Long Away

"Long Away"
Single by Queen
from the album A Day at the Races
B-side	You and I
Released	7 June 1977 (US, Canada, New Zealand)
Format	7"
Recorded	1976
Genre	Rock
Length	3:33
Label	EMI, Elektra
Writer(s)	Brian May
Producer(s)	Queen
Queen singles chronology
"Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" (Queen's First EP) (1977) "Long Away" (1977) "We Are the Champions" / "We Will Rock You" (1977)

"Long Away" is a single by the band Queen; it is the third track on the first side of the 1976 album A Day at the Races. Brian May wrote the song and sings the lead vocals.

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 (although he used the Red Special for the second guitar solo in the middle section of the track). Originally May wanted to use a Rickenbacker guitar (as he admired John Lennon), but he didn't get along well with the Rickenbacker's thin neck.

Roger Taylor sings the highest parts of the song. Freddie Mercury only did the backing vocals.

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 with Mercury. Brian performed an acoustic version of the song at Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders Concert on the 11 May 2010.

Personnel

• Brian May - lead and backing vocals, 6 & 12-string electric guitars
• Roger Taylor - drums, backing vocals
• Freddie Mercury - Backing vocals
• John Deacon - bass guitar

External links

• Lyrics at Queen official website