Back in February, I was asked to contribute to a ‘Story Behind the Song’ mini-series for Queen Radio Net. Since then, I’ve been writing and recording these stories in my spare time.
I was a fan of Queen at the start, getting into their music from the moment I heard ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ on its release, when I was eleven and had just started secondary school.
I’ve already written a fair amount about and around Queen – some of my articles appeared in the Official International Queen Fan Club magazine between 2006 and 2008. Other writing, including Queen and Paul Rodgers concert reviews, and my thoughts about some individual Queen songs, as well as three of Queen’s studio albums, is contained in an autobiographical e-book that I published on Amazon in 2021*.
Using knowledge I’d already attained from my own extensive collection of articles about Queen, together with trawling the internet and reading books, I endeavour to collate a unique mix of information. English is my mother tongue but I’m also fluent in German, and can therefore access German language articles (which often contain some of the most interesting information) in the original.
When writing about the songs, I also add some of my own thoughts from time to time, without wishing to impinge on anyone else’s. Occasionally you’ll get some anecdotes of my experiences from listening to Queen early on, as well as some of the relevant happenings in the decades when the band was recording. Also, in relation to their later work, what threads are to be found that link into earlier times? Have the songs been applied in new ways or taken on new relevance as time has gone on?
My aim is to ‘flesh out’ some of the observations that have been made before concerning the origins of Queen songs – both the blockbusters and the more obscure album tracks. I see myself as a fan writer, although it’s hard for people to pinpoint what that is, exactly, because (unlike fan artists) there aren’t so many of us. For me it involves being creative with ideas and language, but not with the facts! In my ‘stories’ I’ve used any details that interest me, including those relating to a song’s official video.
Creating this miniseries has already taken me on a journey of exploration of Queen songs that has brought me to a greater appreciation of their works than ever. Whatever I can find for you, I’ll share – and I hope you enjoy listening!
Alison Sesi
May 2022
*’Bohemia Place: My life, our times and Queen’.
