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 - "No Synth" era - Jazz: Don't Stop Me Now

Don't Stop Me Now

Composer: Freddie Mercury
Meter: 4/4
Key: F-Major
Form:

        Intro | Verse | Chorus |
              | Verse | Bridge |
         | Solo/Verse | Chorus | Outro (Intro)

"Don't Stop Me Now" is a great driving piano rock. The seemingly simple song (in terms of arrangement and form) is full of clever details that are well beyond the usual rnr songwriting. The most interesting details are the uneven phrasing, relatively non-repetitiv long lead melodies, the syncopations and the way how the phrases of the Verse and chorus are developed from the intro (or vica versa as for example in "Teo Torriate"?).
In contrast with the syncopations the drum work is quite simple and invariant throughout.
The harmony uses mostly the standard chord set of the homekey plus some secondary dominants, chord inversions,  sevenths and simple step-wise figures built in the piano accompaniment (m.4-5).
The form shows mainly three cycles of Verse - Chorus the second cycle featuring a bridge (break) instead of chorus. The guitar solo is placed in the first half of the third verse.


Intro:
The song starts with a long intro in slower pace then the rest of the song. The accompaniment is just piano until the second phrase where the bass joins in. The tempo speeds up qickly from the midle measure of the last phrase on.
The last two phrases are sung in harmony in staccatto mode except the last syllables. This 15 measure intro is a great example for uneven phrasing: 5+3+2+2+3, A B C D D-ext.

F:
| F   | Am   | Dm   | Gm   | C    |
| I   | iii  | vi   | ii   | V    |

| F   | F7/A  | Bb   |
| I   |V of IV| IV   |

| Gm7 | D7   |
| ii  | V/ii |

| Gm F C | Gm   |
| ii I V | ii   |

| Gm F C | Gm(7)| C7   |
| ii I v | ii   | V    |


The rhythm features some pre-downbeat emphases. The beat map of the first phrase:

  1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1
 ***  *****    *** *   ****  * * *      ***

Thr fourth phrase (and also the most of the title phrases) in this song:

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
*  * * *

Mercury's use of special singing effects deserves a closer look many slided notes, some vibratos, short falsetto singing.

Verse:
The verse and the chorus is developed from the intro in a rather clever way.
The phrasing 5+5+3+3+2+2, A A' B C'-E E' F where the "E" phrase is the extension of C' melodic phrase ("call me...").

/-------------- 2x ---------------\
| F   | Am   | Dm   | Gm   | C    |
| I   | iii  | vi   | ii   | V    |

| F   | F7/Eb| Bb   |
| I   | V/IV | IV   |

| Gm7 | D7   | Gm   |
| ii  | V/ii | ii   |

|D7/F#| Gm   |
| V/ii| ii   |

| F  F  F  F | G          | : Top/Lead
| D  C  D  D | E          | : Middle
| G  A  Bb B | C          | : Bass
| Gm7...     | C          | : chords



The second phrase closes with 3+3+3 syncopations. The beat map of the lead vocal:

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1
*  *  *  * *** *

The first verse adds bells in the last measure. The second phrase of the second verse adds an explosive vocal harmony underscoring the lyrics ("...explode"). This sonic explosion is achived by the harmony extending and rising:

(F  F) F   G  A  Bb C
 Bb C  D   E  F  G  A
 Bb A  Bb...
 G  A  Bb  C  D  E  F

The first half of the verse following the break is occupied by the guitar solo that doesn't stop when the lead vocal returns but keeps adding fills.


Chorus
The chorus also borrows melodies from the intro. The phrasing is 4+4+2+2+3, G G' D D H. The harmonized first half of the G phrase rhythm-wise parallels, melody-shape-wise mirrors the other title (D) phrases. The last melodic phrase also parallels the E phrase.


| F Gm Am | Dm   | Gm   | C    |
| I ii iii| vi   | ii   | V    |

| F Gm Am | Dm   | Gm7  | D7   |
| I ii iii| vi   | ii   | V/ii |

| Gm F C | Gm   |
| ii I V | ii   |

| Gm F C | Gm   |
| ii I v | ii   |

| C    | Bb11  | -    |
| V    | IV    | -    |

The last phrase ends with the familiar 3+3+3+3+4 rhythm pattern. The last chorus closes differently: it abruptly slows down and adds harmony vocals. Two resolution of borrowed notes (ie. flat-3rd an flat-7th) results in special flavor to the plagal cadence more exposed than in the previous choruses (Bb11 > F).

F > F : lead vocal
Eb> C : harmony vocal
C > A : harmony vocal
Ab> A : harmony vocal
Bb> F : bass guitar

Beside the flat-7th (Eb) we Freddie sings a flat-3rd (Ab) as well.


Bridge (Break)
The second verse is followed by a bridge setting the tonal center to the dominant chord (C or c). The lead melody uses flat 7th in contrast with the the hard to hear harmony vocal (better heard in 5.1 and the karaoke mix) in both last two phrases uses natural 7th (E-nat).
The accompaniment of the bridge stripped down to drums exposed in a two measure "intro".

...|(C)   |     |

| C1   | -    |
| 5th  | -    |

| C1   | Eb  Dm Cm |
| 5th  |bVII vi v  |

| C3   | -    |
| V    | -    |

| C3   |      |
| V    |      |


In the live versions the break was extended with mostly instrumental passages.


Outro
The outro is a close variant of the intro shortened to three phrases. The "wordless lyrics" and the fade out combined create a nice romantic feel. The live version of course uses complete ending instead of the fade out. For the third phrase the guitar takes over the leading. The chord progression is closed with a Piquardy third, but it sounds rather like a brief modulation to G.

m.9
| Gm7 | D    | G   |
| ii  | V/ii | II  |
G:    | V    | I   |