All Dead, All Dead

"All Dead, All Dead" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written and sung by Brian May, it is the fourth song on their 1977 album, News of the World.[2][3][4][5][6]

"All Dead, All Dead"
Song by Queen
from the album News of the World
PublishedQueen Music Ltd.
Released28 October 1977
RecordedAugust–September 1977
StudioWessex Sound, London
Genre
Length3:09
Label
Songwriter(s)Brian May
Producer(s)
Music video
"All Dead, All Dead" on YouTube

Background

The original album version features May himself on vocals and the song deals with his experiences following the death of his childhood pet cat. In a 1983 interview with Guitar Magazine, May spoke about the song.

That's one of my favourites. That was one of the ones which I thought came off best, and I was really pleased with the sound. It always gives me a surprise when I listen to it because it was meant to really bring tears to your eyes. It almost does it to me.[7]

For the 40th anniversary of its 1977 album,[8] Queen presented an exclusive hybrid version featuring peak era Freddie Mercury vocals on a track that nobody outside Queen's inner circle had heard him sing before.[9][10][11][12]

Music video
Screenshot from the video making reference to the News of the World album cover.

Brian May asked Unanico Creative Content to create a new animated video for the song, with variations for each lead vocal talent.[13]

Jason, Robert and I are honoured to have worked with Brian to create a visual world for this fresh and emotional version of "All Dead All Dead". The cat in the video is inspired by photos Brian showed us of his childhood pet, and we hope it is also a fitting tribute to Freddie Mercury, who was devoted to his own cats.

– Paul Laikin

The animation, directed by Jason Jameson, Robert Milne, and Paul Laikin tells the story of Pixie the cat, lost in a kingdom of cogs and pipes, wires and circuit boards. The mysterious whereabouts of Pixie's world are later revealed. Brian and Unanico Creative Content drew inspiration from Bruno Bozzetto's animated opus Allegro Non Troppo, the 1976 film itself featuring a wandering feline as one of its protagonists. The video was released in February 2018 on the Queen Official YouTube channel.[14]

Queen comments on the song

Nobody's ever wanted to know about that track. It was a song I had around for a while, about... it was kind of about the passing of friends, and I think it crystallized because... this is very embarrassing... I think what started off was my cat, my cat died when I was a kid, and I could never get over it. I think I wrote the song for the album thinking it was about something completely different, but I think partly it was trying to get that out of my system. We never talked about that in the band.[15]

— Brian May, 1989

Personnel

Queen

Cover versions
  • In 1996, argentine musician Fito Páez, performed a spanish version called "Se Fue, Se Fue", included in the album, Tributo a Queen - Los Grandes del Rock en Español.[16][17]
  • Christian Beach performed a version of this song on Horse Feathers & Animal Crackers: A Tribute to Queen.[18][19]

References
  1. News of the World - Queen | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 2020-12-04
  2. Epstein, Dan; Epstein, Dan (2017-10-28). "Queen's 'News of the World': 10 Things You Didn't Know". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  3. "Queen - News Of The World". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  4. Bell, Max (2019-10-28). "'News Of The World': Making Headlines Around The Globe For Queen". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  5. Testa, Bart; Testa, Bart (1978-02-09). "News Of The World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  6. Whitaker, Sterling (October 28, 2015). "Why Queen Scaled Things Back on 'News of the World'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  7. Pieter (2019-05-04). "01-XX-1983 – Guitar Player". Queen Archives :: Interviews, Articles, Reviews. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  8. November 2017, Chris Roberts 03. "Queen - News Of The World: 40th Anniversary Edition album review". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  9. October 2017, Scott Munro27. "Queen share alternative version of All Dead, All Dead featuring Freddie Mercury". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  10. "All Dead, All Dead: Unheard Freddie Lead Vocal and New Animated Video". www.queenonline.com. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  11. "Press Release: News Of The World - 40th Anniversary Edition". www.queenonline.com. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  12. "Hear Queen's All Dead, All Dead with Freddie Mercury's lost vocals". the Guardian. 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  13. "QUEEN - ALL DEAD, ALL DEAD - UNANICO CREATIVE CONTENT". UNANICO STUDIOS. 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  14. "Queen - All Dead, All Dead - At Last, the Video!". YouTube. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  15. "All Dead, All Dead". Bechstein Debauhchery. 2004-08-23. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  16. "Various - Tributo A Queen - Los Grandes Del Rock En Español". Discogs (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  17. Tributo a Queen: Los Grandes del Rock en Espanol - Various Artists | Similar | AllMusic, retrieved 2021-01-15
  18. Horse Feathers & Animal Crackers: A Tribute to Queen - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 2021-01-15
  19. "Various - Horse Feathers & Animal Crackers - A Tribute To Queen". Discogs. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.