Queen’s album A Night at the Opera is easily my favorite Queen album of all time. It should be known that Queen may be my favorite band of all time, so that should tell you where this album stands in the greater scheme of The Loop.
The album opens with Death on Two Legs, one of the harder songs on the album, which depicts a scorned lover’s feelings about that ex that has gone away to other things (people). Most anybody can relate to this song, and you can’t help but feel some spite for one of your own former lovers.
From Death on Two Legs we transition straight into Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon. These two songs couldn’t be more different from each other. Lazing is a happy little tune depicting the average week. Good for a much needed smile after Death on Two Legs.
Now that you’re grinning from Lazing, you can get a giggle from I’m in Love With My Car. The song is seemingly about how a man loves his car more than his woman, as his car doesn’t talk back to him. I can’t help but feel that the car is a metaphor for a man, but that’s only because it’s Queen. In either case, I’m in Love With My Car is a great little song for the car lover or friend of Dorothy.
You’re my Best Friend is one of their classic songs, and rightly so. One of the best songs to depict friendship I’ve ever heard. Even more than that, it’s a song that makes me think of how much I’m in love. She’s not only my lover, but she is, in fact, my best friend.
’39 is a ballad that is enchanting to the ear. I can’t say that I know what story is being told, but it reminds me of that cookie cutter tale of a voyager leaving home for hope, when hope is already at home.
Sweet Lady is a song from the perspective of a man who is pussy whipped talking about his love. Coming from someone who has been whipped, I can’t help but think that this song hits the head on the nail. Give it a listen so you can relate or find out what you’re not missing.
Seaside Rendezvous tells the story of two cultured types meeting at the ocean for a romantic evening. A cute little tune with a story that you might be able to tell on your own. God knows I have had a seaside rendezvous in my life.
The Prophet’s Song is a rock ballad about Noah’s Ark. It’s not preachy, it’s just what he might have said to make a bunch of people believe what he had to tell them about George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
Love of My Life is how you feel when you get dumped. Well, it’s one of the stages of feeling you go through that typically precedes anger and spite.
Good Company tells an interesting story and invaluable lesson about life. I’ve known people to scorn Queen that could learn a lot from this song imparticular. It’s ironic, really.
Bohemian Rhapsody speaks for itself, but I’m going to put a spin on it for you. Queen wanted this song to sound like an opera, though none of the band had ever been to one. I’ve only been to one, La Boheme, which is ironic, as this song addresses some similar issues. Newfound disease puts life into total perspective for this young man. He has found that he may have spread this to someone else, which may very well kill them, too. The inner turmoil is something that the outsider can only imagine, but this song pretty much puts it all into perspective for the unknowing.
The album closes with God Save the Queen. For those uneducated Americans that think that this is our song, you likely know it as America (My Country Tis of Thee). Since it’s instrumental, it’s hard to know the difference, but this is a British band, and it says God Save the Queen on the cover. This may be in reverence, or merely in jest as their name is Queen. At any rate, it’s a cool rendition of an otherwise overplayed standard.
The CD has newer versions of I’m in Love with My Car and You’re my Best Friend. They’re okay, and a nice addition, but the album that I listened to most of my youth was the vinyl that didn’t have these, and that was okay.
“I ponder on the lesson of
My life’s insanity
Take care of those you call your own
And Keep Good Company”