A Night At The Opera - Queen

Vinyl L.P · EMI Records · EMTC 103.

1975 · U.K.

Back cover.

Gatefold.

Inner gatefold.

Inner sleeve.

Inner sleeve.

Labels.


Album Lyrics:


Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…).
(Mercury)

You suck my blood like a leech
You break the law and you breach
Screw my brain till it hurts
You’ve taken all my money – you still want more,

Misguided old mule
With your pigheaded rules
With your narrow – minded cronies who are fools of the first division-

Death on two legs –
You’re tearing me apart,
Death on two legs
You never had a heard of your own –

Kill joy, Bad guy,
Big talking, Small fry
You’re just an old barrow – boy
Have you found a new toy to replace me,
Can you face me –

But now you can kiss my ass goodbye

Feel good, are you satisfied

Do you feel like suicide (I think you should)
Is your conscience all right
Does it plague you at night,
Do you feel good – Feel good!

Talk like a big business tycoon,
But you’re just a hot – air balloon,
So no one gives you a damn,
You’re just an overgrown school – boy
Let me tan your hide.

A dog with disease,
King of the ‘sleaze’
Put your money where your mouth is Mr. Know all,
Was the fin on your back part of the deal…(shark!)

Death on two legs
You’re tearing me apart
Death on two legs –
You never had a heart of your own,
(You never did, right from the start)

Insane you should be put inside,
You’re a sewer – rat decaying in a cesspool of pride
Should be made unemployed
Then make yourself null – and – void,
Make me feel good
I feel good.


Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon.
(Mercury)

I go out to work on a Monday morning
Tuesday I go off to honeymoon
I’ll be back again before it’s time for Sunny-down,
I’ll be lazing on a Sunday afternoon
Bicycling on every Wednesday evening
Thursday I go waltzing to the Zoo
I come from London town, I’m just an ordinary guy,
Fridays I go painting in the Louvre
I’m bound to be proposing on a Saturday night (There he goes again)
I’ll be lazing on a Sunday
Lazing on a Sunday
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon.


I’m in Love With My Car.
(Taylor)

The machine of a dream, such a clean machine,
With the pistons a pumpin’, and the hubcaps all gleam.
When I’m holding your wheel,
All I hear is your gear,
When my hand’s on your grease gun,
Oh it’s like a disease son,
I’m in love with my car, gotta feel for my automobile,
Get a grip on my boy racer rollbar,
Such a thrill when your radials squeal.

Told my girl I just had to forget her,
Rather buy me a new cartburettor,
So she made tracks sayin’ this is the end now,
Cars don’t talk back they’re just four wheeled friends now,

When I’m holding your wheel,
All I hear is your gear,
When I’m cruisin’ in overdrive,
Don’t have to listen to no run of the mill talk jive,

I’m in love with my car, gotta feel for my automobile,
I’m in love with my car, string back gloves in my automolove!


You’re My Best Friend.
(Deacon)

Ooo. you make me live
Whatever this world can give to me
It’s you, you’re all I see
Ooo, you make me live now honey
Ooo, you make me live

You’re the best friend
That I ever had
I’ve been with you such a long time
You’re my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
You’re my best friend

Ooo, you make me live

I’ve been wandering round
But I still come back to you
In rain or shine
You’ve stood by me girl
I’m happy, happy at home
You’re my best friend.

You’re the first one
When things turn out bad
You know I’ll never be lonely
You’re my only one
And I love
The things that you do
You’re my best friend

Ooo, you make me live.

I’m happy, happy at home
You’re my best friend
You’re my best friend
Ooo, you make me live
You, you’re my best friend.


’39.
(May)

In the year of ’39 assembled here the Volunteers
In the days when lands were few
Here the ship sailed out into the blue and sunny morn
The sweetest sight ever seen.

And the night followed dau
And the story tellers day
That the score brave souls inside
For many a lonely day sailed across the milky seas
Ne’er looked back, never feared, never cried.

