"It's Late" is a song written by

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

guitarist Brian May and performed by the band for their 1977 album, ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

''.

Background

The song was May's idea of treating a song as a three-act theatrical play, and the verses are called "acts" in the lyrics sheet. It makes use of the tapping technique a few months before

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

's use of the tapping technique on the ''

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

'' album. May told ''Guitar Player Magazine'' that his use of the tapping technique was inspired by Texas guitarist Rocky Athas, after seeing one of his performances at Mother Blues, a Dallas club. The lyrics describe a love affair that is on the verge of ending. According to ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'', the music of the single version "shifts gear from subdued balladry to thunderous rock'n'roll." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "Brian May's guitar work excellently omplementsFreddie Mercury’s embracing vocals."

Release

The song was released as a single in North America, Japan and New Zealand in 1978, albeit in heavily edited form, and peaked at #74 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #66 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100. The song was later included on the ''

Queen Rocks ''Queen Rocks'' is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released on 3 November 1997. Content The compilation is unique to the Queen catalogue, as it deliberately does not follow the standard "greatest hits" collection format and ...

'' compilation in 1997.

Personnel

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

- lead and backing vocals * Brian May - electric guitar, backing vocals *

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

- drums, backing vocals *

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", " Another One Bit ...

- bass guitar

References

External links

Lyrics at Queen official website
(from ''

'') {{authority control Queen (band) songs Hard rock ballads 1978 singles Songs written by Brian May Song recordings produced by Mike Stone (record producer) EMI Records singles Elektra Records singles Hollywood Records singles British blues rock songs 1977 songs British hard rock songs