"Kings and Queens" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

. It was written by

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

Brad Whitford Bradley Ernest Whitford (born February 23, 1952)Putterford, Mark (1991) ''The Fall and Rise of Aerosmith'', Omnibus Press, Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'' (2nd edn.), MOJO Books, , p. 11-13 is an American musician who ...

, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, and Jack Douglas, their producer, who helped the band write many of the songs on ''Draw the Line''. Douglas also played the

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

featured in the song. The song first appeared on the album '' Draw the Line'' in December 1977 and was released as a single on February 21, 1978. The song was also used as a B-side to Aerosmith's version of The Beatles' "

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band's 1969 studio album ''Abbey Road''. It was also a double A-side single in the U ...

", released to promote the ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (often referred to simply as ''Sgt. Pepper'') is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept ...

'' film and

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

Lyrical meaning

said of "Kings and Queens" in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

to ''

Pandora's Box Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod related that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing curses ...

'':

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 it has "a big production, driving beat and cymbal work, tight vocals, guitars and a piano-bass interlude." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that "Steve Tyler's musings on European history make for an enjoyable hard-rock single."

Charts

In concert

The song was a staple of Aerosmith concerts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was included on the album '' Classics Live!''. This version was also included on ''

.'' The band brought the song back into the set list during shows in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

and

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

in 2005 and 2006 on the Rockin' the Joint Tour, and in

São Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of Yu ...

and Sölvesborg, Sweden in 2010 on the Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. It was played during the 2014 Jones Beach show.

Covers and other versions

The song was included on the albums '' Aerosmith's Greatest Hits'' in 1980 and '' Greatest Hits 1973–1988'' in 2004, but was considerably edited, with many of the guitar parts removed. This edited version is sometimes heard on radio, although many rock stations do play the full version. "Kings and Queens" is a master track in the game '' Guitar Hero: Aerosmith'' and is unlocked upon beating the last song, " Train Kept A-Rollin". Glenn Hughes recorded a version of the song in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings And Queens (Aerosmith Song) 1977 songs 1978 singles Aerosmith songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Jack Douglas (record producer) Songs written by Brad Whitford Songs written by Jack Douglas (record producer) Songs written by Joey Kramer Songs written by Steven Tyler Songs written by Tom Hamilton (musician) American heavy metal songs American progressive rock songs