Innuendo (song)
Encyclopedia
"Innuendo" is a 1991 song by the English rock band
Queen
. It is the opening track on the album of the same name
, and was released as the first single from the album. At six and a half minutes, it is one of Queen's longest songs, and their longest ever released as a single, exceeding "Bohemian Rhapsody
" by 35 seconds. The single went straight to #1 in the UK Singles Chart
. Featured is a flamenco
guitar section performed by Yes
guitarist Steve Howe
and Brian May
, an operatic interlude that harks back to the Queen of old, sections of heavy metal
, and lyrics inspired in part by lead singer Freddie Mercury
's illness
. Accompanied by a music video featuring animated representations of the band on a cinema screen akin to Nineteen Eighty-Four
, eerie plasticine figure stop-motion and harrowing imagery, it has been described as one of the band's darkest and most moving works. Allmusic described the song as a "superb epic", which deals with "mankind's inability to live harmoniously."
-esque beat) started off as a jam session between May, Deacon and Taylor. Mercury then added the melody and some of the lyrics, which were then completed by Taylor.
The middle section was primarily Mercury's work, according to an interview with May in October 1994's Guitar Magazine. It features a flamenco
guitar solo, followed by a classically influenced bridge, and then the solo again but performed with electric guitars. This section is especially complex, featuring a pattern of three bars in 5/4 time (reasonably uncommon in popular music) followed by four bars in the more often used 3/4 time. The end of the flamenco-guitar style is based on the 5/4 bar, but is in 6/4 time.
The "You can be anything you want to be" section features sophisticated orchestration, created by Mercury and producer David Richards using the popular Korg M1
keyboard/synth/workstation. Mercury had arranged and co-arranged orchestras in his solo career, and closed the previous Queen album with the track "Was It All Worth It", which included a Gershwin-esque interlude also coming from an M1
synth. The bridge section in "Innuendo" is in 3/4
, showing once again Mercury's affection for trinary metres: "Bicycle Race" is another one with main sections in 4/4 and middle-eight in 3/4, and some of his best-known pieces (namely "We Are the Champions
" and "Somebody to Love
") were in 12/8, as would be his last ever composition, "A Winter's Tale
".
at Mountain Studios in 1976 - 1977 shortly before Queen bought the Swiss studio, and Asia's
debut album
was produced by Queen's engineer, Mike Stone.
On a break from a recording session in Geneva, Howe drove to Montreux and stopped to have lunch. There he ran into Martin Gloves who had worked for Yes before and by this time was Queen's equipment supervisor. Gloves told him that Queen were in the studio at the moment.
As soon as Steve Howe went into the studios, Mercury asked him to play some guitar (according to producer David Richards, who had worked with Yes in the past as well). Another version is that Brian May was the one who asked him to play the flamenco bit.
animation with live action and digital mask replacement and featuring plasticine figures reminiscent of the album artwork in a detailed miniature cinema set. The band members only appear as illustrations and images, mainly taken from earlier Queen music videos (such as "The Miracle
", "Scandal
", "Breakthru
", "The Invisible Man
", "I Want It All
", and clips from "Live at Wembley Stadium 1986
"), on a cinema screen in the same manner as in the film Nineteen Eighty-Four
, with Mercury drawn in the style of Leonardo da Vinci
, May in the style of Victorian etchings, Taylor in the style of Jackson Pollock
, and Deacon in the style of Pablo Picasso
. It also featured a montage of historical images and photographs. The video won production company DoRo
(who also produced the videos to all other singles from the Innuendo album) a Monitor Award for Best Achievement in Music Video.
An early draft of the video for "Innuendo" was banned from American television due to the inclusion of footage from the Gulf War. An alternate video (without the footage) was released and received moderate airplay in the United States.
songs "Kashmir
" and "Thank You
" were performed by that band's lead singer Robert Plant
with the three surviving members of Queen (May, Taylor and Deacon) at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
in 1992 at Wembley Stadium. "Kashmir" had been one of the inspirations for "Innuendo", making Plant's performance all the more fitting. However, the song was left off the DVD release at Plant's request, as he forgot part of the lyrics and his vocal was, in his admission, not in the best shape. As in "Kashmir", the title of the song appears in the lyrics only once.
