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‘We wrote for the common man,’ he says. ‘About how we felt, our dreams and frustrations. That’s why they identified so much with us.
‘We are known for our anthem songs but we didn’t start out that way. In the beginning we wanted people to sit up and listen, because we thought we had something important to say. But they wanted to participate. In the end we decided not to fight it, but rather to enjoy and even encourage it.’
He recalls that the words and music for We Will Rock You came to him one morning after a particularly raucous concert.
‘We played a gig at Bingley Hall near Birmingham. It was a popular venue at the time. It was a big sweaty barn and that night it was packed with a particularly vocal crowd. They were definitely drowning us out with their enthusiasm.
‘I remember that even after we left the stage they didn’t stop singing – loudly. They sang You’ll Never Walk Alone, which is very emotional. Quite a choking thing really. I certainly found it inspirational.
‘Later that night back at our hotel I said to the others, “That was great. So what should we do to continue generating that kind of energetic response?”
‘I woke up with the We Will Rock You lyrics in my head and had it written in about 10 minutes.
We Are The Champions, the power ballad written by Mercury, is another that May says was built on audience response. ‘We wanted to get the crowds waving and singing. It’s very unifying and positive. People love it because it’s so uplifting.
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