{{About|the song by Queen}} {{Use British English|date=May 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox song | name = Spread Your Wings | cover = Queen Spread Your Wings.png | alt = | caption = UK single picture sleeve | type = single | artist = Queen | album = News of the World | B-side = "Sheer Heart Attack" | released = 10 February 1978 | recorded = 1977 | studio = *Sarm West, London *Wessex, London | venue = | genre = Hard rock<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-killers-mw0000676426|title=Live Killers - Queen|last=Prato|first=Greg|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref> | length = 4:32 | label = EMI (UK) | writer = John Deacon | producer = Queen, assisted by Mike Stone | prev_title = We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You | prev_year = 1977 | next_title = It's Late | next_year = 1978 | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|uyd6OLyhPJo|"Spread Your Wings"}}}} }}
"'''Spread Your Wings'''" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album ''News of the World''.<ref name="Spread">[http://www.ultimatequeen.co.uk/songs/newsof.htm#Spread Your Wings News of the World: Spread Your Wings (Track 5)] Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 11 July 2011</ref> Written by bassist John Deacon, it was released as a single in 1978, with "Sheer Heart Attack" as the B-side, and reached number 34 in the UK singles chart. According to music writer Benoit Clerc, "Spread Your Wings" was chosen as the second single from ''News of the World'' because the band regretted releasing "Tie Your Mother Down" as a single from ''A Day at the Races'' instead of Deacon's "You and I".<ref name=clerc>{{cite book|title=Queen: All the Songs|author=Clerc, Benoit|pages=242–245|year=2020|publisher=Running Press|isbn=9780762471232}}</ref>
==Background== The lyrics of "Spread Your Wings" tells of a character named Sammy, who works cleaning floors at a bar but dreams of improving his life despite his boss telling him that he has no ambition.<ref name=clerc/> Deacon has said: {{blockquote|The song has to do with a number of personal experiences from recent years. I'd rather not say in detail, because I don't like to explain songs. People should figure it out for themselves, I think...It's not always easy, let me tell you. You deal with a lot of things that are not always pleasant. Of course, money is wonderful, but I don't need to be very rich. I just don't want to fall back into a state of poverty, which a number of fairly famous musicians have ended up in. I want to try to keep something for the future.<ref name=clerc/>}}
''Queen FAQ'' author Daniel Ross described "Spread Your Wings" as Deacon's "first attempt at narrative songwriting."<ref name=faq>{{cite book|title=Queen FAQ|author=Ross, Daniel|pages=98–99, 294|publisher=Backbeat Books|year=2020|isbn=9781617137280}}</ref> Lead singer Freddie Mercury considered it to be the best song Deacon had written to date.<ref name=blake>{{cite book|pages=214–215|title=Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen|author=Blake, Mark|year=2011|publisher=Hachette|isbn=9780306819735}}</ref>
Musicologist Nick Braae describes the structure of "Spread Your Wings" as being somewhat unusual, in that after the initial verse and refrain centered on the key of D major, there is a bridge centered on the key of B minor, followed by an instrumental bridge that starts moving back to D major for the next verse-refrain pair.<ref name=braae>{{cite book|pages=21–23, 52, 60|title=Rock and Rhapsodies: The Music of Queen|year=2021|author=Braae, Nick|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780197526736}}</ref> Deacon used this double-bridge strategy in several other songs, including "You and I" and "Need Your Loving Tonight".<ref name=braae/>
The song is unusual for Queen in that it uses a third-person narrative.<ref name=ucr1/> It is also the only Queen single that does not have the rest of the group providing backing vocals to Mercury's lead.<ref name=clerc/><ref name=ucr1/><ref name=wild/>
"Spread Your Wings" was not released as a single in North America, but the live version of the song from ''Live Killers'' was chosen as the B-side of Queen's 1979 hit "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/e46579|title=Queen – Crazy Little Thing Called Love|access-date=23 April 2021|website=45cat.com}}</ref>
