"Spread Your Wings" | ||||
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![]() UK single picture sleeve | ||||
Single by Queen | ||||
from the album News of the World | ||||
B-side | "Sheer Heart Attack" | |||
Released | 10 February 1978 | |||
Recorded | 1977 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | Power ballad, Hard rock[1] | |||
Length | 4:32 | |||
Label | EMI (UK) | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Deacon | |||
Producer(s) | Queen, assisted by Mike Stone | |||
Queen singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Spread Your Wings" on YouTube |
No videos available
1978 single by Queen
"Spread Your Wings" is a power ballad by British rock band Queen, from their 1977 album News of the World.[2] Written by bassist John Deacon, it was released as a single in 1978, with "Sheer Heart Attack" as the B-side. According to music writer Benoit Clerc, "Spread Your Wings" was chosen as the second single from News of the World because the band regretted releasing "Tie Your Mother Down" as a single from A Day at the Races instead of Deacon`s "You and I".[3]
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1978 single by Queen
"Spread Your Wings" is a power ballad by British rock band Queen, from their 1977 album News of the World.[2] Written by bassist John Deacon, it was released as a single in 1978, with "Sheer Heart Attack" as the B-side. According to music writer Benoit Clerc, "Spread Your Wings" was chosen as the second single from News of the World because the band regretted releasing "Tie Your Mother Down" as a single from A Day at the Races instead of Deacon`s "You and I".[3]
Leer másThe lyrics of "Spread Your Wings" tells of a character named Sammy, who works cleaning floors at a bar but dreams of improving his life despite his boss telling him that he has no ambition.[3] Deacon has said:
The song has to do with a number of personal experiences from recent years. I`d rather not say in detail, because I don`t like to explain songs. People should figure it out for themselves, I think...It`s not always easy, let me tell you. You deal with a lot of things that are not always pleasant. Of course, money is wonderful, but I don`t need to be very rich. I just don`t want to fall back into a state of poverty, which a number of fairly famous musicians have ended up in. I want to try to keep something for the future.[3]
Queen FAQ author Daniel Ross described "Spread Your Wings" as Deacon`s "first attempt at narrative songwriting."[4] Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury considered it to be the best song Deacon had written to date.[5]
Musicologist Nick Braae describes the structure of "Spread Your Wings" as being somewhat unusual, in that after the initial verse and refrain centered on the key of D major, there is a bridge centered on the key of B minor, followed by an instrumental bridge that starts moving back to D major for the next verse-refrain pair.[6] Deacon used this double-bridge strategy in several other songs, including "You and I" and "Need Your Loving Tonight".[6]
The track features Freddie Mercury on piano and vocals, Brian May on electric guitar, Roger Taylor on drums, and John Deacon on bass and acoustic guitars.[3]
The song is unusual for Queen in that it uses a third-person narrative.[7] It is also the only Queen single that does not have the rest of the group providing backing vocals to Mercury`s lead.[3][7][8]
"Spread Your Wings" was not released as a single in North America. However, the live version of the song from Live Killers was chosen as the B-side of Queen`s 1979 hit "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.[9]
Dayton Daily News critic Gary Nuhn called it "a song with Beatles-like lyrics of a man pulling himself up.[10] Courier-News critic Bill Bleyer says that it makes a similar point as the more popular song "We Are the Champions", – that "while the established order continues to hold down the young, they can still make it if they try" – it does so better and "without overpowering the listener".[11] Ross described it as a "melancholy anthem" that has "the same sense of bombast as `We Are the Champions` but shot through with existential sadness and a desire to burst the shackles of mundane employment."[4]
Clerc praised Mercury`s vocal delivery, saying that he sang the song "superbly, emphasizing the lyrics with his compelling vocal dexterity".[3] Andrew Wild said that it`s a "commercial song with a terrific chorus" and is "sung with real conviction by Freddie Mercury".[8]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated the song as the fourth-best song Deacon wrote for Queen, praising its "rising appreciation of musical drama".[7] Classic Rock History critic Millie Zeiler rated it John Deacon`s fourth-best Queen song.[12]
The song peaked at number 34 in the UK Singles Chart.
