The term Various Artists is used in the record industry when numerous singers and musicians collaborate on a song or collection of songs. Most often on Last.fm, compilation album tracks appear under the name of Various Artists erroneously because the individual artist is not listed in the album's ID3 information.
Compilation albums, for example.
Sometimes, single releases may be credited to Various Artists when their profits are going to charity and, usually in high-profile cases, are sometimes known by a group name. Examples include Band Aid with their releases of Do They Know It's Christmas? and USA for Africa with We Are The World.
Various Artists is also an actual performance name for Torsten Pröfrock, who runs the German DIN label. Torsten performs also as Dynamo, Erosion, Resilent, Traktor besides some others. He's a good friend of Robert Henke and since the Fall of 2004, he is a member of Monolake.
Various Artists was also a short-lived Bristol punk band formed by brothers Jonjo and Robin Key (originally from Birmingham). Other members were also simultaneously in Art Objects who went on to become The Blue Aeroplanes, the latter the Key brothers also co-wrote some songs and were involved in. When Various Artists imploded, the Key brothers went on to form Either / Or.
Various Artists also appear on tracks from musical theater soundtracks, due to the nature of having many cast members on one song, as well as an ensemble in some cases.
Another One Bites The Dust
Various Artists Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Steve walks warily down the street
With the brim pulled way down low.
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,
Machine guns ready to go.
Are you ready, hey, are you ready for this?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you, too
Another one bites the dust
How do you think I'm going to get along
Without you when you're gone?
You took me for everything that I had
And kicked me out on my own
Are you happy, are you satisfied?
How long can you stand the heat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
There are plenty of ways that you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground
You can beat him, you can cheat him
You can treat him bad and leave him when he's down
But I'm ready, yes, I'm ready for you
I'm standing on my own two feet
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
Repeating to the sound of the beat
The lyrics of "Another One Bites the Dust" by Various Artists address themes of power, revenge, and the desire to triumph over one's enemies. The opening lines describe Steve walking down the street with caution and fear, with a sense of impending danger waiting to strike. As the song progresses, the lyrics shift to a more assertive and vengeful tone, with the chorus announcing the fall of another enemy who has been defeated.
The chorus repeats the phrase "another one bites the dust", suggesting a repetitive cycle of triumph over enemies. This idea is emphasized by the line, "And another one gone, and another one gone", which hints at a larger pattern of power dynamics at work. The verses go on to address a specific enemy who has wronged the singer, describing the pain of being taken advantage of and left alone. However, the final verse suggests that the singer is now ready to take revenge and face their enemy head-on.
Overall, "Another One Bites the Dust" can be interpreted as a song about the desire for power and the satisfaction of defeating one's enemies. The lyrics paint a picture of a world where people are constantly vying for power, and those who cannot stand up for themselves are left to be trampled on. However, the singer's triumphant attitude suggests that with the right mindset and determination, even the weakest can become the conqueror.
Line by Line Meaning
Steve walks warily down the street
With the brim pulled way down low.
Steve is walking cautiously and looking down, trying to keep a low profile.
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,
Machine guns ready to go.
There is complete silence, except for the sound of Steve's footsteps as he prepares for battle with his machine guns at the ready.
Are you ready, hey, are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat
Are you prepared for what's about to happen? Is the anticipation making you nervous? The bullets fly out of the doorway in sync with the rhythm of the music.
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you, too
Another one bites the dust
One more person has met their end, and one after the other, they keep falling. The singer announces that they too will meet the same fate.
How do you think I'm going to get along
Without you when you're gone?
You took me for everything that I had
And kicked me out on my own
The singer wonders how they will survive without their lover, who took everything from them and left them alone.
Are you happy, are you satisfied?
How long can you stand the heat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat
The singer questions if their ex-lover is happy and fulfilled in life, and if they can handle the pressure. As before, the bullets fly out in rhythm with the music.
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
The death toll continues to rise, one after the other.
There are plenty of ways that you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground
You can beat him, you can cheat him
You can treat him bad and leave him when he's down
There are many ways to harm someone and bring them down, through physical violence, cheating, mistreating them, and abandoning them in their time of need.
But I'm ready, yes, I'm ready for you
I'm standing on my own two feet
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
Repeating to the sound of the beat
Despite all the pain caused by their ex-lover, the singer is standing strong and ready to face them. Once again, the bullets fly out in rhythm with the music.
Contributed by Dylan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Pascalsmit1971
Thank you so much for this! Impressive!
Just like the rest of your channel, wich I just discovered today and subbed.
I'm 50 years old now. Back in 1986 I learned through a newspaper article that I was a huge Queen fan. How come? Wel, the article mentioned all the hits, Killer Queen, Champions, Bicycle, Crazy Little Thing, Dust, Radio GaGa...etc. I knew all those songs and loved them, yet never knew they were all from the same band! (Yes, you may hit me!) I instantly vowed to become a Queen fan and that I wanted to have everything they ever recorded. And so happened. I estimate that I've listened to Queen for about 20.000 hours until today.
And since some 20 years I record cover versions together with a friend of mine. Most of the time reeeaaally old stuff. Singing was (and is) my main passion and when I was 15, all I wanted was to sing just like Freddie Mercury. Useless to say: that's bloody impossible. But it did raise the bar high for me learning how to sing! Along the way I learned to play guitar, keys/piano, bass and drums. All autodidactic by the way. My mate plays mainly guitar and also some bass. And he's a sound engineer.
Back in 2006 he came up with the idea to cover this song...Another One Bites The Dust. He's more a Beatles fan but he loves the Game album and knows the Queen hits as well of course. I asked him if he'd gone mad. But we did it...well: at least we tried. Watching this video, I finally understand what we all did wrong back then and that's even apart from the fact that I couldn't possibly reproduce the insanely high chest voice Freddie has in this song. I think it's the hardest Queen song to sing of all time! I ended up singing it like Freddie used to sing it live.
