The Book

Introduction What is it all good for? Scope of work Project History

Music theory in nutshell Harmony Chord notation used in the analyses The degrees of notes Chord functions Keys, Sharps and flats, neighbour keys Guitar friendly and piano-friendly keys Modulations, key changes Parallel key modulations Relative key modulations Neighbour key modulations Combined modulations Step-up/down modulations Unusual modulations Key-shifts Pivot Modulation Borrowed chords Cliche chord progressions Modes Ambigous harmony Rhythms Exercies Syncopations Shuffle beat Metrical modulations, metrical anomalies Compound meters Disorienting Rhythms Songforms General aesthatics of popular and rock music

Repetitions and variants

Queen - The four of them as musicians Brian May Roger Taylor Freddie Mercury John Deacon

Songwriting Analyses Smile Ibex "No Synth" era Queen Keep Yourself Alive Doing All Right Great King Rat My Fairy King Liar The Night Comes Down Modern Times Rock'n'roll Son And Daughter Jesus Seven Seas Of Rhye Silver Salmon Hangman Mad The Swine Queen II Procession Father To Son White Queen (As It Began) Some Day One Day The Loser In The End Ogre Battle The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke Nevermore March Of The Black Queen Funny How Love Is Seven Seas Of Rhye See What A Fool I've Been Sheer Heart Attack Brighton Rock Killer Queen Tenement Funster Flick Of The Wrist Lily Of The Valley Now I'm Here In The Lap Of The Gods Stone Cold Crazy Dear Friends Misfire Bring Back That Leroy Brown She Makes Me In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited A Night At The Opera Death On Two Legs Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon I'm In Love With My Car You're My Best Friend Sweet Lady '39 Seaside Rendezvous The Prophet's Song Love Of My Life Good Company Bohemian Rhapsody God Save The Queen A Day At The Races Tie Your Mother Down You Take My Breath Away Long Away The Millionaire Waltz You And I Somebody To Love White Man Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy Drowse Teo Torriate News Of The World We Will Rock You We Are The Champions Sheer Heart Attack All Dead All Dead Spread Your Wings Fight From The Inside Get Down Make Love Sleeping On The Sidewalk Who Needs You It's Late My Melancholy Blues Feelings Jazz Mustapha Fat Bottomed Girls Jealousy Bicycle Race If You Can't Beat Them Let Me Entertain You Dead On Time In Only Seven Days Dreamers Ball Fun It Leaving Home Ain't Easy Don't Stop Me Now More Of That Jazz Live performances in the 70s Modern-era Queen The Game Play The Game Dragon Attack Another One Bites The Dust Need Your Loving Tonight Crazy Little Thing Called Love Rock It (prime Jive) Don't Try Suicide Sail Away Sweet Sister Coming Soon Save Me Human Body Sandbox Flash Gordon Flash's Theme In The Space Capsule Ming's Theme The Ring Football Fight In The Death Cell Execution Of Flash The Kiss Arboria Escape From The Swamp Flash To The Rescue Vultan's Theme Battle Theme The Wedding March Marriage Of Dale And Ming Flash's Theme Reprise Crash Dive On Mingo City The Hero Hot Space Staying Power Dancer Back Chat Body Language Action This Day Put Out The Fire Life Is Real Calling All Girls Las Palabras De Amor Cool Cat Under Pressure Soul Brother The Works Radio Ga Ga Tear It Up It's A Hard Life Man On The Prowl Machines (or 'Back To Humans') I Want To Break Free Keep Passing The Open Windows Hammer To Fall Is This The World We Created? I Go Crazy A Kind Of Magic One Vision A Kind Of Magic One Year Of Love Pain Is So Close To Pleasure Friends Will Be Friends Who Wants To Live Forever Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme) Don't Lose Your Head Princes Of The Universe The Miracle Party Khashoggi's Ship The Miracle I Want It All The Invisible Man Breakthru Rain Must Fall Scandal My Baby Does Me Was It All Worth It Hang On In There Chinese Torture Hijack My Heart My Life Has Been Saved Stealin' New Life Is Born Dog With A Bone Guess We're Fallin Out Innuendo Innuendo I'm Going Slightly Mad Headlong I Can't Live With You Don't Try So Hard Ride The Wild Wind All God's People These Are The Days Of Our Lives Delilah The Hitman Bijou The Show Must Go On Lost Opportunity Face It Alone Self Made Man My Secret Fantasy Made In Heaven It's A Beautiful Day Made In Heaven Let Me Live Mother Love My Life Has Been Saved I Was Born To Love You Heaven For Everyone Too Much Love Will Kill You You Don't Fool Me A Winter's Tale My Life Has Been Saved It's A Beautiful Day (reprise) No-One But You Live performances in the 80s

