Before Queen, Taylor founded Smile with Brian May. Smile released one album in Japan which is now available throughout the world as Ghost of a Smile. Smile wrote a few of the songs which would later appear on Queen's self-titled debut album, and one - Doin' Alright was featured on the Smile album.
Taylor also fronted another band, The Cross from 1987 to 1991. The first album, Shove it (1988) was a solo album by Taylor in all but name - he wrote all the songs and played most of the instruments himself. This was an experiment that didn't really work for Taylor and in the other two albums by The Cross he allowed the other members of the band to contribute more, resulting in more traditionally styled rock albums.
Out of the four original members of Queen Taylor and guitarist Brian May continued to play as Queen + Paul Rodgers between 2004 and 2008. Of the other original members singer Freddie Mercury tragically died in 1991 and bassist John Deacon retired from music business in the mid-1990's.
In 2009, after the partnership between him, Brian and Paul ended, Roger worked on some new solo material from which his single The Unblinking Eye (Everything is Broken) was digitally released at 23th November at Queenonline.com. At the moment it is unclear how the future of Queen will look like, though Roger has announced that he will do a short tour in the spring of 2010.
Surrender
Roger Taylor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Same characters same play
My game plan's become clear
Gotta find a way out of here
There ain't no place to run
No welcome mat in my home
No love here, no life
He want a punchbag, not a wife
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now, I'm gone from you
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now
You can't reach me where I've gone to
I surrender
I surrender
No hope left, just pain
Whiskey on his breath, violence in his brain
Scared kids, with scarred minds
Surrender reason, love is blind
Surrender life, surrender love
Surrender belief in God above
Surrender hope, bow down to fear
Surrender life, there ain't much here
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now, I'm gone from you
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now
You can't reach me where I've gone to
I surrender
I surrender
I surrender
I surrender
You can't reach me, you can't reach me
You can't reach me, you can't reach me
I surrender
You can't hurt me, You can't hurt me
I surrender
I surrender
I surrender
In Roger Taylor's song "Surrender," the lyrics capture the feelings of someone trapped in a cycle of abuse and violence. The song's opening lines highlight the repetitive nature of the character's life, which they no longer want to endure. The character's bravery to make a change is evident in the line, "Gotta find a way out of here," even though they acknowledge there is "No welcome mat in my home." The lyrics paint a picture of a deteriorating relationship, of which the character wants to escape the physical and emotional pain. The lyric "He want a punchbag, not a wife" is particularly striking, as it portrays the husband's violent tendencies towards his partner.
The chorus, "You can't hurt me now, I'm gone from you. You can't reach me where I've gone to. I surrender," is a powerful declaration of freedom and strength. The character has found the courage to leave and will no longer tolerate being in a position to be hurt by someone abusive. The following lines express a sense of defeat and resignation to their circumstances, "No hope left, just pain. Whiskey on his breath, violence in his brain. Scared kids, with scarred minds. Surrender reason, love is blind. Surrender life, surrender love. Surrender belief in God above. Surrender hope, bow down to fear. Surrender life, there ain't much here." The song ends with an affirmation of surrender, emphasizing the character's newfound freedom and redirection of their life.
Line by Line Meaning
Same cycle happen every day
Every day is the same – repetitive.
Same characters same play
The same people and situations are present every day.
My game plan's become clear
I understand what I need to do to move forward.
Gotta find a way out of here
I need to escape from this situation.
There ain't no place to run
There is nowhere to go to escape the situation.
No welcome mat in my home
I do not feel welcome or comfortable in my own home.
No love here, no life
There is no love in this situation, making it difficult to live.
He want a punchbag, not a wife
The person I am with treats me like an object rather than a partner.
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now, I'm gone from you
I am no longer vulnerable to the pain you inflicted.
You can't reach me where I've gone to
I am no longer in a position where you can hurt me.
I surrender
I surrender
I give up, I cannot continue in this situation.
No hope left, just pain
There is nothing to look forward to, only suffering.
Whiskey on his breath, violence in his brain
The person I am with has a drinking problem and is prone to violence.
Scared kids, with scarred minds
The children involved in this situation are traumatized.
Surrender reason, love is blind
I am choosing to ignore the signs and stay in this relationship because of my love for the person involved.
Surrender life, surrender love
Surrender belief in God above
Surrender hope, bow down to fear
Surrender life, there ain't much here
I am willing to give up everything I hold dear because I am afraid to leave this situation.
You can't reach me, you can't reach me
I am out of your grasp and cannot be hurt by you anymore.
I surrender
You can't hurt me, You can't hurt me
I surrender
I surrender
I surrender
I am giving up and letting go of my situation.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ROGER MEDDOWS TAYLOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@drapucca82
Same cycle happen every day
Same characters same play
My game plan's become clear
Gotta find a way out of here
There ain't no place to run
No welcome mat in my home
No love here, no life
He want a punchbag, not a wife
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now, I'm gone from you
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now
You can't reach me where I've gone to
I surrender
I surrender
No hope left, just pain
Whiskey on his breath, violence in his brain
Scared kids, with scarred minds
Surrender reason, love is blind
Surrender life, surrender love
Surrender belief in God above
Surrender hope, bow down to fear
Surrender life, there ain't much here
You can't hurt me now
You can't hurt me now
You can't...
✊🏼💜
@Flo-4132
So Roger can sing, play guitar, play drums and write lyrics that hit me right in the heart? What a legend
@francescacardia2204
Uomo eccezionale
@andykir297
Guess he's just an awesome multiplayer and the musian
@saraa136
Bass, ukulele and keyboards too and I’m not counting the great sound maracas that took him hours to steal or the tambourine lol
@siriuslypurrfect9741
I learned this in 1973
@kacabkabrozkovic336
I still don't understand, how man can write a song about this horrible and also important topic so sensitive and accurately like Roger did it here. Unbelievable. My hats of! Beautiful and sad song with hope! Wonderful!
@kenholst3541
Because he was a victim of an abusive parent
@kacabkabrozkovic336
@Ken Holst thanks for information, now, I understand... Poor Rog, I know what it is... Person who is supposed to love you, hurts you... Shit... Sorry, it takes my heart now...
@siriuslypurrfect9741
Because he lived it. His father was extremely abusive. 😢
@mariusbancila
How can a song be so sad and beautiful at the same time?