“Oh oh People of the Earth, listen to the warning,”
The Seer, he said.
“Beware the storm that gathers here…”
Trying to locate a really great fantasy/mythology/heroic-based song from Queen is about as difficult as mastering the art of basic gravity. Seriously. You could basically take Side 2 (the “black” side) of Queen II and be done with it entirely. In fact I think I just might listen to that entire album as soon as I’m done typing this post. Seriously. There’s a real reason why Axl Rose and Billy Corgan worship that album.
But never mind all that. Our Buttkickin’ Halloween Song for today is The Prophet’s Song, taken from arguably what is their seminal album, 1975’s A Night At The Opera. Guitarist Brian May wrote the song and based it off a fever dream he had had, with visions of a Great Flood swallowing the Earth. Taking mythic elements from the Biblical account as well as weaving in other Apocalyptic (yet ultimately hopeful) imagery, he based his tale on the classic tropes of a seer whose warnings of impending disaster are mocked and ignored by the doomed populace at large.
It’s a great tune, beautifully sung by Freddie Mercury (whose vocal canon is the centerpiece of the track). It retains all that epic, multi-layered bombastic intensity for which Queen is known and loved by their zillions of fans. Plus on the album it segues seamlessly into Love Of My Life, one of the band’s most beautiful songs. I mean, the whole album rules. Just go listen to it. I might do that after I’m done with Queen II…
I dreamed I saw on a moonlit stair
Spreading his hands on the multitude there
A man who cried for a love gone stale
And ice cold hearts of charity bare.
I watched as fear took the old men’s gaze
Hopes of the young in troubled graves
I see no day, I heard him say
So grey is the face of every mortal…
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