Written by Freddie Mercury
Recorded by Queen
Somebody to Love is an overwhelmingly brilliant song. I was a bit intimidated to write about a masterpiece like this, but here we are, so let’s jump in! Firstly, this song is about one’s desperate search for love. But it’s also a song about questioning one’s faith. While I try not to look too deep into the author’s life, in this case, I think it’s important to consider that this song was written from the perspective of a gay man, and his search for love carries many more challenges – as does keeping one’s faith according to the restrictive guidelines of traditional religions.
We learn that our narrator is extremely depressed. He feels like death every morning, can hardly get out of bed, and cries when he looks at himself in the mirror. He tries so hard to be a man of faith, but he feels betrayed by his God:
Lord, what you're doing to me?
I have spent all my years in believin' you
But I just can't get no relief, Lord
God has not delivered, and despite his unwavering faith and hard work, by nighttime, his prayers are still left unanswered. Feeling abandoned by God, he shouts, “Can anybody find me somebody to love?”
And then we get to this marvelous bridge. John Deacon’s bass leads the way into the bridge and keeps things fun throughout, as the protagonist once again informs us that he works hard - but still, he gains no support from those around him. Instead, he’s met with criticism, insults and accusations about his mental state:
Everybody wants to put me down
They say I'm going crazy
They say I got a lot of water in my brain
I got no common sense
I got nobody left to believe
But he’s not crazy, he’s exhausted by society’s treatment, and the bridge is his time to express this. Our protagonist feels forsaken and alone, and nothing mirrors this more beautifully than Brian May’s guitar solo that brings us from bridge back to verse.
The outpouring of emotions during the bridge has served him well. With his pain expressed, he's once again grounded enough to look back towards the heavens. While he still feels a bit out of step with this world, he’s ok, he’s alright, and with the help of his Maker, he assures us that he will shake off the constraints of society and find the love he deserves:
I ain't gonna face no defeat
I just gotta get out of this prison cell
One day I'm gonna be free, Lord!
Mercury revisited this theme a year later with the classic, “We Are The Champions,” a song that, in addition to being a sports arena classic, is about the struggles of surviving in a homophobic world. While “Somebody To Love” introduces the metaphor of the prison cell, in “Champions,” he's finally free after he’s completed his sentence, despite having committed no crimes. And while he declared he wouldn’t face defeat in “Somebody,” he was still alone in his fight. By the time we get to the 1977 single, “I” has grown to “we,” and this former prisoner is now among champions. I’m hoping that this champion found his somebody to love.
-MJK
Recorded by Queen
Somebody to Love is an overwhelmingly brilliant song. I was a bit intimidated to write about a masterpiece like this, but here we are, so let’s jump in! Firstly, this song is about one’s desperate search for love. But it’s also a song about questioning one’s faith. While I try not to look too deep into the author’s life, in this case, I think it’s important to consider that this song was written from the perspective of a gay man, and his search for love carries many more challenges – as does keeping one’s faith according to the restrictive guidelines of traditional religions.
We learn that our narrator is extremely depressed. He feels like death every morning, can hardly get out of bed, and cries when he looks at himself in the mirror. He tries so hard to be a man of faith, but he feels betrayed by his God:
Lord, what you're doing to me?
I have spent all my years in believin' you
But I just can't get no relief, Lord
God has not delivered, and despite his unwavering faith and hard work, by nighttime, his prayers are still left unanswered. Feeling abandoned by God, he shouts, “Can anybody find me somebody to love?”
And then we get to this marvelous bridge. John Deacon’s bass leads the way into the bridge and keeps things fun throughout, as the protagonist once again informs us that he works hard - but still, he gains no support from those around him. Instead, he’s met with criticism, insults and accusations about his mental state:
Everybody wants to put me down
They say I'm going crazy
They say I got a lot of water in my brain
I got no common sense
I got nobody left to believe
But he’s not crazy, he’s exhausted by society’s treatment, and the bridge is his time to express this. Our protagonist feels forsaken and alone, and nothing mirrors this more beautifully than Brian May’s guitar solo that brings us from bridge back to verse.
The outpouring of emotions during the bridge has served him well. With his pain expressed, he's once again grounded enough to look back towards the heavens. While he still feels a bit out of step with this world, he’s ok, he’s alright, and with the help of his Maker, he assures us that he will shake off the constraints of society and find the love he deserves:
I ain't gonna face no defeat
I just gotta get out of this prison cell
One day I'm gonna be free, Lord!
Mercury revisited this theme a year later with the classic, “We Are The Champions,” a song that, in addition to being a sports arena classic, is about the struggles of surviving in a homophobic world. While “Somebody To Love” introduces the metaphor of the prison cell, in “Champions,” he's finally free after he’s completed his sentence, despite having committed no crimes. And while he declared he wouldn’t face defeat in “Somebody,” he was still alone in his fight. By the time we get to the 1977 single, “I” has grown to “we,” and this former prisoner is now among champions. I’m hoping that this champion found his somebody to love.
-MJK
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