The late Freddie Mercury is perhaps the most iconic voice in the history of British music – powerful and poetic in equal measure. The magic that he could create with just his vocal cords alone was like a God-given gift. Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’ is one of the greatest examples of his ridiculous talent and hearing his vocal take isolated, raises it to an even finer level.
The seminal song was the lead single from Queen’s 1976 record A Day At The Races and is a perfect encapsulation of the band’s charm that saw them become one of the biggest stadium-filling groups on the planet.
Freddie Mercury penned the track at the piano, a song that tells the depressing tale of a man in despair, pleading with God to send someone down for him to love and make him feel alive again. Mercury shows off that there is no end to his immense skill as he showcases a rather soulful side to his voice that he unleashes on the listener to dramatic effect.
“‘Somebody To Love’ is Aretha Franklin-influenced. Freddie’s very much into that. We tried to keep the track in a loose, gospel-type feel. I think it’s the loosest track we’ve ever done,” drummer Roger Taylor once noted on the behemoth of a song.
Mercury’s voice wears different guises throughout the song and he manages to make the listener feel deeply connected to the protagonist in a song in their moment of despair. Not many people can evoke such emotion from a listener like Mercury could and this isolated vocal version of the track is absolutely flawless, a true one of a kind talent.
“From my point of view, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ okay it was a big hit but I think a song like ‘Somebody To Love’ in my estimation, from a writing aspect, is a better song,” Mercury himself even boldly once noted on the track in a documentary.
Listening to this isolated vocal of ‘Somebody To Love’ will send shivers down your spine.
