Post by georg on Feb 26, 2021 19:38:43 GMT
Working titles for songs have always fascinated me, because it's a look into the writing process (or reveals a band's sense of humor) that makes you wonder what made a title like 'Banana Blues' less interesting than 'Misfire'.
Here's a list of some songs album albums with known working titles in parentheses; if anyone has any further info on any other songs, drop 'em in here!
• Queen (Top Fax, Pix and Info, Roger's suggestion; Deary Me, Brian's suggestion)
• Liar (derived from an Ibex/Wreckage/Sour Milk Sea [can't remember which one] track called Lover, but likely never known as such in the studio)
• Queen II (Over the Top)
• Brighton Rock (Happy Little Fuck, Happy Little Day, Blackpool Rock, Bognor Ballad, Southend Sea Scout, Skiffle Rock, Herne Bay)
• Tenement Funster (Teen Dreams, You're Young and You're Crazy)
• Misfire (Banana Blues)
• In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited (Lap of the Gods Part 2)
• Death On Two Legs (Psycho Legs, though this may have been only the intro section, which resembles the Psycho theme)
• '39 (Wreck of the '39)
• The Prophet's Song (People of the Earth)
• Bohemian Rhapsody (Fred's Thing, Freddie's Piano Bits; also referred to as The Cowboy Song by one of Freddie's former bandmates, but likely never known as such in the studio)
• A Day at the Races OR possibly the Escher-inspired intro and outro (Let the Race Begin)
• Tie Your Mother Down (interestingly, this was Brian's working title which Freddie insisted he keep!)
• Long Away (Brian's 12-String Thing)
• White Man (Simple Man)
• Get Down, Make Love (on a tape box it looks like the word "Head" was scribbled over and "Love" written above it, which might have been an error or Freddie had to be convinced to tone it down a bit...)
• My Melancholy Blues (My Melancholy Baby)
• More of That Jazz (on a tape box, "More of That" is contained in parentheses)
• The Game (Play the Game – objected to by Roger)
• Rock It (known alternately by either Rock It or Prime Jive)
• Sail Away Sweet Sister (Sister, Sweet Sister)
• Football Fight (Freddie's Theme No. 2 – probably a lot of these kinds of titles in regards to the Flash Gordon soundtrack)
• In the Death Cell (Dungeon Scene, according to a tape box)
• Under Pressure (Feel Like, People On Streets/People On the Streets)
• Cool Cat (Wooly Hat)
• Radio Ga Ga (Radio Ka Ka/Radio Ca Ca)
• It's a Hard Life (Hard Life – I've seen this beyond just shorthand)
• Machines (Machine's World)
• The Miracle album (The Invisible Men – what a stupid album title that would have been...!)
• Breakthru (I feel like I've seen a lyric sheet with Breakthrough on it, and that Roger hinted that it had been 'Americanized' but it wasn't his idea)
• My Baby Does Me (My Baby Loves Me)
• Chinese Torture (Chinese Strings on the tape box; Brian definitely changed it to be more appropriate!)
• Hang On In There (derived from a jam known as A Fiddly Thing, but probably never known as such in the studio)
• Innuendo (Bolero)
• All God's People (derived from a composition known as Africa By Night, but known almost consistently as All God's People, though a fan club magazine abbreviated it to just God's People before the album was released)
• Bijou (You and Me)
• It's a Beautiful Day (Beautiful Day)
• Let Me Live (recorded as Take Another Little Piece of My Heart in 1983)
Known working titles but not known which songs:
• Don't Say No (presumably a Deacon track, as it was on handwritten lists for the Jazz album in lieu of In Only Seven Days, so perhaps a working title for that song?)
• Under Dispute (mentioned by Greg Brooks in a June 2002 Record Collector article, but no idea what song it could be)
• Whipping Boy (I've seen it suggested that this is I Go Crazy, but that hasn't been confirmed)
Solo Working Titles:
• Man Made Paradise (Paradise for Man)
• My Love Is Dangerous (credited as Love Is Dangerous on the 2000 FM Solo Collection box set Mr. Bad Guy outtakes disc)
• The Fallen Priest (The Duet, Rachmaninov's Revenge)
• Barcelona (known simply as Idea at the beginning)
• Business (Hard Business)
• Man On Fire (I Feel Like a Man On Fire)
• Bad Attitude (Tear It Up)
Here's a list of some songs album albums with known working titles in parentheses; if anyone has any further info on any other songs, drop 'em in here!