Appendix Special instruments Special effects Special playing techniques Classical quotes Musical terms Index References

Path: Queen Songs - The Book - Songwriting Analyses - The Miracle - The Miracle - The Miracle: The Miracle

The Miracle

Composer: Queen, mostly Freddie Mercury
Album: Miracle (1989), 3th track
Single:
Meter: 4/4
Key: c minor, Eb Major, Db Major
Form:

| Intro | Verse | Chorus | Bridge | Solo 1 (Connector 1) - "Miracle" |
| Connector 2 | Verse | Chorus'|
| Solo 2 (Chorus)| Bridge | Connector 1'- "Miracle"' |
| Solo 3 (Connector 3) - Coda (AAAA) |

Except the predominant role of synths in the arrangement this song does not really embodies the trends that characterized the band's output or the whole pop/rock music in the eighties. Compared to it's single status it's a wonderfully clever and relatively long (five minutes) song, no wonder it was not a hit single.
It's a song that Freddie most likely wrote on piano, but there is not much piano in the arrangement of the album cut. Synths are responsible for creating the chordal backing most of the time. Whereas lots of guitars are put into the record there's no rhythm guitar except the arpeggiated outro figure.
The soongform consists of two long cylces plus a Coda. The latter is a rare feature in the band's cyclic songs. In the second cycle the Chorus is doubled up to provide place for the guitar solo.
The harmony makes frequent and tasful use of slash chords. A part of them is characterized by step-interval between the root and the bass: Ab7/Gb, Gb/Ab, Eb/Db, Db/Bb. The choice of flat-side keys shows Freddie's fingerprint.

Walkthrough
------------

Intro:
It's a two measure long section that exposes the tonic chord on synth that mimics pizzicato strings and nicely resonates with the "raindrops" in the lyrics soon in the Verse. The four-in the bar vamping (shades of Death On Two Legs) is peppered with occassional dotted rhythms, and double appoggiaturas. The first downbeat is preceded by a slash on the open hi-hat, it is repeated one measure later, and thats all what the drums play until the last phrase of the Verse. Bass is played throughout.

| Cm add69 | Cm |
| i | - |

Verse:
This section is characterized by uneven phrasing (3+3+3) with constant harmonic rhythm, and interesting chord progression that was co-written by Deacon and Mercury. The phrases parallel eachother in terms of melodic shape and rhythm, and the way how the last measures of each phrases abandon the vamping synth chords and add arpeggiator created arch shaped arpeggios that resonate with the word "miracle" (think of films and cartoons where the miracles are often underscored by arpeggios). The phrases respectively start on higher notes to creat a climactic effect for the start of the Chorus. For similar effect the last phrase adds drums and piano, moreover Freddie's lead vocal gets more intense. The last syllable slides down through five different notes, seven in the second Verse.

| Cm | Ab | Bb7 |
c: i | VI | VII |
Eb: IV | V |

| Eb | Cm | G |
c: III | i | V |
Eb: I | vi | V/vi |

| Db | Abm/B | Bb7 |
Eb: bVII | iv | V |

The harmony quickly steers to the relative Major key that is established by a strong cadence. Right then the Cm > G progression is weak attempt to get back to c minor. The chord progression of the last phrase has chords all borrowed from the parallel minor key (eb minor). The stepwise bass makes it subtly reminiscent of the "Queen cliche" I > V6/4 > vi progression, but it surely does not sound even remotely cliche-like. Note the galopping bass figure in measure 6 and 9.

Chorus:
It's 14 measures long and builts up from two-measure phrases.
Similarly to the Verse the first two phrase parallel eachother in terms of harmonic rhythm. The chord progression makes use of borrowed chords: we have a so-called double plagal cadence, and the I > bVII > bVI progression that we have seen in reversed form in some earlier Mercury songs (ie. in Play The Game). Shape wise the lead melodies are identical, rhythm wise they are different, and the different chordal backing makes them sounding totally different partly because the bVI chord is pivoting to the key of Gb Major.
The lead melody is three part harmonized (Freddie x 3, lead in the middle) only in the frist phrase, and also "backing" lead guitar is added. The guitar cressendos sound like reversed records.

