Save Me (Queen song)

"Save Me" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1980 album The Game. Written by guitarist Brian May, 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, peaking at number 11.^[1] It was the band's first single release of the 1980s.

"Save Me"
UK picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album The Game
B-side	"Let Me Entertain You (live)" (UK) "Sheer Heart Attack (live)" (Japan)
Released	25 January 1980 (UK) April 1980 (Japan)
Recorded	June–July 1979
Length	3:48
Label	EMI (UK) Elektra (Japan)
Songwriter	Brian May
Producers	Queen Reinhold Mack
Queen singles chronology
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (1979) "Save Me" (1980) "Play the Game" (1980)
Music video
"Save Me" on YouTube

The power ballad^[2] was played live from 1979 to 1982^[3][4][5][6] and was recorded for their live albums, Queen Rock Montreal at the Montreal Forum, Quebec, Canada in November 1981 and Queen on Fire – Live at the Bowl at the Milton Keynes Bowl, Buckinghamshire, England in June 1982.^[7] The song is also included on Queen's Greatest Hits,^[8] and Queen Forever albums. The earliest circulating video of a Live Performance is during the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1979.

History

Brian May wrote "Save Me" about friend and bandmate Freddie Mercury.^[9] Recorded in the summer of 1979 in Munich,^[10] 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 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 Mercury without a moustache until 1984, as he would sport it starting with the next video for "Play the Game"^[11]

Personnel

• Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals
• Brian May – acoustic and electric guitars, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
• Roger Taylor – drums, backing vocals
• John Deacon – bass guitar

Additional musicians

• Reinhold Mack – additional synthesizer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1980) Peak position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] 13 Italy (FIMI)[13] 31 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 6 Norway (VG-lista)[16] 7 UK Singles (OCC)[17] 11 West Germany (GfK)[18] 42

Year-end charts Chart (1980) Position Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 98 Italy (FIMI)[20] 96 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 60 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22] 80