White Queen (As It Began)

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"White Queen"
Song

"White Queen (As It Began)" is a song by British rock band Queen. It is composed by lead guitarist Brian May. It is the third track on their second studio album Queen II (1974), recorded on August 1973 at Trident Studios, London.

Details

Written in 1968 by Brian May (presumably for his then-current band Smile), this song features contrasting acoustic and heavy metal sections. May explained that he conceived the idea for this song while reading The White Goddess by Robert Graves. The song also had personal significance for May; he drew inspiration from a fellow student whom he revered and thought represented the idea of the "perfect woman".[1]

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I remember being totally in love with this girl from biology, and I never ever talked to her...I [was] dared to ask out this girl,[clarification needed] and she became a lifelong friend, it's very strange...[2]

— Brian May

Live performances

A live favourite, "White Queen" was first performed in early March 1974 (some reports suggest it was first performed by the band as early as 1972, and could date back to Smile), was regularly played through June 1977 and was last performed in London in May 1978 on the final night of the "News of the World" tour. Unlike on the album, the live versions features Freddie Mercury playing piano during the guitar solo.

In 2014, two recordings of the song performed at the Rainbow Theatre in 1974 were released. Entitled "Live at the Rainbow '74," it features dozens of previously unreleased tracks; one recording was in March 1974 (on the Queen II tour), while the other was in November 1974 (on the Sheer Heart Attack tour). A third live version, found on "A Night at the Odeon - Hammersmith 1975," was released in November, 2015.

"White Queen" was also performed at the BBC in April 1974, with an arrangement similar to the live versions. This version has not been officially released.

Personnel

References

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External links

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