My Fairy King - Remastered 2011

This is the song which may have inspired Freddie Mercury to change his last name. The lyrics contain a verse with the words "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me." Brian May has said that after the line was written, Freddie claimed he was singing about his mother. Subsequently, Freddie Bulsara took the stage name Freddie Mercury.

The inspiration for "My Fairy King" comes from Robert Browning's poem The Pied Piper. These lines are quoted directly from the poem: And their dogs outran our fallow deer And honeybees had lost their stings And horses were born with eagles' wings

In 1970 just as Queen formed, initially they had no bass player - Tim Staffell, the bassist and vocalist of Brian May and Roger Taylor's previous band Smile, had left to join the ill-fated Humpy Bong. So before they found John Deacon, they tried multiple bassists, one of whom being Barry Mitchell, who alleges that "My Fairy King" was written, or at least existed, during his short spell with the band in 1970. This would make it one of the very first Queen original songs written, as many songs from around this time were leftovers from Smile or Mercury's old bands Ibex, Wreckage and Sour Milk Sea.