The 12" Explosive Version of "Innuendo" features a noise similar to an atomic bomb after Mercury sings the line "until the end of time".Queen began their final album together in an appropriately regal style with this track, a complex epic that harkened back to their 1970's classics like "Bohemian Rhapsody." The lyrics present a message of hope: in a world where "we live according to race, color or creed" and where leaders rule by "blind madness and pure greed," hope can still be found if one has the will to do better: "Yes, we’ll keep on trying/Tread that fine line/Oh, we’ll keep on trying/’Til the end of time." It also adds a shot of pure hope during the song’s midsection: "You can be anything you want to be/Just turn yourself into anything you think that you could ever be." The music lends this ambitious lyric the grandiosity it needs, marrying verses that make a determined ascent from minor-key depths to a rousing chorus that reaches for the sky. It also works in a fanciful, delicate bridge whose fluttery phrases add a shot of pure pop to an otherwise rock oriented song. Queen’s recording of "Innuendo" delivers their personalized mix of pomp and power in high style: the main part of the song is built on a mixture of spooky synthesizers and guitar-anchored rock but also works in an unexpected flamenco guitar instrumental break played by guest guitarist Steve Howe and a stunning bridge where cascades of synthesizers and glossy vocal harmonies give way to an electric jam. Freddie Mercury provides a lead vocal that matches power with grace and Brian May and Roger Taylor add lush harmonies that add a final layer of richness to the sound. The resulting combination of power chords and ear candy didn’t make much of a chart impression in the U.S. but became a #1 hit in the U.K. and did similarly well elsewhere in Europe. It remains a favorite with Queen fans everywhere and one of their most inspired latter day efforts.
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
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...
. It is the opening track on the album of the same name
Innuendo (album)
Innuendo is the fourteenth studio album by British rock band Queen. Released in February 1991, it was the final studio album to be released in Freddie Mercury's lifetime and is the last to be composed entirely of new material...
, and was released as the first single from the album. At six and a half minutes, it is one of Queen's longest songs, and their longest ever released as a single, exceeding "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...
" by 35 seconds. The single went straight to #1 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Featured is a flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
guitar section performed by Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
guitarist Steve Howe
Steve Howe (guitarist)
Stephen James "Steve" Howe is an English guitarist, known for his work with the progressive rock group Yes...
and 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...
, an operatic interlude that harks back to the Queen of old, sections of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, and lyrics inspired in part by lead singer Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie 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...
's illness
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. Accompanied by a music video featuring animated representations of the band on a cinema screen akin to Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four (film)
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1984 British science fiction film, based upon George Orwell's novel of the same name, following the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government...
, eerie plasticine figure stop-motion and harrowing imagery, it has been described as one of the band's darkest and most moving works. Allmusic described the song as a "superb epic", which deals with "mankind's inability to live harmoniously."
Songwriting
"Innuendo" was pieced together "like a jigsaw puzzle". The recurring theme (with the BoléroBoléro
Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel . Originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian ballerina Ida Rubinstein, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is Ravel's most famous musical composition....
-esque beat) started off as a jam session between May, Deacon and Taylor. Mercury then added the melody and some of the lyrics, which were then completed by Taylor.
The middle section was primarily Mercury's work, according to an interview with May in October 1994's Guitar Magazine. It features a flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
guitar solo, followed by a classically influenced bridge, and then the solo again but performed with electric guitars. This section is especially complex, featuring a pattern of three bars in 5/4 time (reasonably uncommon in popular music) followed by four bars in the more often used 3/4 time. The end of the flamenco-guitar style is based on the 5/4 bar, but is in 6/4 time.
The "You can be anything you want to be" section features sophisticated orchestration, created by Mercury and producer David Richards using the popular Korg M1
Korg M1
The Korg M1 is the world's first widely-known music workstation. Its onboard MIDI sequencer and palette of sounds allowed musicians to produce complete professional arrangements...
keyboard/synth/workstation. Mercury had arranged and co-arranged orchestras in his solo career, and closed the previous Queen album with the track "Was It All Worth It", which included a Gershwin-esque interlude also coming from an M1
Korg M1
The Korg M1 is the world's first widely-known music workstation. Its onboard MIDI sequencer and palette of sounds allowed musicians to produce complete professional arrangements...
synth. The bridge section in "Innuendo" is in 3/4
Triple metre
Triple metre is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 or 9 in the upper figure of the time signature, with 3/4, 3/2, and 3/8 being the most common examples...
, showing once again Mercury's affection for trinary metres: "Bicycle Race" is another one with main sections in 4/4 and middle-eight in 3/4, and some of his best-known pieces (namely "We Are the Champions
We Are the Champions
"We Are the Champions" is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. One of their most famous and popular songs, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems...
