Talk:I Want to Break Free

from comments

Hi. I'm from Brazil. This goes to the author of the article.

Regarding the paragraph about the reception to Freddie in drag when Queen played this song at Rock in Rio, I'd really like to know where does that info come from. It sounds like pure urban legend to me. First, I was at the concert and heard not a single boo at that moment. Granted, among 150.000 people or so, there may have been a few, but the article leads us to believe Freddie was widely booed, and that did NOT happen.

Second, the whole idea of the song being adopted by Brazilians as a resistance anthem is completely alien to me. Although I was only 15 at that time, the political climate of the country was a matter of discussion at school (it was the very end of the military dictatorship; Tancredo Neves, the first non-military president in over 20 years - elected by the Congress in what was meant to be a "transition" measure - was elected during Rock in Rio, more exactly on January 15th, 1985, four days after the event described in this article).

And, with all this, I never once heard of I Want to Break Free being considered as anything more than a great pop song around here. Even the idea sounds absurd, since, in those days, not that many people were fluent in English in Brazil to be able to make the connection. Besides, being our own pop music so widely accepted around here (Brazil is one of the few big Western countries where local music sells a lot more records than Anglo-American pop music), it's much more likely that people would choose a Brazilian song, with lyrics in Portuguese, for that purpose.

In fact, they did quite a few times: "Pra Não Dizer Que Não Falei de Flores", a 70's song by Geraldo Vandré, was written and adopted as such, to the point you should watch your back to start humming it in public (those were the dangerous times, not the mid-80's), because it WOULD be viewed as a political statement. On the other hand, around the time of Rock in Rio, the music of Milton Nascimento, and particularly the song "Coração de Estudante", was widely adopted as a "Tancredo Neves/end of dictatorship/new dawn theme", to the point it would play endlessly on TV when they showed images of his funeral (mr. Neves never got to take charge in Presidency; he died in April 21st that very year, and his elected Vice-president José Sarney ended up being our first civil president in 21 years).

But I Want to Break Free? That's totally unheard of for me. Besides, the video was widely known around here. I've seen it on broadcast TV (there wasn't cable TV in Brazil in those days) lots of times before Rock in Rio. Of course, Brazilians don't know Coronation Street. But the video reference was very obvious, and picked up immediately. If someone booed Freddie, I believe it to be much more in the lines of a homophobic, oh-you-faggot thing than of anything like what's described in the article.

Sorry about the lenghty post, it was only meant to pass info, so it doesn't sound like I'm merely ranting. If this info comes from a reliable source, then I would really like to know something more about it. It's completely new to me - and, to be honest, it doesn't sound truthful.

Cheers

Jimbo B 16:33, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

The article for "I Want to Break Free" states that people threw stones at Freddie Mercury while performing at Rock in Rio. However, the article for "The Works Tour" States that this is not true. Can someone please clear this up? Thanks.--67.54.187.27 (talk) 01:27, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

There are two supporting sources in this article and none in "The Works Tour"; I've removed it there. Materialscientist (talk) 01:35, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Pop

How on Earth is this song pop? It should be re=-defined as alternative rock. 82.45.73.75 17:35, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Ban

While this article does mention a "ban" on the video in the United States, it does so only in passing, never really discussing the reasons or extent thereof. Nor does it note that it was not a governmentally-imposed ban, but really only self-censorship by the broadcasters themselves, a very different thing. A comprehensive discussion should be included in one place in the article, perhaps at the end of the description of the video, or maybe in a "Controversy" section right afterwards. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 15:45, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

I would be glad to, but can't find reliable reference for such discussion. All I could find was various mentions that MTV banned it. The ban was most likely unofficial. Materialscientist (talk) 22:45, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

I believe that was the point, a stronger indictment if you think about it. 124.168.138.228 (talk) 12:39, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I would also like to see a further cite (one with a URL I can visit) for the claim that MTV refused to show the video until its sister network VH-1 finally showed it in 1991. I can't say for sure when exactly I first saw it on MTV, but I'm 99 percent sure it was at some point when I was still in high school--and I graduated in 1987. This may be another "urban legend" as may be the case with the story about being pelted with stones in Brazil (something else that should be removed if it is not verifiable, particularly since this is a serious allegation of, essentially, a mob hate crime). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.155.92.16 (talk) 02:46, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

That is was banned was mentioned here. Can't say for how long. Yes, urban legends are common around celebrities. Stones in Rio were mentioned here and there. My problem is I have no access to books about Queen, and the last link is just a Russian copy of one of them which I could find on the web (Sky, Rick (1994). The show must go on: the life of Freddie Mercury. Carol Pub. Group. ISBN 0806515066.) Materialscientist (talk) 04:23, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

3-inch CD single?

This article says (multiple times) that this song was released on 3-inch CD, implying that this was during the song's initial release. However, the song was released in 1984, and 3-inch CDs were not introduced until 1988 (see Mini_CD_single). I don't doubt that the song may have been re-released later on 3-inch CD (particularly during the early 1990s, after Freddie's death), but this is not specified by the text. Unless someone can find corroboration (or clarification), I will delete mentions of a 3-inch CD from the article. EJSawyer (talk) 20:26, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Ask and ye shall receive: I want to break free 3-inch CD Single[1]. Or use the serial "QUECD11" in Google to bring up other sources. The article states "The single was released on 2 April 1984 on 7-inch and 12-inch records and later as 3-inch and 5-inch CDs" which I think is clear enough already? Chaheel Riens (talk) 21:07, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

"A synthesizer solo starts at 1:33 that mimics the sound of brass instruments"

Source? Because that's definitely not even close to brass, and I never got the impression anyone was trying to mimic brass. The Fred Mandel article says (admittedly also uncited), "the famous synthesizer solo ... often mistaken for guitar...", which is closer to what I hear, though I don't think he was trying to mimic any instrument. 122.105.132.85 (talk) 14:00, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

Drums

I believe that the drums used for the song was a Linn LM-1 drum machine, not a Ludwig drum kit. --123.2.142.50 (talk) 16:29, 4 February 2017 (UTC)

Reference? Materialscientist (talk) 23:40, 4 February 2017 (UTC)

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Removing songs from commercials

With the ongoing retail apocalypse phenomenon and websites such as Commercials I Hate and Am I Right, we should eliminate songs used in commercials.— Preceding unsigned comment added by CodyFinke2020 (talk • contribs) 08:47, November 19, 2019 (UTC)

Your explanation does not make sense. How do the so-called "retail apocalypse" and the existence of these websites impact what Wikipedia includes? - SummerPhD^v2.0 22:29, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Houses in the beginning of the video are in Leeds, UK

I greq up with many British music videos and I was able to locate the streets/houses seen in the beginning. To all trivia fans, enjoy: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dorset+Rd,+Leeds,+%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F/@53.8152252,-1.5132561,3a,75y,112.44h,98.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sO6tVQZtKMS9nrMxzpFYQMg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DO6tVQZtKMS9nrMxzpFYQMg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D223.1642%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x48795b87f49a465b:0x93e965cfeb36a52b!8m2!3d53.8144996!4d-1.5117685 78.90.63.158 (talk) 19:11, 9 January 2020 (UTC)