Long Away

"Long Away" is a song by the British rock band Queen; it is the third track on their 1976 album A Day at the Races. Brian May wrote the song and sings the lead vocals. It is the only Queen single released during Freddie Mercury's lifetime not to be sung by him.

"Long Away"
Thai single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album A Day at the Races
B-side"You and I"
Released7 June 1977
Recorded1976
GenreRock
Length3:33
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Brian May
Producer(s)Queen
Queen singles chronology
"Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy"
(1977)		 "Long Away"
(1977)		 "We Are the Champions"
(1977)

Recording

It is one of the few songs where May uses a guitar other than his Red Special. For the rhythm guitar parts he used an electric Burns twelve string guitar (although he used the Red Special for the second guitar solo in the middle section of the track). Originally May wanted to use a Rickenbacker guitar (as he admired John Lennon), but he didn't get along well with the Rickenbacker's thin neck.

Roger Taylor sings the highest parts of the song.

Meaning

The song has a sad tone, describing that "for every star in heaven / there's a sad soul here today," and an overall sense of melancholic nostalgia lies over the song. It is similar in feel to the song '39 from A Night at the Opera, although without the folk influence.

Live performances

The song was never performed live with Mercury, though it was rehearsed before the start of the A Day at the Races Tour in January 1977.[1]

Reception

The Washington Post described it as "an affectionate recreation of the mid-'60s Beatles/Byrds sound," and one of the best songs on the album.[2] Wesley Strick of Circus magazine, in a mixed review of the album, named the album's best song and also noted the influence of the Beatles and the Byrds. He observed that Long Away was "haunting" and "never smart-ass or strickly for laughs, "Long Away" - unlike most of Races - feels real."[3]

Other album appearances

The song also appears on two Queen compilation albums: Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)[4][5] (2011) and Queen Forever[6][7][8][9] (2014).

Queen comments on the song

"Long Away" is a twelve-string thing written by Brian... very interesting harmonies.

— Freddie Mercury, 1977

If I'm honest, I think I would like to be remembered for a few of the songs, none of which were really hits, but some of which had a lot of emotion in them: White Queen and Let Us Cling Together and Long Away off the A Day At The Races album. And We Will Rock You.[10]

— Brian May, 1982

Personnel

Queen

References
  1. www.queenlive.ca http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/77-01-13.htm. Retrieved 12 December 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Queen Interviews - Queen - 02-07-1977 - A Day at the Races - Washington Post - Queen Archives: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Interviews, Articles, Reviews". www.queenarchives.com.
  3. "Queen Interviews - Queen - XX-XX-1977 - A Day at the Races - Circus - Queen Archives: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Interviews, Articles, Reviews". www.queenarchives.com.
  4. "Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976) (Remastered Edition)". Queen. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  5. "Queen - Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. "Queen - Queen Forever". Discogs. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  7. Giles, Jeff (19 September 2014). "Queen Unearth Previously Unreleased Tracks for New 'Queen Forever' Compilation". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  8. "Queen announce Queen Forever album PLUS unreleased Freddie Mercury songs!". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  9. "Queen "Forever" album and song lyrics". www.ultimatequeen.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  10. "Long Away". Bechstein Debauhchery. 7 July 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
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