==Reception== ''Dayton Daily News'' critic Gary Nuhn called it "a song with Beatles-like lyrics of a man pulling himself up".<ref>{{cite news|via=newspapers.com|access-date=2022-08-02|newspaper=Dayton Daily News|author=Nuhn, Gary|title=Other Queen players come into their own|date=1 December 1977|page=35|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106803981/dayton-daily-news/}}</ref> ''Courier News'' critic Bill Bleyer wrote that it makes a similar point as the more popular song "We Are the Champions", that "while the established order continues to hold down the young, they can still make it if they try". He added that it does so better and "without overpowering the listener".<ref>{{cite news|via=newspapers.com|access-date=2022-08-02|newspaper=Courier-News|author=Bleyer, Bill|date=21 January 1978|page=B-7|title=Queen "News Of The World" (Electra-Asylum)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106804823/the-courier-news/}}</ref> Ross described it as a "melancholy anthem" that has "the same sense of bombast as 'We Are the Champions' but shot through with existential sadness and a desire to burst the shackles of mundane employment."<ref name=faq/>
Clerc praised Mercury's vocal delivery, saying that he sang the song "superbly, emphasizing the lyrics with his compelling vocal dexterity".<ref name=clerc/> Andrew Wild said that it's a "commercial song with a terrific chorus" and is "sung with real conviction by Freddie Mercury".<ref name=wild>{{cite book|title=Queen: Every Album, Every Song|author=Wild, Andrew|pages=56–57|year=2018|publisher=Sonicbond|isbn=9781789520033}}</ref>
''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated the song as the fourth-best song Deacon wrote for Queen, praising its "rising appreciation of musical drama".<ref name=ucr1>{{cite web|title=Top 10 John Deacon Queen Songs|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-deacon-queen-songs/|author=Rivadavia, Eduardo|access-date=2022-06-06|date=19 August 2013|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock}}</ref> ''Classic Rock History'' critic Millie Zeiler rated it John Deacon's fourth-best Queen song.<ref name=crh>{{cite web|title=Top 10 John Deacon Queen Songs|author=Zeiler, Millie|publisher=Classic Rock History|access-date=2023-01-16|date=28 December 2022|url=https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-john-deacon-queen-songs/}}</ref>
==Music video== The music video for "Spread Your Wings" was shot in January 1978 in the garden of Roger Taylor's house in Surrey, on the same day the band also shot the video for "We Will Rock You".<ref name=clerc/><ref name=blake/> The video was directed by Rock Flicks.<ref name=clerc/>
==Personnel== *Freddie Mercury – lead vocals, piano<ref>[https://www.queensongs.info/song-analysis/songwriting-analyses/no-synth-era/news-of-the-world/spread-your-wings Spread Your Wings: Song Analysis] Queen Songs. Retrieved 17 November 2018</ref> *Brian May – electric guitar *Roger Taylor – drums, percussion *John Deacon – bass guitar, acoustic guitar<ref name=clerc/>
==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" |+ ! Chart (1978) !! Peak<br/>position |- {{single chart|Germany|29|artist=Queen|song=Spread Your Wings|songid=11810|access-date=4 August 2020}} |- {{single chart|Dutch40|20|artist=Queen|song=Spread Your Wings|access-date=6 October 2013}} |- {{single chart|Dutch100|26|artist=Queen|song=Spread Your Wings|access-date=18 June 2013}} |- {{single chart|UK|34|date=1978-02-25|access-date=6 October 2013}} |}
==Cover versions== This song was covered by German power metal band Blind Guardian on their 1992 album ''Somewhere Far Beyond''. The same recording reappeared on their 1996 album ''The Forgotten Tales''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Popoff |first1=Martin |title=Queen: Album by Album |date=2018 |publisher=Voyageur Press |page=108}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{YouTube|id=uyd6OLyhPJo|title=Official music video}}
{{Queen singles}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Queen (band) songs Category:Hard rock ballads Category:1978 singles Category:1970s ballads Category:Songs written by John Deacon Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Stone (record producer) Category:1977 songs Category:EMI Records singles Category:Elektra Records singles Category:Hollywood Records singles