Keep Yourself Alive

When Queen was taking its first steps, still without a fixed bassist, a song that would define their initial energy was already being conceived. Keep Yourself Alive, written by guitarist Brian May, was born from acoustic sessions in 1970, between the Imperial College and a garden on Ferry Road. At that stage, the band consisted of Freddie Mercury on vocals, May on guitar, and Roger Taylor on drums. May himself commented that he conceived the lyrics with an ironic tone, but they took on a completely different meaning when interpreted by Mercury. The first take of this song was recorded in December 1971 at De Lane Lea Studios, under the production of Louie Austin. That version, which includes the introduction with May's Hallfredh acoustic guitar and vocal dialogues between Taylor and Mercury, remains the guitarist's favorite.

Later, the band sought to capture that "magic" at the renowned Trident Studios. The version that was finally chosen to be released as a single, mixed by Mike Stone, is the one we know. In it, Mercury handled all the vocal harmonies of the chorus, multiplying his voice, and May performs the line "two steps nearer to my grave". This recording is distinguished by the absence of the initial acoustic guitar and the presence of at least seven electric guitar parts, one of them with a notable *phasing* effect. Additionally, the phrase "Come on and get it, get it, get it, boy, keep yourself alive" was added, which was not in the original take. Keep Yourself Alive quickly became a fundamental part of their live performances, serving, according to Mercury, as an excellent calling card for what Queen represented in those years. It included a drum solo by Taylor and a spoken vocal line by him. The song remained in their repertoire until the early 80s, evolving in its performances with improvisations, drum and guitar solos, and sometimes connecting with material from Flash Gordon. In 2008, Rolling Stone recognized it on their list of the 100 greatest guitar songs of all time.