The music video for "Spread Your Wings" was shot in January 1978 in the garden of Roger Taylor`s house in Surrey, on the same day the band also shot the video for "We Will Rock You".[3][5] The video was directed by Rock Flicks.[3]
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
---|---|
Germany (GfK)[14] | 29 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] | 20 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] | 26 |
UK Singles (OCC)[17] | 34 |
This song was covered by German power metal band Blind Guardian on their 1992 album Somewhere Far Beyond. The same recording reappeared on their 1996 album The Forgotten Tales.[18]
1978 single by Queen
"Spread Your Wings" is a power ballad by British rock band Queen, from their 1977 album News of the World.[2] Written by bassist John Deacon, it was released as a single in 1978, with "Sheer Heart Attack" as the B-side. According to music writer Benoit Clerc, "Spread Your Wings" was chosen as the second single from News of the World because the band regretted releasing "Tie Your Mother Down" as a single from A Day at the Races instead of Deacon`s "You and I".[3]
The lyrics of "Spread Your Wings" tells of a character named Sammy, who works cleaning floors at a bar but dreams of improving his life despite his boss telling him that he has no ambition.[3] Deacon has said:
The song has to do with a number of personal experiences from recent years. I`d rather not say in detail, because I don`t like to explain songs. People should figure it out for themselves, I think...It`s not always easy, let me tell you. You deal with a lot of things that are not always pleasant. Of course, money is wonderful, but I don`t need to be very rich. I just don`t want to fall back into a state of poverty, which a number of fairly famous musicians have ended up in. I want to try to keep something for the future.[3]
Queen FAQ author Daniel Ross described "Spread Your Wings" as Deacon`s "first attempt at narrative songwriting."[4] Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury considered it to be the best song Deacon had written to date.[5]
Musicologist Nick Braae describes the structure of "Spread Your Wings" as being somewhat unusual, in that after the initial verse and refrain centered on the key of D major, there is a bridge centered on the key of B minor, followed by an instrumental bridge that starts moving back to D major for the next verse-refrain pair.[6] Deacon used this double-bridge strategy in several other songs, including "You and I" and "Need Your Loving Tonight".[6]
The track features Freddie Mercury on piano and vocals, Brian May on electric guitar, Roger Taylor on drums, and John Deacon on bass and acoustic guitars.[3]
The song is unusual for Queen in that it uses a third-person narrative.[7] It is also the only Queen single that does not have the rest of the group providing backing vocals to Mercury`s lead.[3][7][8]
"Spread Your Wings" was not released as a single in North America. However, the live version of the song from Live Killers was chosen as the B-side of Queen`s 1979 hit "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.[9]
Dayton Daily News critic Gary Nuhn called it "a song with Beatles-like lyrics of a man pulling himself up.[10] Courier-News critic Bill Bleyer says that it makes a similar point as the more popular song "We Are the Champions", – that "while the established order continues to hold down the young, they can still make it if they try" – it does so better and "without overpowering the listener".[11] Ross described it as a "melancholy anthem" that has "the same sense of bombast as `We Are the Champions` but shot through with existential sadness and a desire to burst the shackles of mundane employment."[4]
Clerc praised Mercury`s vocal delivery, saying that he sang the song "superbly, emphasizing the lyrics with his compelling vocal dexterity".[3] Andrew Wild said that it`s a "commercial song with a terrific chorus" and is "sung with real conviction by Freddie Mercury".[8]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated the song as the fourth-best song Deacon wrote for Queen, praising its "rising appreciation of musical drama".[7] Classic Rock History critic Millie Zeiler rated it John Deacon`s fourth-best Queen song.[12]
The song peaked at number 34 in the UK Singles Chart.
The music video for "Spread Your Wings" was shot in January 1978 in the garden of Roger Taylor`s house in Surrey, on the same day the band also shot the video for "We Will Rock You".[3][5] The video was directed by Rock Flicks.[3]
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
---|---|
Germany (GfK)[14] | 29 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] | 20 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] | 26 |
UK Singles (OCC)[17] | 34 |
This song was covered by German power metal band Blind Guardian on their 1992 album Somewhere Far Beyond. The same recording reappeared on their 1996 album The Forgotten Tales.[18]