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Undid revision 989984428 by Vsco mike (talk) stop changing genres without a source, also are the "Queen comments" really necessary? they aren't particularly interesting or insightful
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{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2016}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2016}}
{{short description|1976 song by Queen}}
{{Infobox song
{{Infobox song
| name = Long Away
| name = Long Away
| cover = Long2.jpg
| cover = Long Away audio cover.jpg
| alt =
| alt =
|caption= Thai single picture sleeve
| caption =
| type = single
| type = single
| artist = [[Queen (band)|Queen]]
| artist = [[Queen (band)|Queen]]
| album = [[A Day at the Races (album)|A Day at the Races]]
| album = [[A Day at the Races (album)|A Day at the Races]]
| B-side = "[[A Day at the Races (album)#"You and I"|You and I]]"
| B-side = "[[A Day at the Races (album)#"You and I"|You and I]]"
| released = 7 June 1977
| released = 7 June 1977
| recorded = 1976
| format = [[Gramophone record|7"]]
| recorded = 1976
| studio =
| studio =
| venue =
| venue =
| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length = 3:33
| length = 3:33
| label = [[Elektra Records|Elektra]]
| label = [[Elektra Records|Elektra]]
| writer = [[Brian May]]
| writer = [[Brian May]]
| producer = Queen
⚫
| prev_title = [[Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy]]
| producer = Queen
⚫
| prev_year = 1977
⚫
| prev_title = [[Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy]]
⚫
| next_title = [[We Are the Champions]]" / "[[We Will Rock You]]
⚫
| prev_year = 1977
⚫
| next_year = 1977
⚫
| next_title = [[We Are the Champions]]
⚫
| next_year = 1977
}}
}}


"'''Long Away'''" is a song by the British rock band [[Queen (band)|Queen]]; it is the third track on their 1976 album ''[[A Day at the Races (album)|A Day at the Races]]''. [[Brian May]] wrote the song and sings the lead vocals. It is the only Queen [[Single (music)|single]] released during Freddie Mercury's lifetime not to be sung by him.
"'''Long Away'''" is a song by the British rock band [[Queen (band)|Queen]]; it is the third track on their 1976 album ''[[A Day at the Races (album)|A Day at the Races]]''. [[Brian May]] wrote the song and sings the lead vocals. It was released as the third single from the album in North America and New Zealand only.


==Recording==
==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.
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 (Queen drummer)|Roger Taylor]] sings the highest parts of the song.
[[Roger Taylor (Queen drummer)|Roger Taylor]] sings the highest parts of the song.
Line 38: Line 38:


==Live performances==
==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.<ref>http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/77-01-13.htm</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/77-01-13.htm|access-date=2020-12-12|website=www.queenlive.ca}}</ref>


==Reception==
==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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Queen_-_02-07-1977_-_A_Day_at_the_Races_-_Washington_Post|title=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|website=www.queenarchives.com}}</ref>. 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."<ref name=Circus>{{cite web|url=http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Queen_-_XX-XX-1977_-_A_Day_at_the_Races_-_Circus|title=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|website=www.queenarchives.com}}</ref>
''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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Queen_-_02-07-1977_-_A_Day_at_the_Races_-_Washington_Post|title=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|website=www.queenarchives.com}}</ref> 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|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."<ref name=Circus>{{cite web|url=http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Queen_-_XX-XX-1977_-_A_Day_at_the_Races_-_Circus|title=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|website=www.queenarchives.com}}</ref> ''[[Cash Box]]'' said that "this gentle tune is built from endless layers of strummed guitars, showcasing the versatile Freddie Mercury's sweetest voice and the group's distinctive high register harmonies."<ref name=cb>{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=June 18, 1977|page=20|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2021-12-26|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1977/CB-1977-06-18.pdf}}</ref>


