Queen 'One Vision'

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Queen's first single of 1985 - released in early November. 'One Vision' is a tribute to Bob Geldof's "Live Aid" work and is destined to become the group's 27th Top 40 single in Britain.

Yes, we're still in the sixes, and back to vinyl this time. Back to the familiar Queen opener on a Now! album too. Now 6 is also the first one not to have a pig on the cover, beginning the series of themed designs that lasted a few year: this one is obviously supposed to be a jacket, Now 7 was a bag, Now 9 a school folder etc. My copy isn't in the best of condition but I bought quite early on before I realised how common this album was. Anyway, it's enough for the purposes here, and this present track is not a difficult one to hear in any case.

'One Vision' was arguably a very important song in consolidating the comeback they'd made in 1984. It obviously wasn't part of their landmark performance at Live Aid, but was released soon only a few months afterwards to pick up some of the momentum while it was still fresh in people's minds. Indeed, whilst sources seem to vary as to whether the song is actually about Live Aid, it's often said to be inspired by the confidence the band had regained that day. Certainly the single was rushed out within weeks of recording, over six months before the album where it ended up. It also has a writing credit to the entire band,  before this became their standard practice, which suggests a level of enthusiasm and collaboration between the band. Whilst the optimistic lyric, partly cribbed from Martin Luther King, doesn't necessarily stand up to great scrutiny - it's not really a powerful statement if nobody could disagree with it - it's good fodder for Freddie Mercury, at the top of his game, to bellow. The riff is powerful, simple and indeed powerfully simple, an obvious ancestor to 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' by the Darkness; in fact that's an interesting comparison, because the latter song expresses similar sentiments but in a more smirking way. Queen at their best could be utterly ridiculous but be saved by the total commitment they showed to the song. Even the joke they sneak in at the end, a massive build-up that ends "Gimme... Fried chicken!" works entirely because it's delivered with such conviction. The official Olympic version of the song omits that and is all the poorer for it.

Also appearing on: Now 2, 3, 4, 7, 15, 16, 19, 21, 25 [with George Michael], 32, 33, 54 [with Vanguard]
Available on: Rock Anthems