[potsie]

The Queen biopic opens this coming weekend and it got me thinking about the Freddie Mercury reference in "Fly". In "Bohemian Rhapsody" Mercury sings the despondent line "I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all" whereas in "Fly" Gord misquotes it slightly, singing "I've sometimes wished I'd never been born at all". In Gord's world honest mistakes are rare and meaning can be ascribed to most lyrics. Was this change - "I" to "I've", "wish" to "wished" - intentional, and if so, what does it mean? Does it remove the narrator's negative mindset from the present tense in Bohemian Rhapsody to the past tense in "Fly"? Does this subtle difference impact the tone of "Fly", lifting it to something slightly more uplifting?

Different meanings and interpretations abound for "Bohemian Rhapsody" as Mercury never provided an explanation for the lyrics beyond it being about relationships. The remaining members of Queen are on record about it being a very personal song for Freddie but have refused to elaborate beyond that. One popular thought is that the song is a thinly disguised confession of his sexual orientation. "Mama, just killed a man" is Freddie killing the straight person he was in the early 70's when he had a serious relationship with Mary Austin. Is there also a third person struggle with self-identity (not necessarily sexual, although there is a "glowing pair of thighs" in the song") in "Fly" that hews closely to the first person struggle in Bohemian Rhapsody?

"no one's gonna hear me fall"
"I've sometimes wished I'd never been born at all."
"I Remain unphotographed"
"but I'll never be one of them."
"a guy who cries before he fights."
"I don't want em to see me like this"
"they stop kicking once you're down."
"There are places I've never been and always wanted to go."
"Where ya been all my life."

This all stems from wondering why Gord would include "Freddie Mercury" directly in the song. He could have just sung the line and foot-noted it in the liner notes (not that anyone would have needed that to know where the line originated) like he did with Northrop Frye and many others. Why did he stick Mercury's name right in the song? It seems awkward but maybe it was to draw more attention to a link between this song and Bohemian Rhapsody?

[kieffer]

Potsie, allow me to take this back a step and ask, what do you think Fly is about?

To me this song continues a common motif of immigration/emigration/exploration Gord often played with. The fear of the unknown, uncertainty or internal struggle to convince oneself this was the right decision. Further extrapolating could this be a metaphor for growth? or even a band or artist knowing it needs to try new things. The idea of 'spreading your wings to fly' or a baby bird leaving it's nest are the types of mental images I've gotten from the song.

I think the opening line of "70 days to cross the ocean" is an obvious reference a people risking everything to make it to the new world. The hip museum entry for this song speaks in greater detail to what the 70 days may reference.

I've always taken the Mercury reference as a simple agreement to the the line from Bohemian Rhaspsody. a simple "Yeah man, I feel the same'. While Bohemian Rhapsody is a song we've probably all heard a million times, I can say this is the first time I've read an interpretation of what this song is about - and it actually fits quite nicely with what I assume Fly to be about.

[scottitude]

I don't hear it as a mis-quote, but a reference in the form of a simile.

The full line is "Like Freddie Mercury, I've sometimes wished I'd never been born at all."

Freddie's perspective is in the present tense, Gord's is reflecting upon the past and comparing his feelings to those Freddie had.

Regardless, the greatest front-man in modern rock paying homage to the greatest front-man of classic rock ( or perhaps ever) is pretty damned cool.

[andrew sharpe]

It's cause I paraphrase so much.

[potsie]

I don't hear it as a mis-quote, but a reference in the form of a simile.

The full line is "Like Freddie Mercury, I've sometimes wished I'd never been born at all."

One might think that, but it's not. There is no "Like" in the line. If there was, the inclusion of "Freddie Mercury" would feel more fluid. As it stands, I can't tell if he's just letting us know who sang that line, or if he's telling us something more.

Agree with Freddie being (one of the) greatest front man. He and Downie are 1A and 1B in my books. Freddie's moves and stagecraft were more calculated and designed to raise the roof, Downie's were seemingly more spontaneous and not designed to elicit a specific response from the audience (although they certainly could).

