Flick of the Wrist

"Flick of the Wrist" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as a double A-side with "Killer Queen" in the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, the United States and most other territories. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack.

"Flick of the Wrist"
French single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album Sheer Heart Attack
A-side"Killer Queen" (double A-side)
Released
  • 11 October 1974 (1974-10-11) (UK)
  • 21 October 1974 (US)
RecordedJuly – September 1974 [1]
Genre
Length3:21
Label
Songwriter(s)Freddie Mercury
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Seven Seas of Rhye"
(1974)		 "Flick of the Wrist" / "Killer Queen"
(1974)		 "Now I'm Here"
(1975)

Background

Freddie Mercury explained that the unpleasant character in the song was not based on anyone in particular: "I wrote it as a sort of tongue-in-cheek story about the con-men and rip-off artists we're always running into. Our manager would like to think it's about him, but it's not."[4] The song includes Freddie Mercury singing octave vocals throughout the verses, and the chorus features a call-and-response style section between the backing and lead vocal parts. When Brian May returned to work having recovered from his hepatitis, he had not heard the song before he recorded his guitar and backing vocals.

Album version

As it appears on the album, "Flick of the Wrist" is the middle song of a three-track series of songs which seamlessly overlap, segueing from one to the next: "Tenement Funster", "Flick of the Wrist" and "Lily of the Valley". Each song was recorded separately and later mixed together to form the unbroken stretch of music. Because of this structure, the record company had to select points to separate each track on CD re-issues of the album. "Flick of the Wrist," in this way, starts with the crescendo ending of "Tenement Funster" and ends abruptly before the last line of the song "...baby, you've been had." This last lyric appears at the beginning of the next CD track, "Lily of the Valley".

The original, non-segued master recordings of "Tenement Funster," "Flick of the Wrist" and "Lily of the Valley" were used for certain single releases, such the Japanese 3-inch CD single re-issue of Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy ("Tenement Funster"), the Dutch AA-side version of "Flick of the Wrist" (see below) and the 1975 US-only re-issue of "Keep Yourself Alive" ("Lily of the Valley"). Thus, a standalone version of "Flick of the Wrist" is available.

Single versions

All the single versions and edits are from the original album recording.

The Dutch AA-side version features the complete song without the seguing, overlapping sections from "Tenement Funster" and "Lily of the Valley".[5]

The UK AA-side version features almost the same complete version as the Dutch version, but with a few notes edited at the beginning. This version also features on the 1991 Japanese 3-inch CD single of "Killer Queen"/"Flick of the Wrist."

The US AA-side version (the same as issued in Canada) has a much more pronounced edit at the beginning, with the first 18 seconds of the song absent. It ends with a fade-out over the segue into "Lily of the Valley," where the latter's opening piano is heard.[5]

The UK's 1987 3-inch CD single re-issue starts with the crescendo segue which ends "Tenement Funster." It ends with a fade-out before the song is properly over, missing the last line "Baby, you've been had."

BBC Version

On 16 October 1974, Queen recorded a BBC session at Maida Vale 4 Studios in London, England. One of the songs recorded was "Flick of the Wrist". This performance features parts of the original album backing track with new vocals by Freddie Mercury and a new guitar solo by Brian May, differing entirely from that which appears on the album.

Personnel

References
  1. Queen Chronology. Patrick Lemieux, Adam Unger. 11 April 2018. ISBN 9781926462103. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  2. Blake, Mark (2011). Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen. Hachette Books. p. 155. ISBN 9780306819735.
  3. Everley, Dave (8 November 2016). "Queen: The Making of Sheer Heart Attack". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  4. O'Connor, Jim (January 1975). "'Sheer Heart Attack' -- Queen's Next Master Stroke". Circus.
  5. "Queen Vault: Sheer Heart Attack page". Queen Vault.
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