The recording is remarkable for featuring an elaborate recreation of a Dixieland-style jazz band, produced by May using his Red Special guitar, along with various forms of effects processing.
May touched briefly on the "horns" in the song, in a 1982 interview with "On The Record".
""Yeah, that's four different kind of guitars. I was very keen in those days on recreating that sort of atmosphere. I mainly got the sound with small amplifiers. I used John Deacon's little amplifier and a volume pedal. For the trombone and trumpet sounds. I would record every note individually: Do it and then drop in. Incredibly painstaking! It took ages and ages. I listened to a lot of traditional jazz music when I was young, so I tried to get the phrasing as it would be if it were played by that instrument."
The song is a narrative tale, told by a man who in young age was advised by his father to "take care of those you call your own, and keep good company." In his younger years, the singer follows his father's advice, keeping his friends and marrying a girl named Sally. However, after their marriage, he begins to lose interest in his friends, who gradually disappear. As he grows older, he becomes increasingly skilled at and dedicated to his occupation, working long nights and neglecting his family.
Eventually, the singer's efforts are rewarded, he begins his own Limited company (which is also a pun, since throughout the rest of the song "company" is used in the sense of companions). Even more dedicated to his business, he hardly notices as his wife leaves him.
The song finishes with the speaker as an elderly man, puffing his pipe and pondering the lessons of his life, which he has no one left to share with.
This is the only song from the album that was never performed live.
In a 1983 interview with BBC Radio One, Brian May discussed at length the conception and execution of the "jazz band" at the end of the song.
"Yes, it's all guitar all those instruments. That was a little fetish of mine. I used to listen to Traditional Jazz quite a lot, in particular, the twenties revival stuff which wasn’t actually Traditional Jazz but more arranged stuff like The Temperance Seven who were recreating something which was popular in the twenties, sort of dance tunes really. I was very impressed by the way those arrangements were done, you know, the nice smooth sound and those lovely changes between chords. Because they were much more rich in chords than most modern songs are. So many chord changes in a short time, lots of intermingling parts. So I wanted to do one of those things and the song just happened to come out while I was plunking away a the ukulele and the song itself was no trouble to write at all. But actually doing the arrangements for the wind section, as it was supposed to be.
There’s a guitar trumpet and a guitar clarinet and a guitar trombone and a sort of extra thing, I don’t really know what it was supposed to be (chuckles) on the top. I spent a lot of time doing those and to get the effect of the instruments I was doing one note at a time, with a pedal and building them up. So you can imagine how long it took. We experimented with the mikes and various little tiny amplifiers to get just the right sound. So I actually made a study of the kind of thing that those instruments could play so it would sound like those and get the authentic flavour. It was a bit of fun but, it was a serious serious bit of work in that a lot of time went into it."
Good Company
Queen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My father said to me
As he puffed his pipe and Baby B
He dandled on his knee
Don't fool with fools who'll turn away
Keep all good company
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Take care of those you call your own
Soon I grew and happy too
My very good friends and me
We'd play all day with Sally J
The girl from number four
Very soon, I begged her, won't you keep me company?
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Come marry me, forevermore, we'll be good company
Now marriage is an institution, sure
My wife and I, our needs, and nothing more
All my friends by a year
By and by, disappeared
But we're safe enough behind our door
I flourished in my humble trade
My reputation grew
The work devoured my waking hours
But when my time was through
Reward of all my efforts
My own limited company
I hardly noticed Sally as we parted company
All through the years, in the end, it appears
There was never really anyone but me
Now I'm old, I puff my pipe
But no one's there to see
I ponder on the lesson of my life's insanity
Take care of those you call your own
And keep good company
In the song "Good Company" by Queen, the lyrics are conveying the message of the significance of relationships and the company people keep. The lyrics begin with the singer's father advising him to take care of what he has and to keep good company. He warns him against interacting with foolish people who may lead him astray. The song progresses as the singer grows older but still decides to keep good company, which leads him to meet a girl named Sally, with whom he wishes to spend his life. They get married and, as time passes, their friends and company slowly fade away.
