Queen: The Greatest Legend Lives Forever

Scandal

Eeh dah eeh dah
Ooooh, ooooh, ooooh
Scandal - now you've left me all the world's gonna know
Hey scandal, they're gonna turn our lives into a freak show
They'll see the heart-ache, they'll see our love break
They'll hear me pleading, we'll say for God's sakes
Over and over and over again
Scandal - now you've left me there's no healing the wounds
Hey scandal, and all the world can make us out to be fools
Here come the bad news, open the floodgates (oooh oooh)
They'll leave us bleeding, we say you cheapskates
(Oooh oooh)
Over and over and over again
So let them know when they stare, it's just a private affair
They'll have us hung in the air and tell me what do they care
It's only a life to be twisted and broken
They'll see the heart-ache, they'll see our love break - yeah
They'll hear me pleading, I'll say for God's sakes
Over and over and over and over again - yeah
Scandal, scandal
Scandal, scandal
Yes you're breaking my heart again
Scandal - yes it'll all and all happen again
Today the headlines, tomorrow hard times
And no-one ever really knows the truth from the lies
And in the end the story deeper must hide (oooh)
Deeper and deeper and deeper inside
Scandal, scandal
Scandal, scandal

~•~•~•~•👑•~•~•~•~

♪ Song fact: This was written by Brian May and it was based on his problems with the British Press. In particular they had upset him with their comments on his divorce and relationship with the actress Anita Dobson. In an interview with the video magazine Hard 'N' Heavy (1989, Volume 3), May confirmed it was the antics of the British tabloid press which inspired this song: "It's something which has affected us, individually, as members of the group recently. It's very strange, 'cause we were fairly famous for a long time in England, you know the last 15 years or whatever, but we didn't become a prey to these kind of scummy papers until recently. And it's not related to what you are doing, you know. They are not interested what music you play, or anything. They just want the dirt, and if they can't find any they'll invent it if they choose to pick on you. So we were all going through a lot of changes in our lives and suddenly it became a big problem, you know, in a similar way... you've heard about what they did to Elton, you know? These stories about Elton, and everything, which he sued them for and got a million quid (NB. slang for pound) off 'em. You know, great. Well they did very similar things to me particularly, and to a certain extent to Roger, and Freddie also had been through it a little while before. But this thing is total... you know, steam in and destroy someone's life. They really are the scum of the earth. You can't exaggerate it too much."
Another inspiration for the song's brutal anti-press lyrics could have been the tabloid treatment of Freddie Mercury from 1986 onwards. In the Days of our Lives documentary, May and Taylor both spoke angrily about how paparazzi would hound Mercury, sticking cameras in the windows of his Garden Lodge house and trying to investigate his shopping for medicine. The irony being that the press were right in their speculation: Mercury was indeed seriously ill, but only chose to disclose it publicly just before he died in 1991. "We hid everything - I guess we lied! Because we were trying to protect him" admits May. Taylor noted that he would "say anything" to avoid exposing the truth, and slammed a Sun front page from 1987 showing Mercury, clearly looking very haggard and ill, emerging from the doctor's surgery. Given the circumstances it's no surprise that the song has such a strong ire.