The band formed in London in 1970 after May and Taylor's former band Smile split after having released an album and single. Freddie replaced lead vocalist Tim Staffell, after the latter's departure from the original trio.
There was much deliberation as to what the band's name would be. May and Taylor had settled upon the Grand Dance, derived from a C.S. Lewis Trilogy of books Out Of The Silent Planet.
Ultimately, the band went with Queen, a name that was entirely Freddie's. Originally Roger and, especially, Brian did not like the name, though Mercury would eventually persuade them both that it was "right" for the band.
"Years ago I thought up the name Queen... It's just a name, but it's very regal, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it. "
- Freddie Mercury.
Queen went through several bass players before a young electronics major by the name of John Deacon arrived on the scene in January of 1971.
"Until John, it had been exploding bass player syndrome. If they musically worked they'd look all wrong, and if they felt all right they couldn't play. - Brian May.
This quite shy guy turned up with his immaculate Rickenbacker bass and immaculate amplifier, plugged in, and as soon as he started playing we realized it was right." - Brian May.
Later that year, the band was secured recording time at the newly built De Lane Lea studio, and used the opportunity to record several songs that would later appear on their debut album - Liar, Keep Yourself Alive, Jesus, and The Night Comes Down. The demo reel was passed around from producer to producer with little success, until a staff member of Trident records by the name of Roy Thomas Baker was introduced to the band by fellow Trident producer John Anthony. Baker dropped in to watch the band at work and, clearly liking what he heard, recommended Queen to his superiors.
It was eventually agreed upon that the fledgling band could record at Trident studios, though after already-established artists had finished their work, such as the likes of Elton John and David Bowie. Relegated to the wee hours of the morning to record the remaining tracks of their first album, the band nonetheless stuck it out until they reached their ultimate goal of "perfection".
Queen's self-titled debut album was released in 1973 and received little attention from the general public. They quickly followed it a year later with a second album, "Queen II" which also failed to generate much interest from music fans in Britain, despite the success of the album's single, Seven Seas of Rhye, which would reach #10 on the charts after the band's mimed appearance on Top of the Pops.
The band's second album was recorded with a higher budget than the first, and the band threw everything they had into recording it. Queen II was somewhat of a "concept album", split into "White Side" vs. "Black Side".
As was in their nature, the band pressed onward after the mediocre success of their first two albums, immersing themselves in a world-wide tour to promote Queen II. Queen played in America for the first time, as a support act for Mott the Hoople.
Sheer Heart Attack would be released later that year, focusing more on being accessible to listeners, than the grand and complex ideas of the previous two albums. The recording of their third album was met with some hardships, as May fell victim to a series of illnesses brought on by an infected inoculation, required for the band's rigorous touring schedule.
Sheer Heart Attack brought even more success for the band, with May's Now I'm Here and the song that would be the band's "turning point", the Mercury-penned Killer Queen, the latter of which would reach #2 on the UK charts.
During this time, the band began developing a huge following in Japan and witnessed their popularity for themselves when they visited the country, mainly in 1975, to promote their fourth and most famous album "A Night At The Opera", featuring the epic "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Queen's popularity grew steadily through the latter half of the 70s as they released hit album after hit album, reaching its peak in the mid-80s after their "Live Aid" appearance, and continuing into the early 90s before Mercury's untimely death on 24th November 1991. The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
Over the course of their 30 year career, the band did sound tracks for two films ("Flash Gordon" and "Highlander"), released a string of live and studio albums, and had many many fans across the world.
In 1995, 4 years after Mercury's death, the band released the album "Made In Heaven". This album saw the surviving band members in the studio completing or reworking unused vocals, unreleased variations of Freddie solo material (a Queen version of "I Was Born To Love You" for example), and tracks where Brian and Roger added lyrics to flesh out a song ("Mother Love").
Queen have been on indefinite hiatus since 1997, when John Deacon decided to retire.
Several "Queen + ..." projects have been developed in the following years, a few of them mere remixes with no artistic involvement from the band. In 1999, a "Greatest Hits III" album was released. This featured, among others, "Queen + Wyclef Jean" on a rap version of "Another One Bites the Dust", a live version of "Somebody to Love" performed by George Michael, and a live version of "The Show Must Go On" performed live in 1997 with Elton John.
Brian May and Roger Taylor have performed together as Queen on several occasions (award ceremonies, charity concerts, and the like), sharing vocals with various guest singers. They have also recorded several covers of Queen's hits with guest vocalists, including "We Will Rock You" (first with Five and later Britney Spears, Beyonce, John Farnham and P!nk) and "We Are the Champions" (with Robbie Williams).
