User:DrStrangelove64/Sandbox/Articles/The Millionaire Waltz

The Millionaire Waltz is the fourth song on the first side of rock group Queen's album A Day at the Races.

Composition

"The Millionaire Waltz" was written by Freddie Mercury, and is considered by some to be the successor of Mercury's most famous compositions, Bohemian Rhapsody. It shares many qualities, such as layered vocals, stylistic changes, and change of meter. It is another multi-key and multi-metre song, similar to Bohemian Rhapsody, using abrupt arrangement changes and having Brian May perform multi-tracked guitar choirs. It features quite possibly one of John Deacon's best examples of "lead bass" playing. It tells the story of a man who pines for a lost love. He asks her to come back and make him "feel like a millionaire".

Intro (0:00-0:21)

The introduction is in the key of F Major and has a time signature of 3/4. The song is started by a piano, and the bass guitar joins during the second phrase. There is a metric change to 6/8 to close the it.

Verse (0:22-0:46)

The first verse is light and bouncy, with Mercury's vocals singing a floating melody. During the repeated singing of "Give a little love", he is joined by layered vocals.

"Bring out the charge of the love brigade,
There is spring in the air once again.
Drink to the sound of the song parade,
There is music and love ev'rywhere.
Give a little love to me,
(I wanna) Take a lotta love from me,
I want to share it with you."

Once we were mad, we were happy (0:54-1:25)

A connector leads to the next part of the song.

"Feel like a millionaire.
Once we were mad we were happy,
We spent all our days holding hands together.
Do you remember my love,
How we danced and played?
In the rain we laid,
We could stay there for ever and ever."

Section "B" (1:26-1:51)

The next section is in the parallel minor key to reflect the sadness of the lyrics.

"Now I am sad you are so far away,
I sit counting the hours day by day.
Come back to me,
How I long for your love,
Come back to me.
Be happy like we used to be."

Solo 1 (1:52-2:22)

The first guitar solo by Brian May starts slowly, but accelerates back to the original tempo of the song. During this acceleration, the layered vocals interject with,
"Come back come back to me.
Come back come back to me."
As these vocals end, the guitar slows back down to the solo's beginning speed. A sudden pause occurs, leading us into the rock section.

Rock (2:23-2:48)

May's guitar introduces the new tempo, considerably more aggressive than the rest of the song.
"...Oh come back to me oh my love
How I long for your love
Won't you come back to me?..."
It abruptly turns into a waltz.

Solo 2 (2:49-3:25)

Brian May's second solo is backed by a polka-esque piano and a triangle. As the solo progresses, the tempo does not change, but the level of volume increases and decreases back to a calm volume.

My Fine Friend (3:26-3:52)

Mercury sings in a very calming voice,
"My fine friend
Take me with you and love me forever
My fine friend
Forever, forever."
This transitions, with the help of a piano and guitar, into the final verse.

Outro (3:53-4:55)

The final verse has very similar lyrics, but the end is slightly different. The final verse includes layered voices, drums, and guitars.

"Bring out the charge of the love brigade
There is spring in the air once again
Drink to the sound of the song parade
There is music and love ev'rywhere
Give a little love to me
(I wanna) Take a little love from me
I want to share it with you
Come back come back to me feel
Make me feel like a millionaire."