Liar (Queen song)

"Liar"
Single by Queen
from the album Queen
B-side	"Doing All Right"
Released	14 February 1974
Format	7"
Recorded	1971 – 1972 at Trident and De Lane Lea Studios
Genre	Progressive rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Length	6:26 (album version) 3:01 (single edit)
Label	EMI, Elektra
Writer(s)	Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)	John Anthony, Roy Thomas Baker, Queen
Queen singles chronology
"Keep Yourself Alive" (1973) "Liar" (1974) "Seven Seas of Rhye" (1974)

"Liar" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1970, and originally titled "Lover". The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album Queen. A heavily truncated version of "Liar" was released as a single —backed with "Doing All Right" — in the United States by Elektra Records in February 1974.

In the band's early years, "Liar" was a concert staple, performed as a conclusion to their main set and often lasting for up to ten minutes. However, over time the song eventually fell off the setlist, with the exception of The Works Tour (though the song was cut down to three minutes or less). "Liar" was referenced in the setlist of the Magic Tour, as Brian May played a partial guitar riff from the song immediately before "Tear it Up".

During live performances, it was a notable case where John Deacon mimed singing backing vocals - namely, he stood behind Mercury and sang into his microphone, for the "all day long" section of the song. This is replicated in the song's promotional video, shot in 1973. Seemingly, Deacon only mouthed the words in live performances, as his voice cannot be heard here on any recording, official or bootlegged. The choice to only mime singing along was presumably a result of Deacon's admitted weaker singing ability. The song also contains a bass solo performed by Deacon, the most substantial solo he ever performed live. As confirmed by the transcription on EMI Music Publishing's Off The Record sheet music for the song, this is one of three Queen tracks, the others being "Now I'm Here" and "Under Pressure" (their collaboration originally with David Bowie), to feature a Hammond organ.

This song briefly brought up the issue of songwriting credits within the band. Brian May queried which band members would be credited for developing the music for each song, to which Freddie Mercury concluded the discussion, stating that the lyricist, or otherwise the individual who originates the song, should be credited as its writer, a practice that continued until "The Miracle".

Personnel

• Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, Hammond organ
• Brian May - acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals
• Roger Taylor - drums, tambourine, cowbell, backing vocals
• John Deacon - bass guitar, backing vocals (during live performances only)

Track listing

7" single (Royal Sound TKR 157)

1. "Liar" (single edit) (Freddie Mercury) – 3:01
2. "Doing All Right" (Brian May, Tim Staffell) – 4:09

7" single (Elektra E-45884)

1. "Liar" (Freddie Mercury)
2. "Liar"

Legacy/Cover Versions

Comedy/spoof heavy metal band Bad News use the opening riff and other song structures in their song "Hey, Hey, Bad News". This is unsurprising, as Brian May produced their album, also titled Bad News, and played on their cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from the same album.

External links

• Official music video on YouTube
• Lyrics at Queen official website
• "Liar" at Queenpedia
• "Liar" song review at Allmusic