I love how you guys really got in detail about the instruments. It's actually pretty unbelievable that a immensely huge Queen fan for over 35 years like me has learned some brand new things and facts about AOBTD from this video, but hey: thanks a lot!! :-)
I read through the comments a bit and some people mention Fun It from the Jazz album as some fore-runner to AOBTD. I must say I agree on that. Roger's drum sound is quite similar in that one and the really odd part is that he's the one who wrote it. Really love that track! I would absolutely LOVE a similar video like this one on Dragon Attack. I understand that's not really possible because it hasn't been released as a single. If I have a suggestion on another Queen song that changed music, it's quite obviuous: Bo Rhap of course! And as a real Queen fan you also must know The March Of The Black Queen, featured on the Queen II album that actually is a kind of forecast on Bo Rhap.
In later years, I also got into different bands and artists like Metallica, Beatles, ELO, Supertramp, 10CC, Joe Satriani and many more, but my first and biggest love has always been Queen.
Oh and may I add just one more suggestion to songs that changed music: I'm Not In Love by 10CC. An absolute milestone in recording with the backingtrack consisting of mainly hundres of voices! My mate and I were crazy enough some years ago to reproduce that one, being the first ever to make a coververson using the same recording techniques creating tape loops and creating a backingtrack with 312 voices singing 'Aaaah'. That one turned out a lot better than our AOBTD cover back in 2006! :-)
WAAAAH! Oh I'm so sorry! I just looked at the suggested video's on the right side of my screen and I see now that you've already done that on I'm Not In Love! Splendid!! Thanks!! I'm gonna click that one right away...now! :-)
Well..sorry for the long story! Hope you somehow enjoyed reading it! And again: thans a LOT for this splendid video!
Greetings!
Pascal Smit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Alex Rosco Pakalov
Thank you from the biggest Russian Queen fan!
For me too Queen were and is the Door to the Music!
Although I am in love to a lot of other artists (Sade, Frank Zappa, Roger Waters, Adrian Belew, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, David Bowie, Blondie, Serge Gainsbourg, Tom Waits, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Depeche Mode, Ice T, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Led Zeppelin, Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Metallica, Soufly, Sepultura, The Roots, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc etc etc) and a lotta different genres of music….. I can tell from my heart that Queen is the only one! It’s the tightest band of all time! I mean ☞ they never changed their lineup, they never ever had any band leader, any leader at all! They were totally democratic band, influencing each other, and by that influencing and inspiring each of us, Queen fans and all the other Young Dudes! They were like family, and I can tell, they are for me the symbol, the icon of the real band, real tight cohesive collective of human beings together.
As far as I’m concerned there are not so many bands who were together, not splitting, not changing their lineup, not having a leader, and having so many hits, written by all the band members…… and it was for 20 years !!!
I think Queen was the only which did that.
Me? I was influenced by Queen to play music! To play bass!.. because of the One And Only Mr BASSMAN John Deacon! And more than that they inspired me to learn English! Because of them I can use English quite well, and use as a translator, interpreter, and the English teacher as well! It’s all because of the one and only band called QUEEN !
Queen is always and will be forever the first, the best band that ever walked the Earth and did so much !
…. My favorite song of John is Pain Is So Close To Pleasure, which was written together with the mustached man called Freddie Mercury ☺︎
And the another, which was written only by Deaky is Spread Your Wings
Although I prefer to listen to them (and consider them) as the album band (which was also insisted by Roger in some interview) was rather than singles sorta band. So that QUEEN THEY ARE INCOMPARABLE !
Produce Like A Pro
What other songs do you think changed music? Let me know by commenting below!
Anthony S
@Bruce Jennings Excellent choice, I love Talking Heads. They always had the most creative videos. Their music always kept changing from album to album.
Bruce Jennings
"Once In A Lifetime", Talking Heads
Ed Slater
I love the ELO shout out! Would love to see a deep dive on the Out of the Blue album generally, and the Concerto for a Rainy Day particularly. Those 4 sides of vinyl changed my life. Thanks for the videos, Warren, hope you are well along on the mend.
Anthony S
Not so much a song but a band. Could you do something on Japan. I still crank up Gentlemen Take polaroids,, Quiet Life and Life in Tokyo. They influenced so many new wave/new romantic bands eg Duran Duran. Mick Kahn's bass line are brilliant especially when he uses the fretless bass. The synth lines are reminiscent of Giorgio Moroder.
DJ-Daz
I don't know if it changed music, it certainly changed me. OMD - Junk Culture. Or anything from Architecture and Morality.
whaleblueprs
From one die-hard Queen fan to another: I'm so glad Queen sees the value in not blocking their music for you (and Rick Beato). Great choice of songs because it's so completely different in every way than so many of the rest of their amazing hits. Thank you for the opportunity to go along for the ride. Long live Queen!
Produce Like A Pro
Thanks ever so much! I really appreciate it!
João Oliveira e Silva
Hi Warren, this is my first ever YouTube comment and so I think it's more than appropriate to congratulate you for the amazing series, and the channel of course, but also and most of all to thank you for teaching so much about music, the Bob Marley episode for example was such a mind opener. Thank you for being my music teacher. Hope you get well soon, and have a merry Xmas. PS: can you do a Fleetwood Mac episode or a song from rumours? Ty
Morzak EV
+1 on fleetwood mac
Such a great album made under such tension
Thanks Warren, loved your passion in this video, and nice you picked this over the obvious bohemian rhapsody choice!