Long Away


"Long Away" is a song by the British rock band Queen; it is the third track on their 1976 album A Day at the Races. Brian May wrote the song and sings the lead vocals. It is the only Queen single released during Freddie Mercury's lifetime not to be sung by him.
This song is available as a downloadable content for Rock Band 3. Also, it appeared on the 2014 compilation album Queen Forever.

Recording

It is one of the few songs where May uses a guitar other than his Red Special. For the rhythm guitar parts he used an electric Burns twelve string guitar. Originally May wanted to use a Rickenbacker guitar, but he didn't get along well with the Rickenbacker's thin neck.
Roger Taylor sings the highest parts of the song.

Meaning

The song has a sad tone, describing that "for every star in heaven / there's a sad soul here today," and an overall sense of melancholic nostalgia lies over the song. It is similar in feel to the song '39 from A Night at the Opera, although without the folk influence.

Live performances

The song was never performed live with Mercury, though it was rehearsed before the start of the A Day at the Races Tour in January 1977. May performed an acoustic version of the song at Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders Concert on the 11 May 2010.

Reception

The Washington Post described it as "an affectionate recreation of the mid-'60s Beatles/Byrds sound," and one of the best songs on the album.. Wesley Strick of Circus magazine, in a mixed review of the album, named the album's best song and also noted the influence of the Beatles and the Byrds. He observed that Long Away was "haunting" and "never smart-ass or strickly for laughs, "Long Away" - unlike most of Races - feels real."

Personnel