• Queen (Top Fax, Pix and Info, Roger's suggestion; Deary Me, Brian's suggestion)
• Liar (derived from an Ibex/Wreckage/Sour Milk Sea [can't remember which one] track called Lover, but likely never known as such in the studio)
• Queen II (Over the Top)
• Brighton Rock (Happy Little Fuck, Happy Little Day, Blackpool Rock, Bognor Ballad, Southend Sea Scout, Skiffle Rock, Herne Bay)
• Tenement Funster (Teen Dreams, You're Young and You're Crazy)
• Misfire (Banana Blues)
• In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited (Lap of the Gods Part 2)
• Death On Two Legs (Psycho Legs, though this may have been only the intro section, which resembles the Psycho theme)
• '39 (Wreck of the '39)
• The Prophet's Song (People of the Earth)
• Bohemian Rhapsody (Fred's Thing, Freddie's Piano Bits; also referred to as The Cowboy Song by one of Freddie's former bandmates, but likely never known as such in the studio)
• A Day at the Races OR possibly the Escher-inspired intro and outro (Let the Race Begin)
• Tie Your Mother Down (interestingly, this was Brian's working title which Freddie insisted he keep!)
• Long Away (Brian's 12-String Thing)
• White Man (Simple Man)
• Get Down, Make Love (on a tape box it looks like the word "Head" was scribbled over and "Love" written above it, which might have been an error or Freddie had to be convinced to tone it down a bit...)
• My Melancholy Blues (My Melancholy Baby)
• More of That Jazz (on a tape box, "More of That" is contained in parentheses)
• The Game (Play the Game – objected to by Roger)
• Rock It (known alternately by either Rock It or Prime Jive)
• Sail Away Sweet Sister (Sister, Sweet Sister)
• Football Fight (Freddie's Theme No. 2 – probably a lot of these kinds of titles in regards to the Flash Gordon soundtrack)
• In the Death Cell (Dungeon Scene, according to a tape box)
• Under Pressure (Feel Like, People On Streets/People On the Streets)
• Cool Cat (Wooly Hat)
• Radio Ga Ga (Radio Ka Ka/Radio Ca Ca)
• It's a Hard Life (Hard Life – I've seen this beyond just shorthand)
• Machines (Machine's World)
• The Miracle album (The Invisible Men – what a stupid album title that would have been...!)
• Breakthru (I feel like I've seen a lyric sheet with Breakthrough on it, and that Roger hinted that it had been 'Americanized' but it wasn't his idea)
• My Baby Does Me (My Baby Loves Me)
• Chinese Torture (Chinese Strings on the tape box; Brian definitely changed it to be more appropriate!)
• Hang On In There (derived from a jam known as A Fiddly Thing, but probably never known as such in the studio)
• Innuendo (Bolero)
• All God's People (derived from a composition known as Africa By Night, but known almost consistently as All God's People, though a fan club magazine abbreviated it to just God's People before the album was released)
• Bijou (You and Me)
• It's a Beautiful Day (Beautiful Day)
• Let Me Live (recorded as Take Another Little Piece of My Heart in 1983)
Known working titles but not known which songs:
• Don't Say No (presumably a Deacon track, as it was on handwritten lists for the Jazz album in lieu of In Only Seven Days, so perhaps a working title for that song?)
• Under Dispute (mentioned by Greg Brooks in a June 2002 Record Collector article, but no idea what song it could be)
• Whipping Boy (I've seen it suggested that this is I Go Crazy, but that hasn't been confirmed)
Solo Working Titles:
• Man Made Paradise (Paradise for Man)
• My Love Is Dangerous (credited as Love Is Dangerous on the 2000 FM Solo Collection box set Mr. Bad Guy outtakes disc)
• The Fallen Priest (The Duet, Rachmaninov's Revenge)
• Barcelona (known simply as Idea at the beginning)
• Business (Hard Business)
• Man On Fire (I Feel Like a Man On Fire)
• Bad Attitude (Tear It Up)
