Music That Saved Me--Letter Q

Q is a pretty short post. I mean how many Q bands are there anyway? My first choice is Queen.

I have been a fan of Queen since the 80's but I am a really big fan of their guitarist Brian May because he is an animal rights activist and vegetarian. We were there with him at the March Against the Badger Cull a few years back. Sadly, the cull has widened despite the scientific evidence that says culling badgers has no effect of bovine TB. But that's a story for another day.

In the 8th grade i had a sleepover at Len H's house and we were going through her brother James' record collection. I can recall sitting on the bedroom floor of her brother's room listening to Bohemian Rhapsody and it was like nothing I had ever heard. The moment was slightly spoiled by James coming in and screaming at his to leave his stuff alone. But it made me a Queen fan forever. So here is Bohemian Rhapsody.
Watch it here:

That same year I remember being at a slumber party at Debbie D's house. There was a girl there named Mary who was in band with Debbie, therefore making her musically knowledgeable. She had a music magazine and Queen was on the cover so i asked to look. It had the (to me) indecipherable lyrics to Another One Bites the Dust and I remember saying Steve walks warily down the street, brim pulled way down low--seriously??? Really???? That's what he says?  so i won't be choosing that one.

Queen also appeared on my beloved Greenpeace cassette singing Is This the World We Created which contains the poignant lines:
oh, is this the world we created?
We made it all our own
Is this the world we devastated, right to the bone
If there's a God in the sky looking down
What can he think of what we've done
To the world that he created

But I think my other choice has to be Don't Stop Me Now. I could show you the Queen video, but instead I am going to show you the brilliant comedian David Armand acting it out in mime. 
Watch it here:

My other Q choice is my beloved Queensrÿche. 

When we were at LC there was this quiet guy named Vince whose cousin was the lead singer of Queensrÿche so I was*this* close to Geoff Tate. . They are the other heavy metal band that I love. They are a great band, but their moment of sheer perfection and genius was their 1988 concept album/rock opera Operation: Mindcrime. Just like the concept album The Wall by Pink Floyd, I could bore you to death with my love for every song and the overall story arc. I will try not to. But it is a cracking good story about a heroin addict and radical frustrated with corruption and hypocrisy who ends up the brainwashed puppet of Dr X and an assassin. He ends up insane from the drugs and the regret for what he may (or may not) have done to Sister Mary the only friend he has. 
My first choice is about Nikki's disillusionment with it all called Revolution Calling.
Listen to it here: 

My second choice is the slightly grittier Spreading the Disease. There is some swearing and some sexual suggestion (Mary was a runaway turned prostitute "rescued" by the church. ) But it tells a seriously good story.
Listen to it here:

Lastly, once many years ago I was at the mall in Alexandria browsing the cassette singles (anyone remember them?) when i saw this ---Queensrÿche singing Scarborough Fair. Oh my days. Be still my heart. It is a fantastic nearly perfect atmospheric rendition of that beloved folk ballad. I saw *nearly* perfect because instead of saying And gather it all in a bundle of heather he (disappointingly) says and gather it all with a basket of flowers.  Geoff Tate--why won't you say my name????? 

But it still a great version, despite not having my name in it. 
Listen to it here:

That's my Q's. Funny how I like my metal bands to sing traditional folk songs (see Metallica singing Whiskey in the Jar)