'39 - Queen, 1975

 
 

In the year of '39 assembled here the Volunteers
In the days when lands were few
Here the ship sailed out into the blue and sunny morn
The sweetest sight ever seen

And the night followed day
And the story tellers say
That the score brave souls inside
For many a lonely day sailed across the milky seas
Ne'er looked back, never feared, never cried

Don't you hear my call though you're many years away
Don't you hear me calling you
Write your letters in the sand
For the day I take your hand
In the land that our grandchildren knew

In the year of '39 came a ship in from the blue
The volunteers came home that day
And they bring good news of a world so newly born
Though their hearts so heavily weigh

For the earth is old and grey, little darlin' we'll away
But my love this cannot be
For so many years have gone though I'm older but a year
Your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me

Don't you hear my call though you're many years away
Don't you hear me calling you
Write your letters in the sand
For the day I take your hand
In the land that our grandchildren knew

Don't you hear my call though you're many years away
Don't you hear me calling you
All your letters in the sand
Cannot heal me like your hand

For my life

Still ahead

Pity Me

 
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Queen has been an iconic rock band since the early 70s, adding monster hits such as Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You to our collective cultural consciousness. Their style has varied from Art Rock projects like Queen II, (with side white - White Queen (As It Began) and side black - March of the Black Queen) to pop hits like Crazy Little Thing Called Love. They even recorded a song with David Bowie, Under Pressure in 1981.

Some 60 singles and 15 studio albums after Queens' 1969 inception, they are still performing. Sadly, they are without the great Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991. Paul Rogers, ex of Bad Company, has taken the lead as of 2004. A musical tribute to Queen, We Will Rock You was launched in London in 2006, and is already the longest running musical in that city.

I started listening to Queen after the 1974 release of Killer Queen. The band's music even influenced my artistic choices at York University; the song The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke leading me to a wonderful 18th century painting. But the song you're listening to now has captured my imagination forever. Written and sung by Brian May, '39 tells of a group of explorers who venture into space for a year. Unfortunately, due to time dilation (Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity), 100 years have passed when they return.

For a budding artist fascinated with time travel, surrealism and the nature of the universe, I loved this song from the first time I heard it. More than just the science fiction aspect of the lyrics, there is the bitter-sweet concept of leaving "letters in the sand" for those in the future...and in the past.

Connections: here is a song by David Bowie, another science fiction buff, who once collaborated with Queen.