This is one of the songs that defines Queen. Brian May said, “It was the song that best summed up our kind of music,” and added that he likes it “because there’s a lot to listen to, but it never gets cluttered.”
These are the same thoughts I have when listening to it. It’s perfect in every way precisely because there is so much going on. The lyrics are brilliant and eloquent, and even if you’re not getting what the story is about it’s entirely too much fun to sing along with.
She’s a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatines
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind anytime
Recommended at the price
Insatiable in appetite
Wanna try?
In case you’re not getting what she’s all about, I’ll allow Freddie Mercury explain.
“It’s about a high class call girl. I’m trying to say that classy people can be whores as well.
That’s what the song is about, though I’d prefer people to put their interpretation
upon it—to read into it what they like.”
Singing about hookers was never so poetic!
If you’re trying to introduce somebody to Queen—and you should be doing this on a regular basis—this is an essential song for your Queen 101 course. It’s quite different from what’s on their first two albums, but more of what I think most people recognize as the Queen sound. You can listen to it hundreds of times in a row and discover something new each time. There are so many layers for the listener to get happily and willingly lost between, and I cannot imagine what our world would be like without it.
