Pop Song 446 of 500 'We are the Champions' Queen 1977

Pop Song 446 of 500 'We are the Champions' Queen 1977Show more

Written with audience participation in mind, Mercury said "We" in the song's title refers to everyone who is singing it. Brian May called the song "unifying and positive". "We Are the Champions" has become an anthem for victories at sporting events.
Written by Freddie Mercury, "We Are the Champions" was built on audience response following a concert at Bingley Hall, Stafford in which the audience sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" to the band. It embodies numerous elements of arena rock, with Brian May stating, "We wanted to get the crowds waving and singing. It's very unifying and positive."

Featuring Mercury on piano, Classic FM called "We Are the Champions" a "bombastic monument of an anthem", with "its soaring, triumphant melody known at sporting events and award ceremonies the world over".
Musically, it is based on Mercury's piano part, with Roger Taylor and John Deacon providing a drums and bass guitar backing. May overdubbed some guitar sections, initially subtle, but building to a "solo" played simultaneously with the last chorus. Mercury employed many jazz chords (major and minor 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th harmonies), and the choruses featured these voiced as four- and five-part vocal harmonies. The lead vocal is very demanding and strident (highest point is a C5 both belted and in falsetto)

I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I've come through (and I mean to go on and on and on)
We are the champions, my friends
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions
Of the world
I've taken my bows
And my curtain calls
You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it
I thank you all
But it's been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain't gonna lose, ah (and I mean to go on and on and on)
We are the champions, my friends
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions
Of the world
We are the champions, my friends
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions