The classic Queen song that Brian May once hated: “Too flippant”
Queen guitarist Brian May is a legend of the game.
Outside of the many triumphant musical exploits over his career, the guitarist has invariably been a force for good and in the wider culture, defending righteous causes and the lives of badgers everywhere.
While he is ostensibly one of the calmer figures in rock, do not be fooled into thinking that May is a pushover. Over the years, he has been quick to share his thoughts on a range of issues, ranging from Eric Clapton’s stance on Covid-19 – when he stuck his head above the parapet and called him and other anti-vaxxers “fruitcakes” – to the time he showed his tough side when pushed by the media after his first marriage “fell apart”.
When it came to the inner workings of Queen, May was also never afraid to give his thoughts on the band’s music, whether it be praise or criticism of new ideas or tracks. In one of the most surprising admissions of his career, when speaking to Guitar Player in 2021, the fuzzy-haired string-shredder revealed that at first, he hated Queen’s 1979 mega-hit ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’.
Now, among fans, it pretty much defines the visceral appeal of the band. It is packed with knee-slinging pow-wow that could arouse a sloth into action. But they’re also a band of considered depth, pairing theatrics with a grander sense of the classics and savvy intellectualism. He thought that was missing this time around.
Displaying his natural thoughtfulness, May explained that, initially, he didn’t like the song as he thought that Freddie Mercury’s lyrics underplayed the dangers of HIV/AIDS, with May saying that he found it “flippant”. However, May was eventually won over when he came to realise that the seriousness of the virus spoke for itself, but for those left grappling with it, the sonic boon of Mercury’s soaring epic brought great, energising comfort.
“I didn’t really take to it in the beginning. I didn’t feel totally comfortable with what Freddie was singing at the time,” May told the publication. “I found it a little bit too flippant in view of the dangers of AIDS and stuff. But as time went on, I began to realise that it gave people great joy.”
Over the years, many fans would reach out with words of experiential wonder about how healing the found the track. “I had to give in. It’s a great song – there’s no way around it,” he continued. “I think that’s what Freddie had an amazing knack of doing: he could put his button on things that make people feel a bit more alive.”
Still, the surprising popularity of the track has always slightly puzzled May, with him calling it a “phenomenon”. He remained assured that there are better cuts in the band’s lauded discography, but he can accept that it has earned its own rare mania.
As he detailed further, adding, “I’ve seen it played at all sorts of functions. It’s become the most requested song at hen parties and stag parties and marriages and weddings and funerals – just because it brings joy.” It has, in essence, become transcendent – less of a song, and more of a societal fixture, effectively shorthand for ‘good times’.
“I don’t have any quarrel with it now – I enjoy playing it onstage,” the guitarist happily concluded. “It’s wonderful that everyone wants to sing it. In singing with us, they express their own joy and their own determination to make the best out of their lives, and to keep on and not get knocked down by things.”
Few songs epitomise that quite like the 1979 spectacle of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, even if it took the soloing astrologer a good while to clock onto its glowing appeal.
