"The Invisible Man" is a song by the British rock band

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, written by drummer Roger Taylor but credited to Queen. The song is sung mostly by

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 ...

, with vocal contributions from Taylor. The song was released in August 1989 as the third single from the bands album '' The Miracle.'' Taylor claims that he got the inspiration to create the song while reading a book, and the bassline instantly came to his imagination. The song title was inspired by the

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

of the same name. This song contains a distinction whereby all four band members' names are mentioned in the lyrics. The first being

, followed by

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 ...

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 ...

's name is then said twice (just before his guitar solo starts), and while saying "Roger Taylor", the first "r" is rolled to emulate the drums at the end of the verse. Mercury's name is announced by Taylor, and the other three by Mercury.

Music video

In the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

, a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

called "The Invisible Man" plays a large part, as a young boy is playing a game while the band (all dressed in black), who are the "bad guys" and Freddie Mercury (is their boss in the game, since he's the one who wears a virtual reality googles, while the rest of the band didn't, but instead of them wearing virtual reality googles like Freddie Mercury, they wear black shades instead) enters the real world and perform the song in his room. As they perform, the boy tries to shoot them with the game controller. From time to time, Mercury appears in various places in the child's room, vanishing before the boy can shoot him with the video controller. After Mercury emerges from the child's closet with his band in tow, John Deacon removes his cowboy hat and throws it to the floor. In perhaps a futile attempt to emulate him, the boy removes his baseball cap, and dons the other. The screen then shows an image of the band in the game once more, Deacon without a hat, and the child walks underneath them, with a " Game Over" message appearing. A then-15-year-old

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, who joined

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'' EastEnders'' the following year, appears in the video as the boy's sister. Freddie Mercury's eyewear and John Deacon's cowboy hat were also used in the cover of their next single "

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Track listings

7" Single A Side. "The Invisible Man" (Album Version) - 3:57 B Side. "Hijack My Heart" - 4:11 12"/CD Single A Side. "The Invisible Man" (Extended Version) - 5:28 2/B1. "Hijack My Heart" - 4:11 3/B2. "The Invisible Man" (Album Version) - 3:57

Personnel

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

* Roger Taylor -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

, sampler,

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

, co-lead vocals *

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

* David Richards -

, sequencer, programming

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

*
Lyrics at Queen official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invisible Man, The 1989 songs 1989 singles Queen (band) songs Parlophone singles Songs written by Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) Capitol Records singles Hollywood Records singles Electro songs Electronic rock songs Songs about fictional male characters Music based on novels