" and "Somebody to Love
Somebody to Love (Queen song)
"Somebody to Love" is a song by British rock band Queen. Written by lead vocalist and pianist Freddie Mercury, the track featured on their 1976 album A Day at the Races, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits...
") were in 12/8, as would be his last ever composition, "A Winter's Tale
A Winter's Tale (song)
"A Winter's Tale" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven, released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991. It was written after the Innuendo sessions, inspired as Mercury was staring out the windows of their recording studio, at Lake Geneva...
".
Steve Howe's involvement
Howe and Mercury had been friends for several years, since they ran into each other quite often at the Townhouse Studios in London. Yes had recorded Going for the OneGoing for the One
Going for the One is the eighth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released in 1977 on Atlantic Records. It was produced after an extended break for solo activity from the group, and marks the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had departed in 1974 after the Tales from...
at Mountain Studios in 1976 - 1977 shortly before Queen bought the Swiss studio, and Asia's
Asia (band)
Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup as it included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely John Wetton , Geoff Downes , Steve Howe and Carl Palmer Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a...
debut album
Asia (album)
Asia is the debut album by the English rock supergroup Asia, released in 1982.The album reached #1 in the U.S. on the Billboard album charts, and according to Billboard was the best-selling album in the United States for the year 1982...
was produced by Queen's engineer, Mike Stone.
On a break from a recording session in Geneva, Howe drove to Montreux and stopped to have lunch. There he ran into Martin Gloves who had worked for Yes before and by this time was Queen's equipment supervisor. Gloves told him that Queen were in the studio at the moment.
As soon as Steve Howe went into the studios, Mercury asked him to play some guitar (according to producer David Richards, who had worked with Yes in the past as well). Another version is that Brian May was the one who asked him to play the flamenco bit.
Promotional video
A very elaborate music video was created to accompany the single, combining stop motionStop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation with live action and digital mask replacement and featuring plasticine figures reminiscent of the album artwork in a detailed miniature cinema set. The band members only appear as illustrations and images, mainly taken from earlier Queen music videos (such as "The Miracle
The Miracle (song)
"The Miracle" is the fifth and last single from Queen's 1989 album The Miracle. It was composed by the entire band, though Freddie Mercury was the main driving force. It was released as a single in late November 1989, some six months after the album...
", "Scandal
Scandal (song)
"Scandal" is a song by the British rock group Queen. It was released as the fourth single from their 1989 album The Miracle and peaked at #25 in the UK...
", "Breakthru
Breakthru (song)
"Breakthru" is a song by British rock band Queen. Credited as being written by Queen, it was released in June 1989 from the album The Miracle. The single reached #7 in the UK, and peaked at number 6 in the Netherlands and Ireland, but failed to chart in the US...
", "The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man (song)
"The Invisible Man" is a song by English rock band Queen, written by drummer Roger Taylor. The song is sung mostly by Freddie Mercury, but Taylor sings on parts of the song. Originally released on the album The Miracle, it was released as a single in 1989...
", "I Want It All
I Want It All
"I Want It All" is a song by English rock band Queen, featured on their 1989 twelfth studio album The Miracle. Written by guitarist and backing vocalist Brian May and produced by David Richards, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 2 May 1989...
", and clips from "Live at Wembley Stadium 1986
Queen Live at Wembley Stadium
Queen at Wembley is a video recorded at the original Wembley Stadium, England on Saturday 12 July 1986 during Queen's Magic Tour. It was first released in December 1990 as an edited VHS , then as an audio CD in 1992, followed by a DVD release as Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium to coincide with the...
"), on a cinema screen in the same manner as in the film Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four (film)
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1984 British science fiction film, based upon George Orwell's novel of the same name, following the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government...
, with Mercury drawn in the style of Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
, May in the style of Victorian etchings, Taylor in the style of Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, and Deacon in the style of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
. It also featured a montage of historical images and photographs. The video won production company DoRo
Doro
Doro may refer to:* Doro , rock singer, former vocalist of the German heavy metal band Warlock** Doro , a 1990 album by Doro** Doro , a Swedish telecommunications company...
(who also produced the videos to all other singles from the Innuendo album) a Monitor Award for Best Achievement in Music Video.
An early draft of the video for "Innuendo" was banned from American television due to the inclusion of footage from the Gulf War. An alternate video (without the footage) was released and received moderate airplay in the United States.
