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'39 - Queen

Today's song inspiration comes from a lil flyby that happened on this day 13 years ago. Well to more accurate - as flyby's go, this was a pretty large one. On this day in 2008, Nasa's Messenger spacecraft performed it's first flyby of Mercury. Their cameras were able to capture approximately 20% of the planet's surface which was unseen up until then.





So keeping in with the space theme and Mercury - I thought I would look to one of my favourite Mercury's - Mr Freddie Mercury - which then led me to this gem by Queen.


The song '39 was composed and song by Brian May (who has a PDH in astrophysics) and was released by Queen in 1976. The song is the story of a group of astronauts who undertake a year long voyage, however when they return they realize that time on Earth was different (using Einstein's theory of Relativity) and instead of the year they experienced, a hundred years have passed back home and the people they left behind are no longer there.


I felt a little like that about my home at the time, having been away and seen this vastly different world of rock music which was totally different from the way I was brought up. People may not generally admit it but I think that when most people write songs there is more than one level to them – they'll be about one thing on the surface, but underneath they're probably trying, maybe even unconsciously, to say something about their own life, their own experience – and in nearly all my stuff, there is a personal feeling. — Brian May, on the meaning of "'39"

I love the meaning behind this. I think that at some point, we have all experienced that feeling, the one of returning to a place expecting things to be exactly the same and finding that a place, circumstances or people are no longer as we remember them. Sometimes the biggest change is within ourselves.


I am a massive Queen fan, however had never heard this song before so was quite chuffed to find a 'new' song. It's beautiful and the lyrics are clever and haunting - imagine a husband who has gone into space, leaving his family behind while their lives have had to move on. He writes them these beautiful letters unaware that by the time these will reach them, they will be long gone - ALL THE FEELINGS.


Don't you hear my call though you're many years away Don't you hear me calling you Write your letters in the sand For the day I take your hand In the land that our grandchildren knew


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