Good Company

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"Good Company"

Song by Queen
From the album A Night at the Opera
Album released November 21 / December 2 1975
Recorded August-November 1975
Genre Rock
Song Length 3:23
Record label EMI / Hollywood Records
Producer Roy Thomas Baker and Queen
A Night at the Opera Album Listing
Love Of My Life
(Track 9) Good Company
(Track 10) Bohemian Rhapsody
(Track 11)

"Good Company"

Song by Queen
From the album A Night at the Opera
Album released	November 21 / December 2 1975
Recorded	August-November 1975
Genre	Rock
Song Length	3:23
Record label	EMI / Hollywood Records
Producer	Roy Thomas Baker and Queen
A Night at the Opera Album Listing
Love Of My Life (Track 9)	Good Company (Track 10)	Bohemian Rhapsody (Track 11)

Good Company is the tenth song from the Queen album A Night At The Opera. It was written and sung by guitarist Brian May, who plays the ukulele as the main instrument.

The recording is remarkable for featuring an elaborate recreation of a Dixieland-style jazz band, produced by May using his Red Special guitar, along with various forms of effects processing.

Freddie Mercury: "Then there's 'Good Company' written by Brian, a George Formby track with saxophones, trombone and clarinet sounds from his guitar. We don't believe in having any session men, we do everything ourselves, from the high falsetto to the low bassy farts; it's all us."

Despite using an upbeat rhythm and upbeat singing, the message communicated by the song is somewhat unhappy.

Subject

The song is a narrative tale, told by a man who in young age was advised by his father to "take care of those you call your own, and keep good company." In his younger years, the singer follows his father's advice, keeping his friends and marrying a girl named Sally. However, after their marriage, he begins to lose interest in his friends, who gradually disappear. As he grows older, he becomes increasingly skilled at and dedicated to his occupation, working long nights and neglecting his family.

Eventually, the singer's efforts are rewarded, he begins his own Limited company (which is also a pun, since throughout the rest of the song "company" is used in the sense of companions). Even more dedicated to his business, he hardly takes notice as his wife leaves him.

The song finishes with the speaker as an elderly man, puffing his pipe and pondering the lessons of his life, which he has no one left to share with.

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