"Save Me" is a song by the British rock band

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from their 1980 album ''

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''. Written by

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ist

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury an ...

, it was recorded in 1979, and released in the UK on 25 January 1980, nearly six months prior to the release of the album. "Save Me" spent six weeks on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at number 11. The

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

was played live from 1979 to 1982 and was recorded for their live albums, ''

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'' at the

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, Quebec, Canada in November 1981 and ''

Queen on Fire – Live at the Bowl ''Queen on Fire – Live at the Bowl'' is a DVD/live album by the British rock band Queen released on 25 October 2004 in Europe and on 9 November 2004 in the US. It was recorded live at the Milton Keynes Bowl, Buckinghamshire, England, on 5 J ...

'' at the

Milton Keynes Bowl The National Bowl (originally the Milton Keynes Bowl) is an entertainment venue located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was a former clay pit (for brick-making), filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using sub-soil e ...

, Buckinghamshire, England in June 1982. The song is also included on Queen's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' and ''

Queen Forever ''Queen Forever'' is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen. Released on 10 November 2014, it features tracks the band had "forgotten about" with vocals from original lead singer Freddie Mercury. Queen's bassist John Deacon is also o ...

'' albums. A circulating video of the performance during the

Concerts for the People of Kampuchea Concerts for the People of Kampuchea was a series of concerts featuring Queen, The Clash, The Pretenders, The Who, Elvis Costello, Wings, and many more artists which took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London during December 1979 to r ...

at the

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in 1979 also exists.

History

wrote "Save Me" about friend and bandmate

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 th ...

. Recorded in the Summer of 1979 in Munich, the song was written when Mercury's relationship with American chef Joe Fanelli had just ended. During an interview for the radio show '' In the Studio with Redbeard'', May stated: "I wrote Save Me'��to cut a long story short—I wrote it about a friend, someone who was going through a bad time, and I imagined myself in their shoes, kind of telling the story. Someone whose relationship is totally fucked up and how sad that person was."

Technical details

Musically, the song is complex, with the verses in the key of G major, and the chorus in the key of D major. An instrumental solo, in the related key of G major, serves as a verse.

Music video

The video for the song was filmed at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Orig ...

on 22 December 1979 and directed by Keith "Keef" MacMillan and features animation of a woman and a dove. The video would be the last to feature Freddie without a moustache until 1984, as he would sport it starting with the next video for " Play the Game" until he shaved it off for the music video for " I Want to Break Free".

Personnel

- lead and backing vocals *

- acoustic and electric guitars, piano,

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, backing vocals * Roger Taylor - 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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

*Official

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videos
original music videoLive at the Bowl

Lyrics at Queen official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Save Me (Queen Song) Queen (band) songs 1980 singles Songs written by Brian May Song recordings produced by Reinhold Mack EMI Records singles Elektra Records singles Hollywood Records singles 1980 songs Rock ballads