On the 14th of May 2002 the Queen musical 'We Will Rock You' opened in the Dominion theatre in London's 'West End'. A Musical about young people in the distant future who aren't allowed to listen to music not generated by computers. Various Queen songs are used in the story, played by a live band. This live band was supported by Brian May and Roger Taylor on the premiere evening.
At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers (founder and former lead singer of Free and Bad Company). Brian May's website also stated that Rodgers would be 'featured with' Queen as 'Queen + Paul Rodgers', not replacing Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.
Between 2005 and 2006 Queen + Paul Rodgers embarked on a world tour, the first leg in Europe and the second, Japan and then the US in 2006. On 15 August 2006, Brian May confirmed through his website and fan club that Queen + Paul Rodgers would begin producing their first studio album beginning in October, to be recorded at a "secret location". The album, titled The Cosmos Rocks, was released in Europe on 12 September 2008 and in the United States on 28 October 2008. Following the album the band again embarked on a tour through Europe, opening on Kharkiv's Freedom Square in front of 350,000 Ukrainian fans. The show in Ukraine was later released on DVD.
Queen and Paul Rodgers officially split up without animosity on 12 May 2009. Rodgers did not rule out the possibility of working together again.
Since 2012, Queen has been touring with Adam Lambert as the frontman.
More information about Queen + Paul Rodgers can be found on their last.fm page.
Official website: www.queenonline.com
Discography:
1.- Queen (1973)
2.- Queen II (1974)
3.- Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
4.- A Night at the Opera (1975)
5.- A Day at the Races (1976)
6.- News of the World (1977)
7.- Jazz (1978)
8.- The Game (1980)
9.- Flash Gordon (1980)
10.- Hot Space (1982)
11.- The Works (1984)
12.- A Kind of Magic (1986)
13.- The Miracle (1989)
14.- Innuendo (1991)
15.- Made in Heaven (1995)
I Can't Live With You
Queen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I can't live without you
I can't let you stay
Ooh but I can't live if you go away
I don't know just how it goes
All I know is I can't live with you
Yeah I'm having a hard time
You may think that I don't care
But I traveled a long road to get hold of my sorrow
I tried to catch a dream
But nothing's what it seems
Love is saying baby it's all right
When deep inside you're really petrified
Lover turns to hater
On this escalator
I can't live with you, yeah
But I can't live without you
I can't breathe if you stay
But I can't bear you to go away
I don't know what time it is
All I know is I can't live with you
We're stuck in a bad place
We're trapped in a rat race
And we can't escape
Maybe there's been some mistake
We're trying to make a high score
We're walking through a closed door
And nobody's winning
We're just sinning against ourselves
Hold on baby tell me it's all right
Anger's breaking from the hurt inside
Passions screaming hotter
Doin' what we gotta do, yeah
I can't live with you I can't live with you
I can't live I can't live
I can't I can't live with you
But baby I'll never ever leave you
I can't live with you
But I can't live without you
Cause I'm in love with you
Ooh and everything about you
I can't live with you
No I just can't live I just can't live
I can't live with you
Yeah and I can't live without you
Through the madness through the tears
We've still got each other
For a million years, yeah
Ooh yeah
Yeah, I can't live without you, yeah yeah
I can't live without you
Yeah yeah, oh oh oh
I can't live without you
I can't live without you
I can't live without you
Oh oh, I can't live without you, baby baby baby
Without you
I can't live without you
The lyrics of Queen's song "I Can't Live With You" portray the mixed feelings of a person in a troubled relationship. The singer is torn between the love they have for their partner and the struggles they face when trying to live with them. They express the idea that they cannot let their partner stay and yet cannot bear the thought of them departing. The lyrics convey the sense of the singer's confusion and indecision, as they cannot seem to find a way to resolve the difficulties in their relationship.
The chorus repeats the title statement, "I can't live with you, but I can't live without you" emphasizing the complex nature of the relationship issues. The lyrics describe the roller coaster of emotions that the singer experiences in their relationship, showing moments of hope and despair, deep love, fear, anger, and passion.
The verses depict a scenario of a couple who are going through a rough patch in their lives. They are stuck in a bad place and a rat race, unable to escape the overwhelming difficulties they face. The lyrics convey the idea that the problems the couple faces are not due to external factors but because they are sinning against themselves. They know they are hurting each other, but they cannot seem to stop.
