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 - News Of The World: Get Down Make Love

Get Down Make Love

"Get Down Make Love" is one of the more experimental works of the band. The pscichadelia was not new by 1977. This kind of psychadelia can be associated with sexuality (what the lyrics suggest) instead of drugs. This experimentation was fueled by the mere joy of creating strange noises, no need to search for deep psychological reasons.
The arrangement is very fragmentary, very economic, full of tension, perfectly underscoring the unique mood of the song. The chorus and the verse is backed by the same riff which combines bass and piano. The repetitive backing is combined with always changing guitar and drum fills.
The Bridge is contrasting by having a normal rock backing track. We have another contrasting section: a psychadelic interlude which is place for extravagancas with a pedal controlled harmonizer.

Intro
The intro introduces us the main bass part of the main riff without the piano. Feed back guitar fades in and glissandoed down from Eb by using tremolo bar. The feedback creates an interesting parallel tenth harmony where the top and the bottom part are fighting with eachother for supressing the other. For the end of the intro drums also enter.

/--------------- 2x ---------------\
| Eb1 | | Eb1 | |
| 1st | | 1st | |

Chorus, Verse

Both chorus and verse are backed with the same four bar bass+piano motif. The chorus repeats it twice (XX'), the verse four times (YYY'Z)

| Eb1 Eb5 Db5 | (Db5) | Eb1 Db5 Ab5 | (Ab5) |
| i VII | - | VII iv | - |

Note the very first time the piano motif is tad different and in the verses the bass motif is also altered with some syncopations. The section (s) between the two bridges is a combination of verse and chorus. The first fragments of the antiphonal phrases are taken from the chorus but sung lower and harmonised in fifths. The second half of the phrases are verse-like, but completly re-melodized. Last (sixth) phrase is the second half the chorus phrase.
The pitch content is almost completly pentatonic (the bass plays 2nd degree (F) in the "Z" phrase)

Bridge
The bridges modulate in the distant key of G Major. The lead melody is modally infected with blue (minor) thirds.
The backing track prolonges the G chord with sus4 in the even numbered bars.

G:
/------ 3x ------\
| G | -sus4 |

3/4 3/4 4/4
| G | G | - | G | |

In the second bridge the 3/4 bars are directly followed by the interlude where the 3/4 beat is carried forward.
The song closes with the third bridge with a complete ending.

Interlude
After the second bridge we have a 40 measure long interlude featuring harmonizer wizardy. They were toying with harmonizer since the "Races" tour (the interlude of "The Prohets Song"). The sound effect is tad reminiscent of the "Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin), but not very much...
There is not much to be analysed here except the monotone drum beat pulsing slowly in three quarters abandoned for the last beats. As a by-product of the pitch shift of the the harmonizer (set to minor third) some diminieshed seventh chords and arpeggios are created.
A version of this interlude was included in the BBC version of "Its Late". In fact all versions (studio and live) were rather "different versions", never the same. Mood-wise the live Killers version oddly combines sexual and apocaliptic visions.