Queen guitarist Brian May would know the greatest Queen song of all time better than anyone, but as of 2011, the legendary rock and roller even has science on his side. While the British rock band has countless hits in their discography, including “Another One Bites The Dust” and “Killer Queen,” only one song has been mathematically proven to be one of the catchiest songs in pop music history.Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, that song is also May’s all-time favorite.
Brian May’s Favorite Queen Song
Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was a tireless, energetic performer who skillfully interacted with the rock band’s massive crowds. In the mid-1970s, they took this band-crowd relationship one step further by writing a song specifically to promote audience participation: “We Are The Champions” and the 1977 single’s B-side, “We Will Rock You.”“We wanted to get the crowds waving and singing,” guitarist Brian May said of the A-side, “We Are The Champions.” “It’s very unifying and positive. People love it because it’s so uplifting. Although much of our music was created using multi-layered arrangements and vocal harmonies—which work especially well in the recording studio—we were into making our concerts musical events.”
Even after Mercury’s tragic death in 1991, the band kept the two tracks in their live set, aiming to honor the songs’ original energy and sentiment. Decades later, it’s still May’s favorite Freddie Mercury song to perform. “I don’t know how many times I’ve played it. But it always pulls something out of you,” May told Classic Rock in 2011. “It’s one of those songs where even if the winds are blowing in the wrong direction, it still sounds good.”
Scientific Studies Have Proven Just How Catchy The Track Is
Queen’s “We Are The Champions” and “We Will Rock You” are easily two of the band’s most recognizable songs in their catalogue. Their ubiquity in pop culture would be testament enough to the tracks’ universal appeal. But in the early 2010s, scientists put this assumption to the test. A group of researchers at Goldsmiths University analyzed the mathematical and physical properties of sound waves to determine what makes music catchy.
“Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering, and technology,” researcher Dr. Daniel Mullensiefen said (via Independent). “From the physics and frequencies of sound that determine pitch and harmony to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesizers, which can add effects to make a song catchier. We discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a special combination of neuroscience, math, and cognitive psychology that can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song.”Interestingly, songwriter Freddie Mercury wasn’t thinking about maths, science, engineering, or technology when he wrote what would become Brian May’s favorite Queen song. He wrote “We Are The Champions” while thinking about football. “I wanted a participation song, something that fans could latch on to,” Mercury later said. “I suppose it could also be construed as my version of “I Did It My Way.” We have made it, and it certainly wasn’t easy. No bed of roses, as the song says.”