However, as the singer reflects, he realizes that he always had himself and the importance of taking care of oneself and the ones you care about proactively. Marriage, he says, is an institution, but his relationship with his wife is simple and nothing more than what they need. The singer's company may have dwindled, but he remained true to his father's words and continued to keep good company throughout his life. Overall, the lyrics teach us to value and cherish the people in our lives, pay attention to the company we keep, and take care of ourselves as well.
Line by Line Meaning
Take good care of what you've got
My father advised me to take care of what I have
My father said to me
My father gave me some advice
As he puffed his pipe and Baby B
He smoked a pipe and held a baby
He dandled on his knee
He played with the baby
Don't fool with fools who'll turn away
Don't hang out with people who will betray you
Keep all good company
Surround yourself with good people
Take care of those you call your own
Look after your loved ones
Soon I grew and happy too
I grew up and was happy
My very good friends and me
I had some really good friends
We'd play all day with Sally J
We used to spend the whole day playing with Sally J
The girl from number four
She lived in the house next door
Very soon, I begged her, won't you keep me company?
I asked her to be my friend
Come marry me, forevermore, we'll be good company
We decided to get married and be together forever
Now marriage is an institution, sure
Marriage is a well-established social norm
My wife and I, our needs, and nothing more
My wife and I only need each other
All my friends by a year
All my friends have died
By and by, disappeared
They gradually disappeared over time
But we're safe enough behind our door
My wife and I feel safe at home
I flourished in my humble trade
I did well in my small business
My reputation grew
I became well-known
The work devoured my waking hours
My work took up all my time
But when my time was through
But eventually I retired
Reward of all my efforts
My success was the reward for all my hard work
My own limited company
I started my own business
I hardly noticed Sally as we parted company
I did not really pay attention to Sally when we broke up
All through the years, in the end, it appears
As time went by, I realized
There was never really anyone but me
I was the only one that truly mattered
Now I'm old, I puff my pipe
Now that I am old, I smoke my pipe
But no one's there to see
But no one is around to witness it
I ponder on the lesson of my life's insanity
I reflect on the lessons I have learned from my crazy life
Take care of those you call your own
It is important to care for your loved ones
And keep good company
Surround yourself with good people
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Brian Harold May
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sir Khalid
Take good care of what you've got
My father said to me
As he puffed his pipe and baby B.
He dandled on his knee
Don't fool with fools who'll turn away
Keep all good company
Oo hoo oo hoo
Take care of those you call your own
And keep good company
Soon I grew and happy too
My very good friends and me
We'd play all day with Sally J.
The girl from number four
Very soon I begged her won't you keep me company
Oo hoo oo hoo
Oo hoo oo hoo
Oo hoo oo hoo
Come marry me for evermore we'll be good company
Now marriage is an institution sure
My wife and I our needs and nothing more
All my friends by a year
By and by disappeared
But we're safe enough behind our door
I flourished in my humble trade
My reputation grew
The work devoured my waking hours
But when my time was through
Reward of all my efforts my own
Limited company
I hardly noticed Sally as we parted company
All through the years in the end it appears
There was never really anyone but me
Now I'm old, I puff my pipe
But no-one's there to see
I ponder on the lesson of my life's insanity
Take care of those you call your own
And keep good company
Sean Chavarria
All of Brian's songs he sang were so beautiful, yet sad.
Jon Dunmore
'39 always makes me weep.
GladiatorKnightGhost
Not all of them - I mean, Fat Bottom Girls, Tie Your Mother Down, Tear It Up, I Want It All...but there are enough of Brian's songs that are actually really really sad that make me go "Uh, Brian, are you okay? Do you need to talk to someone about this?"
Iron Ox
@Dilophosaur sniper They meant the songs that he actually sang.
BilisNegra
@GladiatorKnightGhost All Dead, All Dead is remarkable in that department.
Queen’s Works
Brian: lead vocal, backings vocals and guitar
John: bass guitar
Roger: drums
Freddie: is smoking in the garden
Carla Lazzati
John also sings in this song . _.
Queen’s Works
Carla Lazzati John doesn’t sing in any Queen song. And certainly not in Good Company, there are no real choir in this song.
Carla Lazzati
@Queen’s Works Oh sorry, I read it on Wikipedia 😅 I didn't think they were lying to me :)
Evie Dawes
Freddie did not smoke then that's why his voice was so beautiful then🖤