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Tie Your Mother Down

Album: A Day at the Races (1976)

Brian May's straight-ahead riff-driven rock song was a live show favorite, serving variously as an
energetic encore or as a crowd-pleasing opener. The song is a story of teenage sexual longing—our
protagonist wants their date’s family out of the way for the evening so that romance can blossom.
There's a sense of playfulness in the lyric as the character asks, “Tie your mother down/lock your daddy
out of doors” and "Take your little brother swimming with a brick,” closing with the contradictory
assertion, “I'm just a peace-loving quy.” Live, the band always performed all three harmonies faithfully,
with Roger Taylor's extraordinary rock falsetto taking the top part. In our version, arranged by Han-Lin
(Jennifer) Hsieh, our vocal trio of Isabella, Thalia, and Tiffany take a rock-meets-R&B approach, mixing in
influences of Destiny's Child and Heart.

One Vision/Hammer to Fall

Albums: A Kind of Magic (1986)/The Works (1984)

The two-note power chord riff that opens “One Vision” quickly became a staple of guitar store repertoire
in 1986, joining the "Hammer to Fall"/All Right Now"-inspired shapes that were already enjoying
similar status. Freddie's lyrics were mostly improvised in the studio, and the band tried dozens of
different rhyme options ("one politician” was cut, for example). A tiny remnant of the experimental
studio-improv approach remains, as the last few words abandon any attempt at meaning: "gimme
gimme gimme fried chicken.” By contrast, "Hammer to Fall” is all about the message-it's part ode

to the grim reaper and part Cold War political statement: “For we who grew up tall and proud/in the
shadow of the mushroom cloud.” For many fans, it was the highlight of Queen’s iconic 1985 Live

Aid performance. In tonight's version, arranged by Utar Artun, an instructor in Berklee's Ensemble
Department, you'll hear influences of the electronic sounds from the intro of “One Vision,” developed
by our technical director, Loudon Stearns, triggered from the drum pads. This is underscored by a live
string section, building the energy to the drop where the riff comes in. Lead vocalist Aida Frantzen
provides a powerhouse vocal for the journey, even conducting the band for the outro’s final crash:
“Give it to me one more time!”

Love of My Life

Album: A Night at the Opera (1975)

One of Queen’s most tender ballads, “Love of My Life" became a crowd singalong favorite, and for many
shows Freddie would let the audience take on long sections. It was particularly well-loved in South
America, where the live version was released as a single (our vocalist Martin Guas hails from La Plata,
Argentina). The melody is instantly singable and deceptively simple, contrasting with the carefully
concealed but brief key changes toward the end of each verse, and in the bridge’s lead up to "I still

love you." There are clear classical influences in the song-some people hear Chopin-so our version,
arranged by Malaysian student Li-Anne Kong, is scored for a small chamber music ensemble of strings,
harp, and piano, providing a tranquil and sensitive underscore for Guas's tender lead vocal.

Under Pressure

Album: Hot Space (1982)

This one-off single represents Queen'’s only cowrite with David Bowie; believe it or not, it was only the
band's second no. 1 single in the U.K., the first being “Bohemian Rhapsody” six years prior. The original
recording (and our version) features John Deacon’s instantly recognizable "dum-dum-dum-dubu-dum-