{"id":374292,"date":"2025-08-26T06:50:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T06:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374292\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T06:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T06:50:17","slug":"hes-never-forgiven-me-brian-may-is-still-upset-about-the-controversial-b-side-to-queens-bohemian-rhapsody-single","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374292\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s never forgiven me.\u201d Brian May is still upset about the controversial B-side to Queen\u2019s \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d single"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queen had their share of disagreements over the years that the original classic quartet was still together.<\/p>\n

Guitarist Brian May and singer Freddie Mercury disagreed over whether or not to put an electric guitar<\/a> solo on one of the group\u2019s biggest hits<\/a>. May also thought the singer was overdoing it when he pushed the guitar solo to the fore on the final choruses to \u201cWe Are the Champions\u201d until it clashed with the vocals<\/a>. Mercury replied that \u201cthe guitar is fighting with the vocal here, and that\u2019s the way it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

May was further displeased when the band recorded the backing track to their hit \u201cCrazy Little Thing Called Love\u201d<\/a> in his absence.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

But those were minor grievances compared to the interband controversy that continues over one of Queen\u2019s cult favorites: \u201cI\u2019m in Love With My Car.\u201d The song was penned by drummer Roger Taylor as a coy ode to drivers who feel too much affection for their automobiles.<\/p>\n

Among its choice lyrics were the couplets, \u201cWhen I’m holding your wheel \/ all I hear is your gear. \/ When my hand\u2019s on your grease gun \/ oh, it\u2019s like a disease, son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian was like, \u2018Is this a joke?\u2019\u201d Taylor recalls in an interview with Mojo<\/a>. \u201cI said, \u2018Look at all those people out washing their cars on a Sunday morning, lavishing attention on them \u2014 they probably love their cars more than they love their wives.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a valid lyric, I think, but kind of tongue in cheek, too, obviously… cars and girls \u2014 what else is there?\u201d<\/p>\n

All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

\"Roger<\/p>\n

Roger Taylor and Brian May attend the Gala Night performance of <\/strong>We Will Rock You<\/strong>, at the London Coliseum, June 7, 2023.<\/strong> (Image credit: Dave Benett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But what really bothered May was the decision to place the song on the B-side to Queen\u2019s monumental 1975 hit \u201cBohemian Rhapsody<\/a>.\u201d Because record sales royalties are split evenly between a record\u2019s A and B sides, the arrangement meant Taylor\u2019s joke of a song went on to earn a ridiculous amount of money courtesy of a song that was Queen\u2019s labor of love.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were aware of the injustice of \u2018I\u2019m in Love With My Car\u2019 making as much money as \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody,\u2019\u201d May explained to Mojo. \u201cIt was a real sticking point for the band and it\u2019s good we got through it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our sense of humor saved us. How long did it take me to get over it? Oh, quite a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed. The resentment even surfaced in the 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, where May\u2019s onscreen twin complains about Taylor\u2019s song getting an unfair advantage.<\/p>\n

Apparently, May and Taylor have sparked on other occasions when the guitarist took a hand with the drummer\u2019s songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Roger would say to you that it\u2019s very simplistic with him,\u201d May says. \u201cHe thinks in barre chords on the whole. My contribution would be to come in and make the melodies work better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a humble task but that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done on Roger\u2019s songs \u2014 add a bit of color.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor is unhappy with the insinuation.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really, no!\u201d he snorts. \u201cI don\u2019t only think in barre chords \u2014 that\u2019s a slightly arrogant statement to make.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian\u2019s a perfectionist and he will chase down the detail, but that didn\u2019t mean I was going to let him fuck up my songs!\u201d<\/p>\n

His grievances aside, the drummer takes comfort in knowing his royalty haul from \u201cI\u2019m in Love With My Car\u201d continues to get under May\u2019s skin.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s never forgiven me,\u201d the drummer says. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve never stopped laughing about it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queen had their share of disagreements over the years that the original classic quartet was still together. Guitarist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[77,269,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-374292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115093741657681058","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}