Brian May reveals the Queen song that made him "insecure" above all others

12 July 2024, 13:39

If there was one word to describe rock legends Queen, it'd be 'bombastic'.

Of course, much of the band's flamboyance and showmanship can be attributed to the inimitable frontman Freddie Mercury.

Never one to shy away from theatrics, both on the stage and in the studio, Freddie's masterful mischief ensured Queen would go down in the history books.

In a recent interview, Brian May discussed his insecurities when it came to writing the music that we all know and love.

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Talking to Guitar World, Brian used one song as an example, a song that millions of people worldwide were introduced to during their lauded Live Aid set.

Brian revealed how he struggled to believe that his idea was worthy enough to present to his bandmates, saying their initial lukewarm reception amplified his anxieties when it came to songwriting.

The song in question? 'Hammer To Fall' from Queen's 1984 album, The Works.

Queen - Hammer To Fall (Live Aid 1985)

"With me, it always starts off with a burst of activity, belief and inspiration, and thinking, 'Ah, this is gonna change the world.'"

"And it’s usually followed by a period of complete insecurity, thinking, 'Oh no, this is rubbish. This is never gonna work.… my band’s gonna hate it.' And then working through it."

May then continued to talk about his internal battle when it came to creating ideas, using 'Hammer To Fall' as an example.

"I think that’s true of 'Hammer To Fall' because I came upon this riff; I thought, 'This is great. I can do anything with this; this is just what I want to hear when I put my guitar on.'"

"And then I got into the studio and played it to the guys; and they went, 'Yeah, okay.' It wasn’t like, 'We love it!'"

The riff came to Brian easily, though it took him a lot of fine-tuning to "build it up to the point where I could play it to them as an almost-finished song."

"And then they got it; they went, 'Oh, yeah. Okay, we like this. This is going to be great'."

Freddie, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon must've been convinced eventually by 'Hammer To Fall' despite Brian's initial worries.

Queen plumped for 'Hammer To Fall' for their iconic 20-minute Live Aid set, which also included sheer classics like 'Radio Ga Ga', 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', 'We Are The Champions', as well as snippets of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'We Will Rock You'.

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“It takes a bit of belief, I think, to get from the first riff to the point where you’re happy with the result," May continued in the interview.

"I think it’s common to a lot of people – that moment when you spring it on your people around you, and you’re looking at their faces, and you feel very insecure in the moment."

"When I sing a song to someone, it’s always nerve-racking for me, no matter who it is. If they’ve never heard it before, I get all kinds of insecure. You just have to get over that."