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 Works: It's A Hard Life

It's A Hard Life

Composer: Freddie Mercury, Ruggiero Leoncavallo (Intro I)
Meter: 4/4
Key: (g-minor) Bb-Major, Eb-Major, c-minor,
Form:

        | Intro I - II (AA)| Verse | pre-Chorus  | Chorus (AA')||
                           | Verse | pre-Chorus  | Chorus |
            | pre-solo I-II | Solo  (pre-Chorus')| Chorus'-ext / Outro (AAAAAA-) |


If there is a typical Mercury song (especially harmony-wise), than this is it. The song is not very complicated. It consists of three cycles the third of which starts with pre-solo section instead of a verse. We have a pre-chorus section which is relatively infrequently used by the band compared to contemporary pop music. This one also could be threated as the second subsection of the Verse.
The harmony makes frequent use of the I > V6/3 > vi cliche.


Intro
The first part of the Intro is a quote from Leoncavallo's opera "I Pagliacci" (1892).

g:
| Cm7  | -    |
| iv   | -    |

| Eb   | D7   |
| VI   | V    |

The chords suggest g minor to be the opening key but the harmony does not resolves to its tonic but to that of Bb-Major.

The second part of the intro is a piano hook played twice.

Bb:
/----- 2x -----\
| Bb   | Ab/Bb |
|  I   | bVII  |


Verse
The verse is 12 measures long (4+4+2+2, ABCD), the four measure phrases start on the second beat, the two measure ones start with upbeat. The second melodic phrase closes on a dissonant note (4th degree).

Bb:
| Bb   | F    | Gm   | -    |
| I    | V    | vi   | -    |

| Eb   | Bb/D | Cm(4)| -    |
| IV   | I    | ii   | -    |

| Bb   | -    | (Dhalfdim/Bb)
| I    | -    |

| Ab/Bb| -    |
| bVII | -    |

In contrast with the second verse which is backed by proper drumbeat, the first verse has no drums beat just adlib played cymbals. The seond Verse adds some single part backing vocals.


pre-chorus
The twelve measure pre-chorus has three phrases (AA'B 4+4+4), where the B is in fact the extension of A'. The music modulates to the neighbour key Eb-Major. The first two phrases re-use the I > V6/3 > vi cliche followed by iii chord reminiscent of "...Lover Boy".

Eb:
| Eb   | Bb/D  | Cm   | Gm   |
| I    |  V    | vi   | iii  |

| Eb   | Bb/D  | Cm   | Gm   |
| I    |  V    | vi   | iii  |

 |  Ab   | -    | F    | -    |
 |  IV   | -    | V/V  | -    |
Bb: bVII | -    | V    | -    |

Each three phrases of the second pre-chorus is melodically changed. In the last harmonic phrase the B melodic phrase is followed by yet another melodic phrase with rising shape. Here Brian plays a step-wise oscillating figure on guitar.


Chorus
The 20 measure chorus has two subsections (AA') plus an instrumental spacer with two jingling guitar chords. The harmony is very basic except the semichromatic ascending figure closing the first subsection.

Bb:
| Bb   | Dm   |
| I    | iii  |

| Eb   | Bb   |
| IV   | I    |

| Eb   | Bb   |
| IV   | I    |

| F1 G1  | Ab1 A1|                  
| 5  6   | b7  7 |

The harmony of the second subsection is altered and extended from m.7 on. The last melodic phrase ends on the downbeat of the last harmonic phrase. The IV > bIII figure with pedal bass strongly resonates with the intro-hook.

m7                          
| F    | -    |
| V    | -    |

| Eb   | -    | Db/Eb | maj7 |
| IV   | -    | bIII  | -    |

In the second chorus the closing chord is Db6/Eb and the first harmonic phrase is altered, but the backing vocals sing the original melody. The semichromatic figure is completed to chords this time:

m7
| F Eb/G | Fdim/Ab F/A |
| V    chromatic       |

The third chorus lest you hear the backing guitar harmony arrangement much better.
The outro is developed from the extended third chorus. The melody rises from the second phrases on reaching a climax on the downbeat of m.9 where the outro starts. Harmony-wise it is almost like a slow down version of the ending of the second chorus. Note the F note added by the guitar in m.1-3.

m.7
| F     | -    |
| V     |

| Eb/G  | -9   |

| Ab    | -6   |

| F(7)/A| -    |

The outro repeats the intro hook six times, then only slow dyades (Bb1/Ab) are played (shades of the "Life Is Real" intro) starting on the third beat of the sixth repeatition of the hook.
 
/----- 6x ----\
| Bb   | 7,2  |
| I    |      |

|Bb1/Ab|


pre-solo
The first two measures are arrangemet-wise extending the piano closing of the preceding second chorus. The harmony suggest a c minor tonality for the first two phrases.

c:
| Ab    | G (4>3>4>5)|
| VI    | V          |

| Eb    | -      | -      | Eb D Eb | top
| C     | Bb1    | Ab1    | G1      | bass
| I     | 7th    | 6th    | 5th     |

The third phrase adds guitar harmony chords followed by stepwise moving lead guitar figures turning antiphonal for fourth phrase which ends with a long ascending scale in fast triplets (see also "White Queen"). For the last phrase the gutar is harmonized and also some vocal harmony chords are added. The key modulates to the relative Major key (Eb). Harmony-wise the fourth phrase parallels the third one with the I > V6/3 > vi cliche (see also "Save Me").

Eb:
| Eb    | Bb/D   | Cm     | -       |
| I     | V6/3   | vi     | -       |

| Ab    | Eb/G   | Fm     | -       |
| Iv    | I6/3   | ii     | -       |

| Eb/Bb | Bb     | -7     | -       |
|"IV/V" | V      | -      | -       |


Solo

The prolonged dominant ending of the pre-solo does not resolve to the tonic but to the subdominant. The tonic-role of the Eb not very convincing due to the inverted voicing and also the harmonic similarity with the pre-chorus which suggests here Ab to be the key. On the other hand the catchy lead tune (featuring D instead of Db) suggests Eb-Major, which modulates to the neighbour Bb-Major in m.9-10 where the lead guitar gets harmonized.

Eb:
| Ab    | Eb/G   | Fm     | Cm      |
| Iv    | I6/3   | ii     | vi      |

| Ab    | Eb/G   | Fm     | Cm      | Cm/Bb Bb   | Bb      |
| Iv    | I6/3   | ii     | vi      | vi    V    | V       |
                                  Bb: ii    I    | I       |

Bb:
| F     | -      |
| V     | -      |  

The last phrase of the melodic guitar solo is a May-esque descending figure (see also "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "You Don't Fool Me").