaxed housewife based on Hilda Ogden
Hilda Ogden
Hilda Alice Ogden is a fictional character from the television series Coronation Street, one of the best-known of all the regular characters in the soap opera, whose name became synonymous with a certain type of working-class woman...
. Deacon appears as a conservative 'grandma', while Taylor plays a schoolgirl, who like Mercury wants a different life.
At the beginning, during the synthesizer prelude, the clip shows a common British brick house (as featured in Coronation Street) and then moves into May's bedroom. May is woken up by a Teasmade
Teasmade
A teasmade is a machine for making tea automatically. It was once common in the United Kingdom and some of its former colonies. Teasmades generally include an analogue alarm clock and are designed to be used at the bedside, to ensure tea is ready first thing in the morning...
. He gets up, dressed in a pink shirt, pink socks and pink bunny
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
-shaped slippers, with hair roller
Hair roller
A Hair roller is a small roller used in hair care for styling and curling hair, and with a blowdryer. It can be made from synthetic sponge or plastic covered with velcro.- Hair curling :...
s in his head. The camera moves to the living room and the kitchen where Mercury is vacuuming the floor. He wears a black wig, pink earrings, pink blouse with a sizeable false breast under it, black leather miniskirt
Miniskirt
A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...
, tights
Pantyhose
Pantyhose are sheer, close-fitting legwear, covering the wearer's body from the waist to the feet. Mostly considered to be a woman's and girl's garment, pantyhose appeared in the 1960s, and they provided a convenient alternative to stockings...
and heeled shoes. During the trials Mercury realised that he couldn't walk freely in high-heeled shoes and settled on 2-inch ones. His own thick moustache remains in place. May descends the staircase and goes to the kitchen. He passes Deacon, who is sitting on a couch, dressed in a black cloak, gloves, grey wig and a hat. Deacon reads a newspaper, constantly snorting and shaking his head. Taylor is busy with dishwashing in the kitchen, dressed as a stereotypical schoolgirl - blonde wig, white blouse, grey miniskirt, coloured tie and a straw hat behind his back. Mercury stops vacuuming and starts singing.
During the first verse, Mercury opens the door of a storage room that briefly reveals a dark place, which is further used in the second verse; it appears to be a coal mine. There, the group features in their normal-life look (with Mercury naked above the waist that was common for his live and studio performances). It is surrounded by a crowd wearing black robes and miner's helmets with headlamps. The crowd moves in sync with the music. The camera is constantly closing up on the musicians who are arranged in the same pattern as in the video for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
". Mercury sings, while Deacon, May and Taylor just stand around him with their heads down. During the third verse, Mercury moves to another set and hides behind a big white box. In the beginning of the synthesiser solo, the box "explodes" and falls apart revealing a large stone. Mercury sits at the top of the stone, playing on a copper pipe
Pipe (instrument)
Pipe describes a number of musical instruments, historically referring to perforated wind instruments. The word is an onomatopoeia, and comes from the tone which can resemble that of a bird chirping.-Folk pipe:...
, though the sound is of electric guitar. He is surrounded by two men and two women, all wearing the same spotty tights. In the second part of the solo, more people wearing the same outfit join in and together they perform a choreographic composition. In its first part, Mercury is carried through a row of people who pass his body over their heads. He then climbs the stone and dives in between two rows of people who catch him on the fly. After that, Mercury moves over a group of people who lie parallel on the ground and roll him over their bodies by turning around, as on a lineshaft roller conveyor
Conveyor system
A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transportation of heavy or bulky materials...
. This part is finalized by a static scene of Mercury with a female dancer in a dry ice
Dry ice
Dry ice, sometimes referred to as "Cardice" or as "card ice" , is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is used primarily as a cooling agent. Its advantages include lower temperature than that of water ice and not leaving any residue...
smoke.
The composition was choreographed by Wayne Eagling – a friend of Mercury who had helped him before with the choreography of the "Bohemian Rhapsody". Eagling was then a leader of the Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet, London
The Royal Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the four major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois, it became the resident ballet...
which was involved in the video (one of the dancers was Jeremy Sheffield). Specially for this part, Mercury shaved his trademark moustache to portray Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...
as a faun
Faun
The faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...
in the ballet L'après-midi d'un faune. The shooting took much practice, especially the conveyor rolling episode. According to Eagling, despite being a natural performer on stage, Mercury could not stand performing any choreographed act himself, which is why he was mostly picked up and moved around in the ballet part of the video. The rehearsals with the Royal Ballet were organised by Eagling secretly from his superiors, that put him into a serious trouble when this was discovered later.
The fourth verse, with the words "but life still goes", returns to the Coronation Street set of the first part, with some minor changes. May, Taylor and Deacon sit in the living room; May and Deacon are reading and Taylor is doing "her" school homework beside a table. Mercury walks around them and goes up the stairs, while singing. In the final, the action moves back into the coal mine set of the second part, but this time the miners surrounding the Queen musicians move erratically.