Eb:
| Eb Db | Ab |
| I bVII | IV |

| Eb Db | B |
| I bVII | bVI |
Gb: IV |

The next subsection is accompanied by synth chords and pizzicato-mimicking arpeggios. An extra arpeggio pattern is added for the second phrase. The harmony is ambigously between Gb Major and its relative minor key (eb). The slash chords here don't really need roman numerals. The "miracles" of the third phrase rhythmically resonate with those in the Verse.

Gb:
/------ 2x -----\
| Gb | Ab7/Gb |
| I | .... |

| Gb/Ab Gb/Bb | - |
| ...

The last pharse starts with a vocal cluster (a harmony with many neighbour notes): Eb + Gb + Bb + C + Db.

| Ebm* | - |
eb: i | - |
Db: ii | - |

| Ab | (-6) |
Db: V | - |

The last phrase adds a rising lead guitar fill that is joined by a descending/concluding guitar fill.

The solo-chorus adds unisono staccatto vocals in measure 5 with triadic melody. The solo ends in measure 8, from here it continues as a normal chorus.

Bridge ("one thing"):
It's a six measure section played twice with the same lyrics, but with altered details in the arrangement and melody/phrasing. The lead guitar plays fills that are tad antiphonal-like in context of the lead vocal whose one-measure subphrases
The chord progression of the first phrase foreshadows the Coda's chord progression. Try to listen to this phrase and hum along the Coda's tune! The two different tunes counters eachother nicely.

| Db | Eb/Db | Ab/C | Gb |
| I | V/V | V | IV |

| Db Bbm7 | Db/Eb |
| I vi | |
f: "VII" |

The second Bridge echoes the lyrical phrases (spoken not sung). Note there's no antiphonal-like guitar fills here.

Connector 1, Solo 1, "miracle"
The harmony especially from measure 2 onwards is rather transitional. The key of f minor is just weakly established.

bass: Eb || E F | Gb Ab | Bb Db | Ab |
chords: Db || C Fm | Db | - | (Gb6) |
f:|| V i | VI
Db:||V/iii iii| I | - |"V & II"|

The solo except the opening arpeggio is dominated by steps. Measure 9 shows a classic Brian trademark: long diatonic scales with alternated panning (see also in Bohemian Rhapsody, Breathrou). The brief closing harmony is also Brian/Queen trademark (See also in Let Me Live, It's A Hard Life). The diatonic scales are substituted by speed-up guitar harmony trills (see also in God Save The Queen).

The next phrase is characterized by tight harmonies and off-beat accents:

1 2 3 4 1
** * * *b (b: bass)

Db:
| Gb/Ab Db/Ab Gb/Ab Db/Ab | Ebm7/Ab |
| "V" | "V" |

The last phase is predominantly instrumental and steers the key back to c minor. This is not pivot modulation. Note the 3+3+2 rhythm figure in measure 12.

bass: Db Eb Gb ...G
| Db | Cm | - |
| I
c:| i | - |

In the second circle this last phrase is omitted, and the previous phase is extended. More closely the one-measure off-beat figure is extended by a half measure, and a two extra measures with heavily flanged harmonies:

... Ebm7/Ab | Db7/Ab | Ab7 || Db
IV/V | V || I

Solo 3 / pre-Coda
The tempo speeds up. Synth bass keeps playing a one measure ostinato-riff troughout, Brian soloes over that. He uses the bend-tapping technique (see also It's Late and Don't Lose Your Head). This solo is very extreme not really melodic. It's end overlaps the Coda.
Drums enter in measure 7 which the however square (4+4+4..) phrasing for a moment.

Coda:
This sections grows out of the Solo 3 section via a crossfade. The transition is just weakly synchronized partly because the Coda has a slower tempo (back to the original), so it sounds a bit chaotic first. The two different beats get into synchron by the downbeat of the second phrase, where the "old" beat (bass-ostinato, drums, guitar solo), stops and everything gets clear for a very nice effect. The Coda is arranged for unisono vocals, bass and guitar that plays mostly arpeggios that are varied by each repetition. The one measure subphrases start on the 2nd beats except the last one starting on a downbeat creating a concluding feel.

/--------------- 4x ---------------\
| Db | Eb/Db | Ab/C | Gb (3>-5) |
| I | V/V | V | IV |

This is maybe the most catchy section of the song, no wonder it's repeated almost four times. Similarity with "Hey Jude" (Beatles): a four measure catchy tune not heard earlier in the song is repeated (18+ times in H.J.) to creat a singalong outro that is faded out.