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: Sheer Heart Attack

Sheer Heart Attack

This is a "trendy" track of the album and just like "Fun It" (the trendy track on "Jazz") it was written by Taylor. The trend was the punk music, that was still under establishing, right in the neighbour studio room, where at that time Sex Pistols were recording their landmark album "Never Mind The Bollocks". It looks obvious consequence that Roger penned the song under their influence. Surprisingly Taylor wrote the song during the "Sheer Heart Attack" album recording period back in 1974! If you consider the proto-punk beat of the even earlier "Modern Times Rock and Roll", it's not that surprising anymore. On the other hand the "Sex Pistols" must have influented the choice of pulling out it from the drawer and give it a punk sound.
The accompaniment of the dominated by power chords played with metallic palm muted downstrokes, but the lead vocals often add the major thirds. The homekey on the record is Eb-Major. Considering that Eb-Major is not a guitarfriendly key (even though it does not matter much in power chord mode) and the live versions were in D-Major, the song was probably recorded in D-Major, then speeded up, thus this transcription is in D. Tad surprisingly we don't have flat-side borrowed chords (eg. bVII).
The songform shows Taylor-esque recycled phrases after the verses ("Fight From The Inside"). The form transcription treats it as a individual variant verse section.
The lead vocals are shared Between Mercury and Roger, doubletracked most of the time.

Verse
The song starts with a microscopic intro that consists of a fret noise and vocal pickup. The live version had a proper intro the tonic chord. The verse consists of five phrases each with four bars AAABB'. The vocal phrases are often intervened by crazy guitar fills, for example a random solo-bit in the second achived by combing tremolo bar and pull-off trill.

The A-figure:
| D | - | G A | A |
| I | - | IV V | V |

The harmonic rhythm is syncopated in m.3:

1 2 3 4 1
DGGG AAAA...

The B and B' phrases:
| E | - | - | - |
| V/V | - | - | - |

| E | - | - | E5 F5 F#5 |
| V/V | - | - | chromatic |

The first two phrases of the Verse return as a shortened verse. The shortened verse that opens the third cycle starts with a delayed enter of the vocal motivated by the overlapping end of the preceding section ("inarticuLATE").

Chorus
The chorus is characterized by two chords altered and a dissonant vocal harmony using 7th and 9th degrees completed with a 3rd (10th) above in the third phrase. The chorus has four phrases (6+6+6+6 CCCD)

C-riff
| A(7,9) | (A) G | A G A | G A G | A G A | A |
| V | IV| V IV V |IV V IV| V IV V | V |

The harmonic rhythm uses 3+3+3+3+2+2 patterned syncopation in m.3-4:

"sheeeeeer"
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1
A G A G A G A G A...

The fourth phrase prolonges the E5 chord throughout with 3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3 patterned accents in m.15-17.

m.13
| E | - | - | - | - | - |

The last chorus omits the fourth phrase as being cutted off at the last chord change in the fifth measure of the third phrase.

feedback:
In the third cycle we have a long developed as an extension of the the Verse. It prolonges the dominant chord throughout the 16 measures with 3+5 patterned accents. The "irritating" feedback noise is created probably by a headphone and a microphone. The guitars are abandondeed by a "vicious" string scretching and followed by an odd drumm fill that is spreading to either left and right with antidirectional flanging.