It's Late

"It's Late" is a song written by Queen guitarist Brian May and performed by the band for their 1977 album News of the World.

Not to be confused with It's Late (Ricky Nelson song).

"It's Late"
Single by Queen
from the album News of the World
B-side"Sheer Heart Attack"
Released25 April 1978 (1978-04-25)
Recorded1977
GenreHard rock
Length6:22 (album version) 3:52 (single version)
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Brian May
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Spread Your Wings"
(1978)		 "It's Late"
(1978)		 "Bicycle Race" / "Fat Bottomed Girls"
(1978)

Background

The song was May's idea of treating a song as a three-act theatrical play, and the verses are called "acts" in the lyrics sheet. It makes use of the tapping technique a few months before Eddie Van Halen's use of the tapping technique on the Van Halen album. May told Guitar Player Magazine that his use of the tapping technique was inspired by Texas guitarist Rocky Athas, after seeing one of his performances at Mother Blues, a Dallas club.[1]

The lyrics describe a love affair that is on the verge of ending.[2]

According to Billboard Magazine, the music of the single version "shifts gear from subdued balladry to thunderous rock'n'roll."[3]

Release

The song was released as a single in the US in 1978, albeit in heavily edited form, and peaked at #74 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] and #66 on the Cash Box Top 100.[5] The song was later included on the Queen Rocks compilation in 1997.

Personnel
gollark: Actual biological stuff is annoying, it's messy and runs slowly and you can't copy-paste it easily.
gollark: I bet it's an area of research people are working on.
gollark: Hmm, so we need better neural network designs which do that?
gollark: They sound much cooler.
gollark: Sounds uncool, I prefer electronic stuff, or eventually photonic/spintronic.

References
  1. "Electric & Acoustic Guitar Gear, Lessons, News, Blogs, Video, Tabs & Chords". GuitarPlayer.com. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  2. Guarisco, D.A. "It's Late". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  3. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 29 April 1978. p. 80. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  4. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002
  5. "Cash Box Top 100 6/03/78". cashboxmagazine.com. 3 June 1978. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
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