h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Killer Queen is a curiosity: "Gunpowder, gelatine" -- was it gelignite he had in mind? A bit like Abba's occasional dodgy takes on American phrases.

Yes, but it doesn't rhyme (almost) with "laser beam".

I'll write to Freddie Mercury and get him to take another look at that couplet.

RF

But it does rhyme with Welly-light; he could've used that.

I always had a problem with the those lyrics "gunpowder gelatine". I could never figure out the words at that point and am still in doubt that Freddie really said that.

The other one that I could never figure out was Abba's Voulez Vous:

'Like is zhonsay voulez vous"

which turned out to be a reasonable but Scandinavian pronunciation of "La question c'est voulez vous".

While we're on the subject of the lyrics of "Killer Queen", can someone help me interpret the end of the song. Please?

As we all know , the whole song is a description of a woman-of-the-world, whore to the powerful and rich. The very last line, however, goes "What a drag". Now is this what it seems to be on the face of it: she finds being posh tedious? Or is it a kind of kick in the tail of the story, inferring that "she" really is a "he" (which would sort of fit in with the title.......)

This might seem a silly question to you lot, especially ReddyFreddy, but please remember that I was living in Germany in the 80s, and cut off from the British media, busy with nappies and baby stuff, learning children's songs rather than concentrating on what went on "out there".

Anyway, I am going to attempt a translation of all the lyrics we're singing and possibly even offer to write some programme notes, so, on principle, I shall start analysing the lyrics from scratch, and try and get as many angles as possible on what the whole lot could possibly mean (if anything)

So, wish me luck, starting with "Guaranteed to blow your mind!" - I've been chewing over that one all day!

I'll be back - looking for your opinions and suggestions. over to "Ask"

As for "Gunpowder Gelatine" - that's what it says in our scores. The lyrics are official, I assume, as of course, we had to apply for rights to perform all this lot. So don't worry, even it's nonsensical it's what the man said.

So "gunpowder gelatine" it is. I could ramble on and speculate about "Gunpowder" being also a kind of tea, and gelatine mixed with it would make for an interesting dessert ........

The song also goes on about "Geisha Minor" which is a really clever mix-up of words. Or is there something I don't know?

This is so weird. Song lyrics are normally written on the backs of envelopes and rarely is the original kept (nor is it necessarily the version recorded). There was (and maybe still is) so little correspondence between the musicians and the publishers of sheet music that laughable errors are the norm at least between about 1960 and 1980.

The last words are not "what a drag" but "wanna try?"

They all concur on "Geisha Minor" but I remember assuming that that line went "Drugs from Asia Minor" but listening now on Youtube it certainly does sound like "Went down to Geisha Minor".

Paul McCartney and a lot of other lyricists do allow ambiguous syllables to wander into their verse; suggestions of something half-remembered. I suspect Freddie did the same.

I would take issue with the lyrics-sites over a couple of things: they give "insatiable an appetite" which should surely be "insatiable in appetite".

Gelatine is not in doubt; it is an ingredient in gelignite -- the word gelignite is a neologism suggesting "jelly that will ignite".

The officalness of the lyrics however says nothing about their accuracy. would you like to post the version you have, for more comments?

I'll type it up out of my copy when I've managed to lug the folder to the computer.

I had second thoughts about that - song lyrics are usually deleted from here, aren't they? I very closely watched the Youtube version of the videoclip several times and am actually convinced that FM sings "Wanna try" at the end, rather than "What a drag". But there may have been different versions. Even then, the interpretation is somewhat tenuous.

Anyway I've finished all the translations and passed them on. There were some available on the web, but they weren't very well done. Something as simple as "Will you do the fandango" was translated as future simple. I always thought it was an imperative, and am still convinced it is.

My feet are killing me - I've been standing and singing practically non-stop for the past 3 days!

Friday night was the premiere - we had concerts on Saturday and Sunday to follow up. It was a roaring success. At all the concerts, the applause was amazing and the audience went wild.

I had translated all the lyrics we sang and sent them to the guy who's organised the whole thing - with a view to distributing it to the choir to aid understanding of the songs - it's amazing what some people didn't understand - or, worse still, misunderstood.

He sent them on to the printers and had them made up into a little booklet. I was SO-O-O-O embarrassed. They were taken over verbatim - typos and all (although I had thoroughly proof-read, but I'm sure there were some).

However, I got a buncha flarze on the opening night for my troubles and many of the choir members complimented and thanked me for the translations. I also added in little comments in a third column.

The concert started with the pianist playing "Innuendo" - on a loop, practically, as we (all 100-110 singers; it varied from night to night, of course) walked onto the stage. All very orderly and dignified. The spot was on the pianist, so it wasn't as if us walking onto the stage was a big part of the act.

Then we went on to "You don't fool me", after which the chairman said words of welcome and greeted the local dignitaries and then we continued the programme with witty comments by the conductor preceding each song.

We finished the first half with Bohemian Rhapsody, but it had included "We will Rock You". The audience (on all three nights, independently!) clapped in the WWRY rhythm, after the first wave of general clapping had washed over us.

After the interval the audience were called back to their seats with bicycle bells rather than the usual gong. We started the 2nd half with "Bicycle race" to which two kids on unicycles did their little act.

If things hadn't got going by then, they really went mad when it came to "Living on my Own". This included a mind-boggling piano solo which got spontaneous applause in the middle of the song. After that there was no holding the audience and we had to do encore after encore, finally walking off singing "We Will, we Will Rock You".

The reactions of the audience were the same every night - quite uncanny that was.

On the Saturday, the concert was in Heidelberg. This meant it wasn't a "home game" with relatives rooting for the choir. But the reactions were just as good. The president of the Official German Queen Fan Club came to the concert that evening - heaven knows how far he'd come - from Hamburg or somewhere!

Whoops - wrong Buncha flarze smiley! it was supposed to be!

Wow, that sounds as though it was really worth seeing.

Any idea what the Prez of the Queen fan-club thought?

Due to the rave reviews in the press, the two extra concerts in April have now sold out but for about 20 tickets. There is to be a sixth concert in Hockenheim (yup - the place where the formula 1 races take place.) Not in the stadium of course, but in the municipal theatre.

I'm going to have to go round town and stick "Sold out" over all the posters I've hung up. I hope I can remember where I hung them!

No - no idea what the Big Chief Fan thought. I'll see if there's something on their website.