I'm Going Slightly Mad

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"I'm Going Slightly Mad" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury but credited to Queen, with uncredited lyrical contributions by Peter Straker, it was released as the second single from the band's 1991 album Innuendo. The lyrics and the accompanying music video project the song as quirky, humorous and light-hearted. The song also features a slide guitar solo performed by Brian May. John Deacon's bass is tuned down to a low B.

The single cover was inspired by a Grandville illustration (as are the others from the album).

Video I'm Going Slightly Mad

Background

"I'm Going Slightly Mad" had been mentioned by John Deacon in a letter printed in the Queen Fan Club magazine of Spring 1990. Describing it as the "whacky single", Deacon revealed the work on the song was in progress. The song was written by Mercury, who initially had the song's title in his mind. During an evening with his friend Peter Straker, Mercury explained his idea for the song, which he wanted to feature lyrics of tongue-in-cheek one liners inspired by Noël Coward. The pair then spent the night coming up with such lines

In his 1994 book Mercury and Me, Mercury's partner Jim Hutton recalled:

"Freddie set about with Peter trying to come up with a succession of goofy lyrics, each funnier than the last. He screamed when they came up with things like 'I'm knitting with only one needle' and 'I'm driving on only three wheels these days'. But the master-stroke was: 'I think I'm a banana tree'. Once that came out there was no stopping Freddie and Straker - they were then in full flow. I went to bed to fall asleep listening to their laughter wafting upstairs."

During 1991, Mercury recorded a short, "Totally Bonkers" version of the song as a message for Queen's 1991 fan club convention. The version, less than a minute in length, features different instrumentation, lyrics and vocal than that used in the main, full Queen recording of the song.

Maps I'm Going Slightly Mad

Video

The accompanying video -- like all other Innuendo videos directed by Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher of DoRo Productions -- was filmed in February 1991 at Limehouse Studios and it features the band dressed and acting in an absurd and surreal manner, including guitarist Brian May dressed as a penguin (a reprise of his outfit featured in the booklet of the first Queen album), drummer Roger Taylor wearing a tea kettle on his head and riding a tricycle while Mercury sneaks up on him and is chasing him, a man in a gorilla suit, bassist John Deacon as a jester, and Mercury wearing a bunch of bananas as a wig, which corresponds with the line "I think I'm a banana tree."

"I'm Going Slightly Mad" is the last Queen video to feature significant creative input from Mercury. He was already considerably ill at the time due to AIDS, which would claim his life less than a year later. Despite this, the viewer sees Mercury as very mobile and expressive during the final scenes. He even actively co-directed some of the video's storyboards. Mercury wore thick make-up to cover up the blotches on his face, and an extra layer of clothing underneath to conceal his weight loss. He also wore a wig, which covered his receding hairline, and a suit of a similar style to that of Michael Jackson who actually worked with Mercury in the past. In "These Are the Days of Our Lives", the last video Mercury ever filmed (in May 1991), he hardly moves around at all, as his condition had deteriorated further. Both of these videos were shot in black and white.