Distribution
The song became the second single from the album The Works, after the song "Radio Ga GaRadio Ga Ga
"Radio Ga Ga" is a 1984 song performed and recorded by the British rock band Queen, written by their drummer Roger Taylor. It was released as a single with "I Go Crazy" by Brian May on the original B-side and was included on the album The Works...
". The single was released in 1984 on 7-inch and 12-inch records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and the 3-inch and 5-inch CDs.
The 7-inch records were distributed in 16 countries. In most countries the other side of the disk contained the album version of the song "Machines (or 'Back to Humans')", in the US and Canada there was an instrumental version of this song, and in Brazil the other side featured the song "It's a Hard Life
It's a Hard Life
"It's a Hard Life" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was featured on their 1984 album The Works, and it was the third single from that album. It reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and was their third consecutive Top 10 single from the album...
". The label also depended on the country: Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in the US and Canada, Toshiba Records in Japan, and EMI in other countries. In UK, US, Portugal and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
several records of the song were sold at the same time, differing only by covers. There were special editions, such as a record with empty side B in UK. The song title Argentina song on was "Quiero Ser Libre".
In all countries except for US the A side contained the extended version of the song, side B featured "Machines" and the disk had EMI label. In the US, side B had either an instrumental version of "Machines" or the album version of "I Want to Break Free" and the label was from Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
.
The single was also distributed on the 3-inch and 5-inch CDs. In the UK the 3-inch CD featured "I Want to Break Free" (album version), "Machines" and "It's a Hard Life" and had a Parlophone Records label. In Germany, the 5-inch CD had an EMI label and contained "I Want to Break Free" and "It's a Hard Life
It's a Hard Life
"It's a Hard Life" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was featured on their 1984 album The Works, and it was the third single from that album. It reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and was their third consecutive Top 10 single from the album...
", as well as the video of "I Want to Break Free".
Single covers contained pictures of the group from the cover of the album The Works. In countries where the single went in four different versions, each version had a picture of one Queen member, otherwise four images were placed together. The inscription "Queen. I Want to Break Free" was red, white, gold or black and the frame was red or white. The German 5-inch CD had the cover for the single of "Radio Ga Ga
Radio Ga Ga
"Radio Ga Ga" is a 1984 song performed and recorded by the British rock band Queen, written by their drummer Roger Taylor. It was released as a single with "I Go Crazy" by Brian May on the original B-side and was included on the album The Works...
". The reverse side was the same – a photo of the group on a red background, except for CDs which had a white background and no pictures.
Personnel
- John DeaconJohn DeaconJohn Richard Deacon is a retired English multi-instrumentalist and song writer, best known as the bassist for the rock band Queen. Of the four members of the band, he was the last to join and also the youngest, being only 19 years old when he was recruited by the other members of the band...
: bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(Fender), electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s (Fender TelecasterFender TelecasterThe Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
and Fender StratocasterFender StratocasterThe Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
), acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
(GibsonGibson Guitar CorporationThe Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
) and synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s (KurzweilKurzweil Music SystemsKurzweil Music Systems is a company that produces electronic musical instruments for professionals and home users. Founded in 1982 by Raymond Kurzweil, a developer of reading machines for the blind, the company made use of many of the technologies originally designed for reading machines and...
K250, and OberheimOberheimOberheim Electronics is an American company, founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim , which manufactured audio synthesizers and a variety of other electronic musical instruments.-Oberheim Electronics:...
OB8). - Brian MayBrian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
: electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
(Red SpecialRed SpecialThe Red Special is an electric guitar owned by Queen guitarist Brian May and custom-built by May and his father. The Red Special is also sometimes named in reviews as the Fireplace or the Old Lady, both nicknames used by May when referring to the guitar. A guitar that would define May's signature...
) - Roger TaylorRoger Meddows-TaylorRoger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...
: drums (LudwigLudwig-MusserLudwig-Musser is a drum and percussion instrument manufacturer that is part of the Conn-Selmer division of Steinway Musical Instruments.The first product made by the Ludwig brothers, William and Theobaldner , was a bass drum pedal capable of playing faster beats than was typical of products of the...
) - Freddie MercuryFreddie MercuryFreddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
: vocal, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
(OberheimOberheimOberheim Electronics is an American company, founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim , which manufactured audio synthesizers and a variety of other electronic musical instruments.-Oberheim Electronics:...
OBX-a) - Fred MandelFred MandelFred Mandel is a keyboard player and guitarist.Mandel became involved in music from an early age. He started playing the piano and age 4 and picked up the guitar aged 8...
: synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
(RolandRoland Corporationis a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
Jupiter 8)