IN FAERY LANDS FORLORN: THE FANTASTIC NARRATIVE POETRY OF QUEEN’S EARLY LYRICS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18485/bells.2023.15.16Keywords:
fantasy, lyrics, narrative poetry, popular music, Queen, rock poetryAbstract
Popular music lyrics and mainstream poetry share many similarities. They can both be analysed as poetry, using traditional theoretical tools of such interpretation. The paper focuses on early narrative songs by the band Queen, which all feature fantastic characters and seem to share the same setting. They can be interpreted as parts of the same story that takes place in Freddie Mercury’s imaginary land of Rhye. This paper argues that the songs in question can be understood and analysed as narrative poetry, with the focus on narrative elements such as story, storytelling, narrative formulae, dynamic motion, or narrative intensity (Kenner). Furthermore, importance will be placed on the songs’ intertextual elements, since they help place the songs within the larger literary canon and reinforce their status as poetry. Since music and lyrics create meaning together, special attention will, whenever necessary, also be given to the musical element of the songs.
Downloads
References
Auslander, P. (2006). Performing Glam: Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Blake, M. (2010). Is This The Real Life? The Untold Story of Queen. London: Aurum Press.
Brooks, G. and S. Lupton (eds.) (2008). Freddie Mercury: His Life In His Own Words. London: Omnibus Press.
Browning, R. (1961). The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning. New York: The Modern Library.
Grābner, C. and A. Casas (eds.) (2011). Performing Poetry: Body, Place and Rhythm in the Poetry Performance. New York: Rodopi.
Eckstein, L. (2010). Reading Song Lyrics. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi.
Ferber, M. (1999). A Dictionary of Literary Symbols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frith, S., W. Straw and J. Street (eds.). (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gaiman, N. (2016). The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction. New York: William Morrow.
Jones, L.-A. (1998). Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Kenner, H. (1966). The Art Of Poetry. New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto: Holt, Rineheart and Winston.
Moore, A. (ed.) (2003). Analyzing Popular Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oliver, D. (1989). Poetry and Narrative in Performance. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Preminger, A. and T. V. F. Brogan. (eds.) (1993). The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Queen (1994). Queen. (CD. Digital Master Series.) London: Parlophone.
Queen (1994). Queen II. (CD. Digital Master Series.) London: Parlophone.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Bojana Vujin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors are confirming that they are the authors of the submitting article, which will be published (print and online) in Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies by the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade (Faculty of Philology, Studentski trg 3, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia). Author’s name will be evident in the printed article in the journal. All decisions regarding layout and distribution of the work are in hands of the publisher.
- Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit their self to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
