I had a friend who had this album on Vinyl. In the early 90s I didn’t know anyone who still listened to, let alone bought, vinyl. And he said that this song was highly truncated on black plastic.
He missed out. It’s a pretty nice piece.
The whole point of the song was an exercise to invert the roles of guitar and vocals. The guitar took the verses and the words took the place of an instrumental break.
Truth be told, the lyrics and melody is actually pretty nice. I wouldn’t have minded a ballad built around that. And, since Brian is such a brilliant guitarist it’s a nice example of his prowess. And surprising that he never did any purely instrumental work prior, save for Flash Gordon.
The song doesn’t really need the lyrics. But Freddie’s so wonderful that hearing him is always a treat.
That this is the penultimate song on his last proper album is bittersweet. In retrospect, it comes across like a eulogy for a loved one. Freddie’s contribution being almost ghostly remembrance. Brian saying goodbye.
Grade: B+
