Queen - Queen II (1974): 09. The March Of The Black Queen

"The March of the Black Queen" In a 1974 interview with Melody Maker, Mercury, who had been working on the song even before Queen formed, said, "... that song took me ages to complete. I wanted to give it everything, to be self-indulgent or whatever." The multifaceted composition, the band&second longest (6:34), is one of two Queen songs (the other being "Bohemian Rhapsody") containing polyrhythm/polymeter (two different time signatures simultaneously 8/8 and 12/8) and a simpler polyrhythm around the end uptempo section, which is very rare for popular music. The lead vocals cover two and a half octaves (G2 – C5). May regards it as a precursor to "Bohemian Rhapsody", stating, "You&got to bear in mind that we&already made &Fairy King&on the first album and we&done &March of the Black Queen&on the second album, so we were well in tune with Freddie&excursions into strange areas, and that was something that we really enjoyed." Taylor recalled in a 1977 interview, "The tape went transparent, genuinely... It was 16-track... The tape had gone over the (recording) head so many times, overdubbing, that the oxide had worn off." This anecdote was later misattributed to the "Bohemian Rhapsody" sessions. Despite never being released as a single, it remains a favourite amongst Queen&fans. The full piece was too complicated to be performed live; however, the uptempo section containing the lines "My life is in your hands, I&foe and I&fie..." etc. was sometimes included in a live medley...