==Other album appearances==
==Other album appearances==
The song also appears on two Queen compilation albums: ''[[Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)]]''<ref>{{cite web|title=Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976) (Remastered Edition)|url=http://www.queenonlinestore.com/Queen/CD/Deep-Cuts-Volume-1-1973-1976-Remastered-Edition/2FZY0YNP1NO|access-date=9 November 2020|website=Queen}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Queen - Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976)|url=https://www.discogs.com/Queen-Deep-Cuts-Volume-1-1973-1976/master/325778|access-date=9 November 2020|website=[[Discogs]]}}</ref> (2011) and ''[[Queen Forever]]''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen - Queen Forever|url=https://www.discogs.com/Queen-Queen-Forever/release/6263872|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Discogs|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=September 19|first=Jeff GilesPublished:|last2=2014|title=Queen Unearth Previously Unreleased Tracks for New 'Queen Forever' Compilation|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-forever-album/|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen announce Queen Forever album PLUS unreleased Freddie Mercury songs!|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/queen-announce-queen-forever-album-plus-unreleased-freddie-mercury-songs-__5885/|access-date=2020-11-22|website=www.officialcharts.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen "Forever" album and song lyrics|url=http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/songs/forever.htm|access-date=2020-11-22|website=www.ultimatequeen.co.uk}}</ref> (2014).
The song also appears on two Queen compilation albums: ''[[Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)]]''<ref>{{cite web|title=Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976) (Remastered Edition)|url=http://www.queenonlinestore.com/Queen/CD/Deep-Cuts-Volume-1-1973-1976-Remastered-Edition/2FZY0YNP1NO|access-date=9 November 2020|website=Queen}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Queen - Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976)|url=https://www.discogs.com/Queen-Deep-Cuts-Volume-1-1973-1976/master/325778|access-date=9 November 2020|website=[[Discogs]]}}</ref> (2011) and ''[[Queen Forever]]''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen - Queen Forever|url=https://www.discogs.com/Queen-Queen-Forever/release/6263872|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Discogs|date=7 November 2014 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=September 19, 2014|first=Jeff|last=Giles|title=Queen Unearth Previously Unreleased Tracks for New 'Queen Forever' Compilation|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-forever-album/|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen announce Queen Forever album PLUS unreleased Freddie Mercury songs!|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/queen-announce-queen-forever-album-plus-unreleased-freddie-mercury-songs-__5885/|access-date=2020-11-22|website=www.officialcharts.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen "Forever" album and song lyrics|url=http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/queen/songs/forever.htm|access-date=2020-11-22|website=www.ultimatequeen.co.uk}}</ref> (2014).


==Queen comments on the song==
==Band comments on the song==
{{Quote|"Long Away" is a twelve-string thing written by Brian... very interesting harmonies. |Freddie Mercury, 1977}}
{{Quote|"Long Away" is a twelve-string thing written by Brian... very interesting harmonies. |Freddie Mercury, 1977}}


{{Quote|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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2004-07-07|title=Long Away|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040707173516/http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com/long-away.htm|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Bechstein Debauhchery}}</ref>|Brian May, 1982}}
{{Quote|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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2004-07-07|title=Long Away|url=http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com/long-away.htm|access-date=2020-11-22|website=Bechstein Debauhchery|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040707173516/http://sebastian.queenconcerts.com/long-away.htm|archive-date=7 July 2004}}</ref>|Brian May, 1982}}


==Personnel==
==Personnel==
'''Queen'''
*[[Brian May]] - [[Lead vocalist|lead]] and [[Backing vocalist|backing vocals]], [[Electric guitar|electric guitars]]
*[[Freddie Mercury]] - backing vocals
*[[Brian May]] – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar
*[[Roger Taylor (Queen drummer)|Roger Taylor]] - [[Drum kit|drums]], backing vocals
*[[Freddie Mercury]] – backing vocals
*[[Roger Taylor (Queen drummer)|Roger Taylor]] – drums, backing vocals, percussion
*[[John Deacon]] - [[bass guitar]]
*[[John Deacon]] – bass guitar


==References==
==References==
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{{Queen singles}}
{{Queen singles}}

{{authority control}}


[[Category:Queen (band) songs]]
[[Category:Queen (band) songs]]
Line 72: Line 75:
[[Category:Elektra Records singles]]
[[Category:Elektra Records singles]]
[[Category:Hollywood Records singles]]
[[Category:Hollywood Records singles]]


{{1970s-rock-song-stub}}

Latest revision as of 09:10, 8 August 2024

"Long Away"
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" / "We Will Rock You"
(1977)

"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 was released as the third single from the album in North America and New Zealand only.

Recording

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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] Cash Box said that "this gentle tune is built from endless layers of strummed guitars, showcasing the versatile Freddie Mercury's sweetest voice and the group's distinctive high register harmonies."[4]

Other album appearances

[edit]

The song also appears on two Queen compilation albums: Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)[5][6] (2011) and Queen Forever[7][8][9][10] (2014).

Band comments on the song

[edit]

"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.[11]

— Brian May, 1982

Personnel

[edit]

Queen

References

[edit]
  1. ^ www.queenlive.ca http://www.queenlive.ca/queen/77-01-13.htm. Retrieved 12 December 2020. {{cite web}}: 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. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 18 June 1977. p. 20. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976) (Remastered Edition)". Queen. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Queen - Deep Cuts Volume 1 (1973-1976)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Queen - Queen Forever". Discogs. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  8. ^ Giles, Jeff (19 September 2014). "Queen Unearth Previously Unreleased Tracks for New 'Queen Forever' Compilation". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Queen announce Queen Forever album PLUS unreleased Freddie Mercury songs!". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Queen "Forever" album and song lyrics". www.ultimatequeen.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Long Away". Bechstein Debauhchery. 7 July 2004. Archived from the original on 7 July 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
[edit]
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