Don’t you hear my call though you’re many years away
Don’t you hear me calling you
Write your letters in the sand
For the day I take your hand
In the land that our grandchildren knew.

In the year of ’39 came a ship in from the blue
The volunteers came home that day
And they bring good news of a world so newly born
Though their hearts so heavily weigh
For the earth is old and grey, to a new home we’ll away
But my love this cannot be
For so many years have gone though I’m older but a year
Your mother’s eyes in your eyes cry to me.

Don’t you hear my call though you’re many years away
Don’t you hear me calling you
All the letters in the sand cannot heal me like your hand

For my life
Still ahead
Pity Me.


Sweet Lady.
(May)

You call me up and treat me like a dog
You call me up and tear me up inside
You’ve got me on a lead
You bring me down
You shout around
You don’t believe that I’m alone.

Sweet Lady
Sweet Lady
Sweet Lady…Stay sweet.

You say
“You call me up and feed me all the lines
“You call me sweet lime I’m some kind of cheese
“Waiting on the shelf
“You eat me up
“You hold me down
“I’m just a fool to make you a home

“And you say
“Sweet lady
“Sweet lady
“Sweet lady…Stay sweet.”

My Sweet lady
Though it seems like we wait forever
Stay sweet baby
Believe and we’ve got everything we need.


Seaside Rendezvous.
(Mercury)

Seaside – whenever you stroll along with me I’m merely contemplating what
You feel inside meanwhile I ask you to be my Clementine –
You say you’d have to tell your daddy if you can – I love you madly –
Let me imagination run away with you gladly –
A brand new angle – highly commendable – Seaside Rendezvous –

I feel so romantic – can we do it again
Can we do it again sometime,
Fantastic, c’est la vie mesdames et messieurs
And at the peak of the season, the
Mediterranean -, this time of year, it’s so fashionable,
I feel like dancing – in the tain,
All I need is a volunteer –
Dancing – what a damn jolly good idea –
It’s such a jollification – as a matter of fact, so tres charmant my dear –

Underneath the moonlight – together we’ll sail across the sea –
Reminiscing every night
Meantime – I ask you to be my valentine
You say you do if you did but you daren’t I’ll be your Valentino –
We’ll ride upon an omnibus and then the casino –
Get a new facial – so sensational –
Seaside Rendezvous – so adorable,
Seaside Rendezvous
Seaside Rendezvous.


Prophet’s Song.
(May)

Oh Oh people of earth
Listen to the warning
The seer he said
Beware the storm that gathers here
Listen to the wise man.

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 yound in troubled graves
I see no day, I heard him say
So grey is the face of every mortal.

Oh Oh people of earth
Listen to the warning
The prophet he said
For soon the cold of night will fall
Summoned by your own hand.

Oh Oh children of the land
Quicken to the new life
Take my hand
Fly and find the new green bough
Return like the white dove.

He told of death as a done white haze
Taking the lost and the unloved babe
Late too late all the wretches run
These kinds of beasts now counting their days.


Love of My Life.
(Mercury)

Love of my life – you hurt me,
You broken my heart and now you leave me.
Love of my life can’t you see,
Bring it back, bring it back,
Don’t take it away from me, because you don’t know what it means to me.

Love of my life don’t leave me,
You’ve taken my love, you now desert me,
Love of my life can’t you see,
Bring it back, bring it back,
Don’t take it away from me because you don’t know what it means to me.

You won’t remember
When this is blown over
And everything’s all by the way
When I get older
I will be there at your side to remind you how I still love you
I still love you.

Back, hurry back,
Please bring it back home to me because you don’t know what it means to me.
Love of my life.
Love of my life.


Good Company.
(May)

Take good core 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
And very soon I begged her won’t you
Keep me Company

Now marriage is an insinuation sure
My wife and I our needs and nothing more
All my friends by a year by and by disappear
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 Sall as we
Pated 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.


