'39 is a song by Queen. It was written by Brian May for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It was also released as a single with You're My Best Friend on the A-side.
History[]
Composition[]
'39 was May's attempt to do "sci-fi skiffle". "'39" relates the tale of a group of space explorers who embark on what is, from their perspective, a year-long voyage. Upon their return, however, they realize that a hundred years have passed, because of the time dilation effect in Einstein's special theory of relativity, and the loved ones they left behind are now all dead or aged.
May sings the song on the album, with backing vocals by Mercury and Taylor, the latter providing falsetto harmony vocals.
Live performances[]
During live performances, Mercury sang the lead vocal. May had asked bassist John Deacon to play double bass as a joke but a couple of days later he found Deacon in the studio with the instrument, and he had already learned to play it.
Since Queen had named their albums A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races after two of the Marx Brothers' most popular films, surviving brother Groucho Marx invited Queen to visit him at his Los Angeles home in March 1977 (five months before he died). The band thanked him and performed "'39" a cappella.
George Michael performed "'39" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April 1992. Michael cited this song as his favorite Queen song, claiming he used to busk it on the London Underground.
Recently, Queen have included the song on the setlists of their recent tours with Adam Lambert [20] and before Adam with Paul Rodgers; for all these tours since 2005 it is sung as it is on the album by May.
Charts and certifications[]
Trivia[]
- This song is almost entirely about outer space
- It is the fifth track from A Night at the Opera