Other versions
The song and parts of the Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
songs "Kashmir
Kashmir (song)
"Kashmir" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their sixth album Physical Graffiti, released in 1975. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant over a period of three years, with the lyrics dating back to 1973.-Overview:The song centres around a signature chord progression...
" and "Thank You
Thank You (Led Zeppelin song)
"Thank You" is a song written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page that was released by English rock band Led Zeppelin on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II.-Overview:...
" were performed by that band's lead singer Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
with the three surviving members of Queen (May, Taylor and Deacon) at 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...
in 1992 at Wembley Stadium. "Kashmir" had been one of the inspirations for "Innuendo", making Plant's performance all the more fitting. However, the song was left off the DVD release at Plant's request, as he forgot part of the lyrics and his vocal was, in his admission, not in the best shape. As in "Kashmir", the title of the song appears in the lyrics only once.
The 12" Explosive Version of "Innuendo" features a noise similar to an atomic bomb after Mercury sings the line "until the end of time".Queen began their final album together in an appropriately regal style with this track, a complex epic that harkened back to their 1970's classics like "Bohemian Rhapsody." The lyrics present a message of hope: in a world where "we live according to race, color or creed" and where leaders rule by "blind madness and pure greed," hope can still be found if one has the will to do better: "Yes, we’ll keep on trying/Tread that fine line/Oh, we’ll keep on trying/’Til the end of time." It also adds a shot of pure hope during the song’s midsection: "You can be anything you want to be/Just turn yourself into anything you think that you could ever be." The music lends this ambitious lyric the grandiosity it needs, marrying verses that make a determined ascent from minor-key depths to a rousing chorus that reaches for the sky. It also works in a fanciful, delicate bridge whose fluttery phrases add a shot of pure pop to an otherwise rock oriented song. Queen’s recording of "Innuendo" delivers their personalized mix of pomp and power in high style: the main part of the song is built on a mixture of spooky synthesizers and guitar-anchored rock but also works in an unexpected flamenco guitar instrumental break played by guest guitarist Steve Howe and a stunning bridge where cascades of synthesizers and glossy vocal harmonies give way to an electric jam. Freddie Mercury provides a lead vocal that matches power with grace and Brian May and Roger Taylor add lush harmonies that add a final layer of richness to the sound. The resulting combination of power chords and ear candy didn’t make much of a chart impression in the U.S. but became a #1 hit in the U.K. and did similarly well elsewhere in Europe. It remains a favorite with Queen fans everywhere and one of their most inspired latter day efforts.
Cover versions
- Cover version of the song appeared on 1997 album Ball of the DamnedBall of the DamnedBall of the Damned is the fourth full-length album by the speed metal band Scanner. It was released in 1997 by Massacre Records.-Track listing:#"Puppet on a String" - 6:52#"Frozen Under the Sun" - 5:55#"We Start It Tomorrow" - 4:59...
by speed metal band ScannerScanner (band)Scanner is a power metal band that was formed in 1986. They released their first album, Hypertrace, in 1988 through Noise Records. The band has split up and rejoined at least twice since its creation and its only remaining original band member is the guitarist Axel A.J. Julius.-Members:*Efthimios...
.
- American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contestant Chris DaughtryChris DaughtryChristopher Adam "Chris" Daughtry is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Daughtry and as the fourth-place finalist on the fifth season of American Idol, from which he was eliminated on May 10, 2006...
performed "Innuendo" on Queen Night in April 2006.
- The progressive metalProgressive metalProgressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
band QueensrÿcheQueensrÿchethumb|250px|right|Queensrÿche's classic line-up performing at the [[Sauna Open Air Metal Festival]] 2011 in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]. Left to right: bass Eddie Jackson, lead vocals Geoff Tate, drums Scott Rockenfield and guitars Michael Wilton....
also covered the song for their 2007 album Take Cover.
In popular culture
- The song is included in the competitive karaokeKaraokeis a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
videogame SingStar QueenSingStar QueenSingStar Queen is a competitive karaoke video game for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2, developed by London Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The game features the music of rock band Queen...
for PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and PlayStation 3PlayStation 3The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.
Chart performance
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 28 | 6 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 12 | 10 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 4 | 11 |
| German Singles Chart | 5 | 16 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 4 | 4 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 4 | ? |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 10 | 8 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 3 | 12 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 | 6 |
| U.S. Mainstream Rock Charts | 17 | ? |