Kieffer, I'll get back to you.

[Moof_Milker]

Like many/most of Gord's songs, there's lots going on here ... I've always interpreted Fly chiefly as being about someone who doesn't fit in and is invisible to his peers. He's frustrated with his social status -- but he knows that given the chance he could metaphorically fly. I see broad parallels to Eminem's Stan here - anchored by that Freddie Mercury reference. Eminem's Stan reference's that Phil Collins song "In the Air of the Night" (<- notice the narrator's error). Both songs' narrators name the artist of the song they reference...and both misquote the song, slightly. Thankfully Fly's narrator isn't as dark and tragic as Fly's. There's hope for him.

Side note: I remember watching an episode of the show Six Feet Under that came out a year or so before this song came out, and I remember a scene where a character (I forget which one) was in his yard and was pissed off and took a broom and beat it violently against a big tree until the broom busted into splinters - thus turning a broom into a tree. I can't say for certain this was the inspiration...but in my mind Gord saw that episode and used it as influence. Fly's narrator might be angry enough to lash out and destroy broom...but he would never be one of them (...a Stan perhaps?)

[FourPistols]

Two of my greatest musical heroes.

"There are places I've never been and always wanted to go."

This has always struck me as an interesting line. For that matter, I've always liked this song which so many do not.

Regardless, I always took that as a bit of a yearning maybe for a commercial breakthrough that wasn't coming. Maybe Gord wanted to play on The Tonight Show. Maybe he wished the Hip were better known in the States.

Maybe he mostly didn't care at all. And yet there was that little part of him who knew how great the band was, that knew they deserved even more than they had accomplished, especially south of the border.

Maybe it's none of those things but that's what it always made me think of.

Gord and Freddie were two talented individuals. They did their own thing. They believed in themselves even when they didn't "fit" the scene at all and always followed their artistic muse. They also both were stricken down in their primes though both were able to write songs with the end in mind via Introduce Yerself, Barcelona, The Miracle and Innuendo. And both are artists whose stature grew after they departed this world for another.

[potsie]

Potsie, allow me to take this back a step and ask, what do you think Fly is about?

To me this song continues a common motif of immigration/emigration/exploration Gord often played with. The fear of the unknown, uncertainty or internal struggle to convince oneself this was the right decision. Further extrapolating could this be a metaphor for growth? or even a band or artist knowing it needs to try new things. The idea of 'spreading your wings to fly' or a baby bird leaving it's nest are the types of mental images I've gotten from the song.

I think the opening line of "70 days to cross the ocean" is an obvious reference a people risking everything to make it to the new world. The hip museum entry for this song speaks in greater detail to what the 70 days may reference.

I've always taken the Mercury reference as a simple agreement to the the line from Bohemian Rhaspsody. a simple "Yeah man, I feel the same'. While Bohemian Rhapsody is a song we've probably all heard a million times, I can say this is the first time I've read an interpretation of what this song is about - and it actually fits quite nicely with what I assume Fly to be about.

Kieffer, I think I’m on the same page as you when it comes to the interpretation of the song. Although admittedly I’m a bit hung up on the seemingly purposeful inclusion of Freddie Mercury in the song and feel like a lot of the song can be linked back to him.

The narrator undergoes a personal journey, through the metaphor of sea travel (setting out on the ocean and 70 days later finally seeing the destination coastline on the horizon). The beginning of the narrative sees the individual grounded, turning a broom (a flying instrument via the image of witches taking flight) into an unmoving tree. There are struggles along the way, and ultimately we are left not knowing whether the narrator is truly triumphant in the end. We do know, however, that he’s going to die trying.

With regards to Mercury, his family emigrated from Zanzibar to England in 1963. This journey by boat takes 70 days going through the Panama Canal, which is not necessarily the shortest route, but is an option. I have no idea how his family actually emigrated… whether they travelled by air, land or sea.

Interestingly you mention the image of ‘spreading your wings to fly’. Queen have a song called “Spread Your Wings”, which has a not dissimilar theme of follow your dreams in the face of people kicking you when you’re down.

