The Invisible Man (Queen song)


"The Invisible Man" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by drummer Roger Taylor but credited to Queen. The song is sung mostly by Freddie Mercury, with vocal contributions from Taylor. Originally released on the album The Miracle, it was released as a single in 1989. Taylor claims that he got the inspiration to create the song while reading a book, and the bassline instantly came to his imagination. The song title was inspired by the H. G. Wells novel of the same name.
This song marks the only time in any of Queen's songs that all four band members' names are mentioned in the lyrics. Mercury's name is announced by Taylor, and the other three by Mercury.

Music video

In the music video, a video game called "The Invisible Man" plays a large part, as a young boy is playing a game while the band, who are the "bad guys" in the game, enter the real world and perform the song in his room. As they perform, the boy tries to shoot them with the game controller. From time to time, Mercury appears in various places in the child's room, vanishing before the boy can shoot him with the video controller. After Mercury emerges from the child's closet with his band in tow, John Deacon removes his cowboy hat and throws it to the floor. In perhaps a futile attempt to emulate him, the boy removes his baseball cap, and dons the other. The screen then shows an image of the band in the game once more, Deacon without a hat, and the child walks underneath them.
A then-15-year-old Danniella Westbrook, who joined soap opera EastEnders the following year, appears in the video as the boy's sister.

Covers

A cover of the song has been done by Scatman John, in which many of the lyrics and instrumentals are replaced with scat singing. Butch Hartman, the creator of the Nickelodeon animated series Danny Phantom, has said the show's theme song was inspired by the bass line of "The Invisible Man".

Personnel