Another One Bites the Dust

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Another One Bites the Dust

performed by Queen
written by John Deacon
released August 22, 1980

Let’s go!

Steve walks warily down the street
With his brim pulled way down low
Ain’t no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go

Are you ready, hey, are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

How do you think I’m going to get along
Without you when you’re gone?
You took me for everything that I had
And kicked me out on my own
Are you happy, are you satisfied?
How long can you stand the heat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat, look out

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

Hey, another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
Shoot out
There are plenty of ways that you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground

You can beat him, you can cheat him
You can treat him bad and leave him
When he’s down
But I’m ready, yes, I’m ready for you
I’m standing on my own two feet
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
Repeating to the sound of the beat
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
Shoot out

______________________

I am – for personal reasons – partial to songs with the word “Dust” featured in any way. I am also currently partial to musicians who ever had an intentional hair style that looks like my current pandemic-driven (non)cut.

#ILookThisWayOnPurpose

The first verse of this song tells a story about a gangster named Steve, setting out onto a dangerous street, with a machine gun in hand.

Another one bites the dust.

The second verse of this song tells a story, this time in the first person, about love gone wrong – leaving the Speaker with nothing. Instead of literal bullets, this time the bullets are metaphors.

Another one bites the dust.

The third verse kind of marries the first two verses by replying to them both without distinction. The Speaker / the Band says that he is ready for anything.

Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
Shoot out

___________________

Here is some history behind the song. From Wiki:

John Deacon‘s bass line was inspired by “Good Times” by the disco group Chic. In an interview with NME, Chic co-founder Bernard Edwards stated, “That Queen record came about because that Queen bass player … spent some time hanging out with us at our studio.”

Recording sessions – produced by Reinhold Mack at Musicland Studios in Munich (West Germany) – consisted of Deacon playing almost all instruments: bass guitar, piano, electric guitar, and handclaps. Roger Taylor added a drum loop and Brian May contributed noises with his guitar and an Eventide Harmonizer. There are no synthesisers in the song: all effects are created by piano, electric guitars and drums, with subsequent tape playback performed in reverse at various speeds. Finally, sound effects were run through the harmonizer for further processing. The effect of the harmonizer can be heard clearly in the “swirling” nature of the sound immediately before the first lyric. In early live performances, Taylor sang lead on the chorus, as opposed to the studio version sung entirely by Mercury. As the song became more well-known, the band could rely on audiences to sing the chorus by themselves. After attending a Queen concert in Los Angeles, Michael Jackson suggested to Freddie Mercury backstage that “Another One Bites the Dust” be released as a single.

At the 1981 American Music Awards on 30 January, “Another One Bites the Dust” won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single. The song also garnered Queen a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It lost to Bob Seger‘s Against the Wind. The music video for “Another One Bites the Dust” was filmed at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. The song also appears in Queen’s Greatest Hits album in 1981.

The song was used in a preliminary cut of Rocky III, before being replaced by Survivor‘s “Eye of the Tiger“. “When one of my idols, Brian May, attended one of our shows in Los Angeles in 1984, he brought up that subject,” recalled Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan, to whom Sylvester Stallone had supplied a copy of the movie. “I offered to send him a copy of the tape, which I still own.”

The song has also been important in medical training:

“Another One Bites the Dust” was used in a study to train medical professionals to provide the correct number of chest compressions per minute while performing CPR. The bassline has close to 110 beats per minute, and 100–120 chest compressions per minute are recommended by the British Heart Foundation, and endorsed by the Resuscitation Council (UK).