Bohemian Rhapsody.
(Mercury)

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see,
I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,
Because I’m easy come, easy go, little high, little low,
Any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to me, to me.

Mama just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.
Mama, life had just begun,
But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away.
Mama, ooh, didn’t mean to make you cry,
If I’m not back again this time tomorrow,
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters.

Too late, my time has come,
Sends shivers down my spine, body’s aching all the time.
Goodbye, ev’rybody, I’ve got to go,
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth.
Mama, ooh, I don’t want to die,
I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all.

I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango.
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright’ning me.
(Galileo.) Galileo. (Galileo.) Galileo, Galileo figaro
Magnifico-ooh… I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me.
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family,
Spare him his life from this monstrosity.
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go.
Bismillah! No, we will not let you go.
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go.
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go.
(Let me go.) Will not let you go.
(Let me go.) Will not let you go. (Let me go.) Ah.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
(Oh mama mia, mama mia.) Mama mia, let me go.
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me.

So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye.
So you think you can love me and leave me to die.
Oh, baby, can’t do this to me, baby,
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here.

Nothing really matters, anyone can see,
Nothing really matters,
Nothing really matters to me.

Any way the wind blows.


God Save the Queen.
(Trad. arr. May)

Instrumental.

Liner Notes:

Produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen
Executive engineer Mike Stone
All titles composed, arranged and performed exclusively by Queen

Cast
Freddie Mercury: vocals, vocals, Bechstein Debauchery and more vocals.
Brian May: guitars and orchestral backdrops.
Roger Taylor: percussion.
John Deacon: electric bass.

Recorded at Sarm, Roundhouse, Olympic,
Rockfield, Scorpio, Trident and Lansdowne
Mixed at Sarm Studios
Invaluable additional engineering – Gary Lyons
Equipment supervision – John Harris
Art Direction – David Costa
Special thanks to Rick Curtin & Brian Palmer
Management (1975) – John Reid
Current Queen Management – Jim Beach

No Synthesisers!

Original sound recordings made by Queen in 1974 – 1975

1991 Hollywood Records Remaster
Digitally remastered by Stephen Marcussen at Precision Mastering, Hollywood.

1998 Remaster
1998 Digital Remaster by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios
Remastering Co-ordination by Justin Shirley-Smith

These Analogue Masters have been Digitally transfered at 24 bits Resolution
Processed using Sonic Solutions NO NOISE Technology
and Mastered to 16 bit using Prism SNS Noise Shaping

2001 Remaster
Remastered by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios 2001.

2005 30th Anniversary Edition
Executive Producers: Brian May & Roger Taylor
DVD Produced by Simon Lupton & Rhys Thomas
Audio for DVD Produced by Kris Fredriksson
CD & DVD Mastered by Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” and “You’re My Best Friend” directed by Bruce Gowers

All other videos directed by Simon Lupton & Rhys Thomas
Edited & colored by: Lucas Friedmann
Additional video conforming by Kris Fredriksson

5.1 Mixes Produced by Roy Thomas Baker. Co-Produced by Brian May
5.1 Mixes by Elliot Scheiner. Nuendo 96/24 Transfers & Edits by Rob Hill
Production Assistant for Queen: Justin Shirley-Smith
Mixed at Capitol Records, Hollywood, CA. Assistant Engineer: Steve Genewick
Except track 4 Mixed at The Dog House, West Los Angeles, CA. Assistant Engineer: Mike Harlow

Except “God Save The Queen”
5.1 Mix Produced by Brian May. Co-Produced by Justin Shirley-Smith
5.1 Mix by Kris Fredriksson. Mixed at British Grove Studios, London. Assistant Engineer: Rupert Coulson
Pro Tools 192/24 Transfers & Edits by Kris Fredriksson

