Sheer Heart Attack captivated me many years ago, even though back then I understood very little, both literally and figuratively. I remember being mesmerized by the unusual tone of “In the Lap of the Gods,” loving “Tenement Funster,” being scared by the aggressiveness of “Flick of the Wrist” – again, completely missing out the lyrics but sensing the mood from the harsh riffs, Freddie’s voice, … Continue reading Sheer Heart Attack
One year ago we were told to stay home. We thought it would be like this for several weeks, for a couple of months. We postponed our plans and eventually canceled them entirely. We were clinging to each other, to our small and fragile universe, looking out at the storm that was roaring outside. On March 13, my university was still open but I canceled … Continue reading One Year
Once upon a time, I came across a live version of “Heroes,” a song co-written by David Bowie and Brian Eno; it blew me away, and stayed with me for the last four years, keeping me going, picking me up, and always, always taking my breath away. In 2019, sometime between January 8th and 10th, I went to a wonderful Choir! Choir! Choir! session, where … Continue reading Heroes
I needed to listen to something fresh and young, something that would alleviate that sickening feeling from not-so-happy news from around the world and from the cold breath of the pandemic winter. While revisiting my “tiny essays” format, I thought of Queen’s first album – again, a memorable item in my cassette collection, often played in my youth, and then somehow left out of my … Continue reading Queen
Writing about Queen II makes me extremely happy – along with A Day At the Races, this is an album that I can always listen to without getting tired. I take a deep breath at the beginning, synchronizing my heartbeat with the rhythm of “Procession”, breathing out only at the end, after the jolly singing of “I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside” is … Continue reading Queen II
As I was putting Christmas lights on our porch today, I caught myself murmuring “Las Palabras de Amor,” a song that matches this holiday season so well, with cold weather raging outside, and us huddling together in the safety of our houses and apartments, close to our family and pets, grateful for this warmth, in both literal and figurative sense of word. I feel this … Continue reading Hot Space
As we move more and more into winter, with the news being a mix of hope and desperation, and the days growing darker and shorter, I am trying to think of Christmas and New Year – that in a couple of weeks I will bring a tree into our house, and we at least have a bit of a holiday spirit in a tiny circle … Continue reading One Beautiful Christmas Day
“Innuendo” is one of the few Queen albums I knew for my entire life. I first heard this record in 1991, and it became inseparable from my coming of age. When I decided to dedicate this Tiny Essay to Freddie’s memory, I found out that my perception of “Innuendo” is split into two levels: I see these songs through the prism of my current knowledge … Continue reading Innuendo
Queen’s “A Day At The Races” (1976) was probably my greatest discovery as I plunged into the world of this magnificent band three years ago. I think that in part it happened due to the fact that I missed this album as a teenager, when I fell in love with Queen songs for the first time. And so, besides the hits, I knew nothing, and … Continue reading A Day At The Races
I thought of a project that would give me a relief from bad news and anxiety, and hopefully would entertain my friends, fellow Queen fans. It has been three years since the doors to this colorful and joyful world of Queen music opened for me, and I thought that now it is a perfect moment to write a series of essays, each of them dedicated … Continue reading Let Us Cling Together
Desperate Writers 