Song

Credits & Release Info:

Lyrics:

Do you mean it?
Do you mean it?
Do you mean it?
Why don't you mean it?
Why do I follow you and where do you go?
Aah aah aah aah aah aah

You've never seen nothing like it, no never in your life
Like going up to heaven and then coming back alive
Let me tell you all about it
And the world will so allow it
Ooh give me a little time to choose
Water babies singing in a lily-pool delight
Blue powder monkeys praying in the dead of night

Here comes the Black Queen, poking in the pile
Fie-fo the Black Queen, marching single file
Take this, take that, bring them down to size
March to the Black Queen

Put them in the cellar with the naughty boys
A little nigger sugar then a rub-a-dub-a baby oil
(aah aah) black on (aah aah), black on every finger nail and toe
We've only begun - begun
Make this, make that, keep making all that noise
March to the Black Queen
Now I've got a belly-full
You can be my sugar-baby, you can be my honey-chile, yes

La laa la laa la laa la laa la la la la la laa
La laa la laa la laa la laa la laa la laa la laa la laa
A voice from behind me reminds me
(tra la laa tra la laa aaah)
Spread out your wings you are an angel
Remember to deliver with the speed of light
A little bit of love and joy
Everything you do (will bear a will) bears a will and a why and a wherefore
A little bit of love and joy
In each and every soul lies a man, very soon he'll deceive and discover
But even till the end of his life, he'll bring a little love

Aah ah aah
La la la la laa
Ah ah ah ah aah
Ah la la la laa
I reign with my left hand, I rule with my right
I'm lord of all darkness, I'm Queen of the night
I've got the power - now do the march of the Black Queen
My life is in your hands, I'll fo and I'll fie
I'll be what you make me, I'll do what you like
I'll be a bad boy - I'll be your bad boy - I'll do the march of the Black Queen

Ah aah ah aah
Ah aah ah aah
Walking true to style
She's vulgar 'buse and vile
Fie-fo the Black Queen, tattoos all her pies
She boils and she bakes, and she never dots her "I's"

She's our leader
La la la la laa la la laa
La la la la la laa

Forget your singalongs and your lullabies
Surrender to the city of the fireflies
Dance with the devil in beat with the band
To hell with all of you hand-in-hand
But now it's time to be gone - (la la la laaa) forever - forever
La la la laaa aaah aah aah aaah

Quotes Regarding The Song:

Freddie (1974): "There's no deep meaning or concept in the album. At the time of recording, we conceived it impulsively. I wrote this song, 'March Of The Black Queen,' for the album. That's when we got the idea of having white and black sides reflecting white and black moods. It became a good contrast."

Freddie (1977): "Those were the days of the 16 track studios and we have now 24 and 32 track. Before when we did so many overdubs on 16 track, it was like, we just kept piling it on and on. The tape went transparent because it just couldn't take anymore. I think it snapped in two places as well."

Roger (1977): "We lasted recording that one until the tape went transparent. Genuinely!"

John (1974): "A long, six minute track and we spent ages and ages rehearsing this one, not very easy at all, I can assure you."

Brian (1998): "His (Freddie's) songs say it all: Lily Of The Valley, Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, The March Of The Black Queen, We Are The Champions, The Miracle, Play The Game and many others all have the finest shades of emotion among the bold strokes. Freddie never wanted to discuss his lyrics: "They should speak for themselves" was his curt dismissal. But the imagination in those lyrics compiled with a magical sense of melody, and a deft knack of sliding between keys at the drop of a hat, made him one of the truly original songwriters of our time."

Brian (2003): "Freddie is not around so I think we'll never really know what 'Black Queen' was about."

Greg Brooks (2002): "Little is documented about the recording of this song, and neither did Freddie mention it in interview. There are minimal out-takes in the archive and all early efforts, like most then, were recorded over in order to save tape and money. The song seemed to slip by unnoticed at the time in preference to others on Queen II."