Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
This was a tough one, there's nowhere to hide. The backing is a MIDI track I found online, stretched into nearly the same timing as the original - would've been easier if I had a real keyboard player with me. Talking of keyboards, I bought a MIDI controller, so expect to see lots more strings/pianos/synthy goodness. Very tricky to get the timing right, and unless you're playing a really loud amp, getting the right guitar sound is impossible... The guitar tone in my version goes weird towards the end, I think it's something to do with the amount of reverb going on.
#queen #brianMay #guitar
Stolen from Wikipedia:
"Bijou" was an idea Mercury and May had of making a song "inside-out", having guitar doing the verses and the vocal doing the break. Mercury put the chords, title and lyrics, and the two of them worked on the guitar parts. Mercury sang the first line and then May transferred the melody to his Red Special. The song was finished without any input from Taylor or Deacon. The inspiration for the song itself is twofold, Brian May; “The vocal is a succinct and very precise little verse, a little gem, a "Bijou" - a jewel buried at the heart of the piece: hence the name of the song.” “My Mum was given a budgie by a friend - it became a great companion for her after she lost my Dad. She called it "Bijou" and she would spend hours talking to it! ..It was her little Bijou.” In 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers performed this song in their shows of the Rock the Cosmos Tour by May playing the verse live and then having Mercury's studio vocals play while a screen showed footage from the band's Wembley concert in 1986, with the visuals put in sync with the tape.
patreon.com/joeobrown
This was a tough one, there's nowhere to hide. The backing is a MIDI track I found online, stretched into nearly the same timing as the original - would've been easier if I had a real keyboard player with me. Talking of keyboards, I bought a MIDI controller, so expect to see lots more strings/pianos/synthy goodness. Very tricky to get the timing right, and unless you're playing a really loud amp, getting the right guitar sound is impossible... The guitar tone in my version goes weird towards the end, I think it's something to do with the amount of reverb going on.
#queen #brianMay #guitar
Stolen from Wikipedia:
"Bijou" was an idea Mercury and May had of making a song "inside-out", having guitar doing the verses and the vocal doing the break. Mercury put the chords, title and lyrics, and the two of them worked on the guitar parts. Mercury sang the first line and then May transferred the melody to his Red Special. The song was finished without any input from Taylor or Deacon. The inspiration for the song itself is twofold, Brian May; “The vocal is a succinct and very precise little verse, a little gem, a "Bijou" - a jewel buried at the heart of the piece: hence the name of the song.” “My Mum was given a budgie by a friend - it became a great companion for her after she lost my Dad. She called it "Bijou" and she would spend hours talking to it! ..It was her little Bijou.” In 2008, Queen + Paul Rodgers performed this song in their shows of the Rock the Cosmos Tour by May playing the verse live and then having Mercury's studio vocals play while a screen showed footage from the band's Wembley concert in 1986, with the visuals put in sync with the tape.
patreon.com/joeobrown
