Liar (Queen song)

"Liar"
Song
B-side	"Doing All Right"

"Liar" is a song by British rock group Queen. Written by singer Freddie Mercury in 1970, originally titled "Lover". The song featured on the band's 1973 debut album Queen. An edited version of "Liar" was released as a single—backed with "Doing All Right"—in the United States by Elektra Records in February 1974.

In the earlier years of Queen, this song was regarded as one of their most impressive live performances, often going over eight minutes long. However, over time the song eventually fell off the setlist, with the exception of The Works Tour (though the song was cut down to three minutes or less). At the Magic Tour, right before "Tear It Up," the beginning of the "Liar" guitar riff is played by Brian May.

During live performances, it was one of the few songs where bass player John Deacon sang backing vocals at all. This was done during the part where the band sings "all day long." He mimics the promotional video for the song, where he stands behind Freddie and sings into his microphone. Also, this song contains a bass solo performed by John Deacon. As confirmed by the transcription on EMI Music Publishing's Off The Record sheet music for the song, this is one of three Queen tracks, the others being "Now I'm Here" and "Under Pressure" (their collaboration with David Bowie), to feature a Hammond organ.

Interestingly, this song brought up the issue of song writing credits within the band. Brian May queried which band members would be credited for developing the music for each song, to which Freddie Mercury concluded the discussion, stating that the lyricist has basically written the song.

Track listing

7" single (Royal Sound TKR 157)

1. "Liar" (single edit) (Freddie Mercury) – 3:01
2. "Doing All Right" (Brian May, Tim Staffell) – 4:09

7" single (Elektra E-45884)

1. "Liar" (Freddie Mercury)
2. "Liar"

External links

• "Liar" at Queenpedia
• "Liar" song review at Allmusic