Spread Your Wings (partial lyrics)

Sammy was low
Just watching the show
Over and over again
Knew it was time
He'd made up his mind
To leave his dead life behind
His boss said to him
Boy you'd better begin
To get those crazy notions right out of your head
Sammy who do you think that you are
You should've been sweeping up the Emerald bar

Spread your wings and fly away
Fly away far away
Spread your little wings and fly away
Fly away far away
Pull yourself together
'Cause you know you should do better
That's because you're a free man

In “Fly” the line ‘Try, left and right, across your mind’ could be interpreted in a number of ways and can be tied into “Spread Your Wings”.

[potsie]

“Fly” was second on my hit list (following “Pretend”) during the World Container album weakest link poll. I’ve never particularly enjoyed Gord’s vocal work on the verses. The melodramatic delivery of the first half of a number of lines, for example the way he hits ‘seventy’, ‘seventy’, and ‘Freddie Mercury’ in the opening verse and ‘You said, ”Please..’ in the line ‘You said, "Please stop worrying about this they stop kicking once you're down’ in the third verse. He sings these pieces in his shrill “Drop Off” voice and then throttles down to a more palatable tone on the back half of the lines. This variance within the lines, while possibly intended to give the song more teeth, grates on me.

The chorus, on the other hand, is rousing and Downie propels it to great heights despite the band not following his lead. They fail to raise their mid-tempo pace to match his skyward movement. However, the soaring chorus vocal could never save the song for me and thus "Fly” was almost always a ‘skip’ when listening to WC. Consequently I’ve never given the song lyrics much thought until recently. After taking another look at it, and re-listening over the past week, I have a new appreciation for it. It's still in the lower half of WC for me, but it's separated itself a bit further from "Pretend".

[sean.bonner]

Seeing Gord Downie live was the closest I've ever been to seeing Freddie Mercury live.

[kieffer]

“Fly” was second on my hit list (following “Pretend”) during the World Container album weakest link poll. I’ve never particularly enjoyed Gord’s vocal work on the verses. The melodramatic delivery of the first half of a number of lines, for example the way he hits ‘seventy’, ‘seventy’, and ‘Freddie Mercury’ in the opening verse and ‘You said, ”Please..’ in the line ‘You said, "Please stop worrying about this they stop kicking once you're down’ in the third verse. He sings these pieces in his shrill “Drop Off” voice and then throttles down to a more palatable tone on the back half of the lines. This variance within the lines, while possibly intended to give the song more teeth, grates on me.

The chorus, on the other hand, is rousing and Downie propels it to great heights despite the band not following his lead. They fail to raise their mid-tempo pace to match his skyward movement. However, the soaring chorus vocal could never save the song for me and thus "Fly” was almost always a ‘skip’ when listening to WC. Consequently I’ve never given the song lyrics much thought until recently. After taking another look at it, and re-listening over the past week, I have a new appreciation for it. It's still in the lower half of WC for me, but it's separated itself a bit further from "Pretend".

I think if Gord lived to be 100 I assume it to be unlikely he would ever pull back the curtain and deconstruct all of his lyrics - but what a treat that would have been. At the same time I think great enjoyment can be found in the type of analysis and insight you've provided. Along your same lines of thinking, I think there are definite moments of potential not quite realized in this song, but I wonder how this one might have sounded with a different tempo or arrangement.

Understanding that not all songs make the cut to be on the album, I wonder if there were any lyrics, ideas or sounds Gord or the band would have ever admitted not being able to get exactly to where they wanted, but still ended up on an album. This is in my mind is different from saying we didn't like something or in hindsight we would have done something different, but more of we tried and tried and while we are happy with the result, we just weren't able to 'put to paper' exactly what was in our minds.

There are no shortage of remastered songs and albums, but does anyone have an example of a remastered (or maybe the correct word is re-recorded) song where the lyrics were changed or the song was totally re-written?

With it sounding like Hipbase is going to hang around for the next little while, I look forward to you diving in to many more songs Potsie.