5.1 audio conformed to stereo by Scott Elson

Archive Interview commentary compiled by Greg Brooks, Simon Lupton, Rhys Thomas
and engineered by Nick Harris at Tamborine
Film Research: Keith Badman. Archive footage: Courtesy of Movietone.
Party at the Palace footage: Courtesy of BBC TV and by kind permission of
The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Trust/The Princes Foundation
Rostrum Camera: Ken Morse. Additional photos supplied by Shinko Music Entertainment
Audio Commentary Subtitled by ECI
On Screen Lyrics reprinted with kind permission of Queen Music Ltd. / EMI Music

Packaging Design by Richard Gray
DVD Authored by Meedja. Menus Designed by Outside Line.
Queen Archivist: Greg Brooks.
PR: Phil Symes, The PR Contact
Queen International Fan Club: 16a Barnes High Street, London SW13 9LW

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Geoff Axtell, John Barton, Sara Bricusse, Faustina Bitton, Richard Blackburn, Sarah Bradley, Peter Chant,
Odin Church, Steven Cook, David DelGrosso, Ronnie Katz, Jeff Levison, Doug Lexa, Blake Weltcher (DTS Entertainment),
Justine Ellis, Kat Evans, Linda Fredriksson, Sally Frost, John Godfrey, Bill Harrison, Barbara Heavens, Rob Hill,
Tim Hurrell (Digidesign), Jeremy Janeczko (Dog House), Rory S. Kaplan, Robert Lee, Joshua J. Macrae, Pete Malandrone,
Anne Meyer, Toshia Morita, Neil Moss, Declan O’Regan, Jessica Roberts, Paula Salvatore (Captiol Studios),
Ian Silvester & Andy Patterson (D.A.T.), Lloyd Salmons, Anne Seymour, SynaSpeed,
David Stewart, Graham Meek and all at British Grove Studios, Phil Taylor, Damon Iddins & Cynthia Taylor
and all at Astoria Studio, Amber Walden, Nick Weymouth, Ric Wilson, Tom Wright,
and all at Parlophone and Hollywood Records

2011 Remaster
This 2011 version has been meticulously re-created using the finest modern analogue
and digital technology from the original first-generation master mixes.
Executive Producers: Brian May and Roger Taylor.
Mastered by Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME.
Audio supervised by Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson.
Additional audio restoration by Kris Fredriksson.
Special thanks: Joshua J Macrae, Greg Brooks, Gary Taylor, Paul Alexander
and all at Cedar Audio, All at Astoria Studio.

Official International Queen Fan Club – http://www.queenworld.com

Bonus EP
Executive Producers: Brian May and Roger Taylor.
Bonus EP Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering, Portland, Maine. Audio restoration by Kris Fredriksson.
Keep Yourself Alive (Long-Lost Retake, June 1975): Produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker. Engineered by Gary Lyons.
Bohemian Rhapsody (Operatic Section A Cappella Mix 2011): Produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker. Recorded by Mike Stone. Mixed by Joshua J Macrae and Justin Shirley-Smith.
You’re My Best Friend (Backing Track Mix 2011): Produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker. Recorded by Mike Stone. Mixed by Joshua J Macrae and Justin Shirley-Smith.
I’m In Love With My Car (Guitar & Vocal Mix 2011): Produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker. Recorded by Mike Stone. Mixed by Joshua J Macrae and Justin Shirley-Smith.
’39 (Live at Earl’s Court, June 1977): Recorded by Mike Stone. Mix Produced by Joshua J Macrae, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson.
Love Of My Life (South American Live Single, June 1979): Produced by Queen. Engineered by John Etchells, Assisted by David Richards.
Special Thanks: Greg Brooks, Gary Taylor, All at British Grove Studios and FX Copyroom.

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Other editions included in this site:

⚫ L.P Japan - 1982 - Elektra Records - P-100075E.

⚫ L.P Germany - EMI Records - 1C 072-97 176.

💿 C.D U.S.A - 1991 - Hollywood Records - HR-61065-2.