Overall, "I Can't Live With You" is a poignant and powerful song that speaks to the universal experience of the complexity of human relationships. It portrays the struggle to maintain a connection with someone we love, despite the difficulties and the pain that arise from being with them.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't live with you
I am struggling to deal with living with you
But I can't live without you
Despite my difficulties, I cannot imagine my life without you
I can't let you stay
I feel like you need to leave, but I can't bring myself to make you go
Ooh but I can't live if you go away
The thought of you leaving is unbearable and I do not think I can go on if you leave
I don't know just how it goes
I am unsure of how things are going to play out
All I know is I can't live with you
Despite not knowing what may happen, I do know that living with you is not easy for me
Yeah I'm having a hard time
I am currently struggling with my emotions
I'm walking a fine line between hope and despair
I am trying to maintain a balance between feeling hopeful and feeling completely hopeless
You may think that I don't care
You may be under the impression that I do not care about our situation
But I traveled a long road to get hold of my sorrow
I have been working hard to come to terms with my sadness and emotions
I tried to catch a dream
I attempted to achieve something, probably relating to our relationship
But nothing's what it seems
Things are more complicated than they appear
Love is saying baby it's all right
Even though things may not be perfect, love is assuring me that everything is going to be okay
When deep inside you're really petrified
Despite hearing comforting words, I am still deeply afraid and anxious
Lover turns to hater
Sometimes love can turn into hate due to the complexities of emotions
On this escalator
The situation is only getting more overwhelming and difficult to handle
I can't breathe if you stay
Your presence is suffocating and I feel like I do not have room to breathe
But I can't bear you to go away
Even though your presence is overwhelming, the thought of losing you is unbearable
I don't know what time it is
I am lost and unsure of what to do or how much time I have left
All I know is I can't live with you
Despite my uncertainty, I am sure that living with you is not something I can handle
We're stuck in a bad place
Our current situation is negative and unproductive
We're trapped in a rat race
We are stuck in a cycle that is difficult to break free from
And we can't escape
We have not found a way out of this negative cycle
Maybe there's been some mistake
Perhaps we made a mistake by getting involved in this relationship
We're trying to make a high score
We are trying to succeed or make our relationship work
We're walking through a closed door
Even though success seems unlikely, we continue to try and enter into something that is closed off to us
And nobody's winning
This situation is not benefiting either of us
We're just sinning against ourselves
Our actions and situation is harming us and our relationship
Hold on baby tell me it's all right
Please hold my hand and reassure me that everything is going to be okay
Anger's breaking from the hurt inside
I am feeling angry and upset because I am hurting
Passions screaming hotter
Our emotions are getting more intense
Doin' what we gotta do, yeah
We have to push through and do whatever it takes to make things work
I can't live with you I can't live with you
I cannot handle living with you anymore
I can't live I can't live
I cannot continue living like this
I can't I can't live with you
Even though I cannot handle living with you, I cannot bear the thought of losing you
But baby I'll never ever leave you
Despite our issues, I love you and will never abandon you
Cause I'm in love with you
I am deeply in love with you
Ooh and everything about you
I love everything about you
Through the madness through the tears
Despite all of the overwhelming emotions and struggles we face
We've still got each other
We still have each other to rely on
For a million years, yeah
I want to be with you through every obstacle and for a very long time
Without you
I cannot imagine a life without you
Yeah yeah, oh oh oh
Expressing strong emotions and a sense of passion and longing
I can't live without you
I cannot imagine living without you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DAMON E. THOMAS, HARVEY JAY MASON, JAMES EDWARD FAUNTLEROY II, JAMES EDWARD II FAUNTLEROY, STEVEN L. RUSSELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@vlastimir77
We can't live without Freddie Mercury!
@filippofrassineti4521
Freddie's voice is immortal
@hanasimackova8983
Freddie is immortal....
@raffeainkhalil9257
At this stage of aids, even breathing becomes hard af. Freddie was so strong. Rest in peace darling.
@rodger3352
Rip legend 💓🥺
@professerhairy8880
He couldn't walk, breath, barley open his jaw without it hurting and still Sang the show must go on in one take
@theofficialcman
His vocals we're really strong for someone literally dying of aids. Freddie was and still is the definition of resilient and power
@dolanduck4380
The show must go on!
@princelunairemetamorph6980
He was driven to write, perform and sing even up til the day he died, he was in such pain but as brian says he would beg to go to the studio and just keep putting out tracks it in the end was the only thing keeping him alive til he could n't sing anymore then when he lost that he died like 2 days later.
@jackdaw99
Agree! I believe that with the Innuendo album we’re listening to a man doing everything he can to keep himself together (and alive). He lived for this and needed it to handle everything.