Britt Jones
Brian May has revealed a well-known Queen song that nobody got the meaning to, even after fifty years.
Not everyone can understand irony when it’s put forward by music or lyrics. Usually, when a singer is blaring on about something, we’re going to take things literally.
Whether this is heartbreak, sorrow, anger, or humour, it all seems to be quite obvious...most of the time.
But Queen wasn’t a simple UK band, and their lyrics were a little more complex for the common listener to understand.
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From 'Radio Ga Ga' being hailed as an anthem for the very reason it was making fun of in the lyrics, to 'Tie Your Mother Down' not being about binding your mum with rope, Queen was a master of having their songs confused by the public.
But there were none more confused than the people who listened to 'Keep Yourself Alive' in 1973, and decided it was a positive track to help motivate listeners to continue to live. In fact, the meaning of the song was quite the opposite.
May explained that it was all a joke based on how the world has gone mad, and that it’s easy for a privileged person to say something to someone who is struggling, like, just ‘keep yourself alive’ and all will be fine.
Essentially, it takes a shot at those who have money and can buy themselves a good life, while the rest of the world scrapes by in poverty and struggle.
There’s also the thought of, ‘if all you’re doing is trying to survive, life probably isn’t worth living’.
The lyrics of the song are sung with passion by frontman Freddie Mercury, which is probably why people took his words to heart.
The chorus tells the listener:
“Keep yourself alive / Ooh, it’ll take you all your time and money / Honey you’ll survive.”
According to May, who spoke to Far Out Magazine: “Right from the beginning, ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ was meant to be ironic—like, if keeping yourself alive is all there is to life, maybe there isn’t much point.”
He said that instead of people taking it as intended, ‘it was taken as, “Hey, keep yourself alive!”’
He explained that ‘Radio Ga Ga’ also went over people’s heads, saying: “We used the old Fritz Lang film Metropolis in the video, where they’re all being martial, all doing the same thing, and the words are about things getting too structured and people losing their individuality. But unfortunately, not everybody gets it.”
But he lamented that: “It’s hard to be ironic in music, that’s one thing I’ve learned over the years.”