Radio Ga Ga

Is there intelligent life on this planet, besides me? People, listen to the w-o-r-d-s and watch the v-i-d-e-o! The beginning of the video shows Freddie in a flying car, did this not instantly hit you as odd? That is a rhetorical question, because I don't think you dolts have enough wit to even wonder about why the hell they are in a FLYING CAR! Anyhow, here's another very peculiar scene, notice when the black and white ends and color takes its place? No, great, 0 for 2. In this scene Freddie is the child, and just take a guess what the masks are for. Wow, how sad. OK, they turn the radio on and it is aglow, a message is coming through the radio at the time and it is of imminent nuclear destruction. This is why there is a huge light that comes into the room as they take cover. Freddie is in the flying car as an adult singing of the time when the "radio" told him all he needed to know! Our society, our race as humans, is a sad one. People are like sheep, they follow the rules, work 8 hours a day five days a week and they follow a prescriptive routine. This is NO WAY TO LIVE! Open your eyes people, we are here for now, enjoy L-I-F-E and learn how to think!

Radio Ga Ga is also the name of a community radio program that I host each month in Melbourne, Australia. We celebrate the really great music of the 60's, 70's and 80's - when radio made us laugh, it made us cry, it made us feel like we could fly.

Please feel free to visit my web site - radiogaga.org.au to find out more and listen via the streaming facility.

electric 6 made a very bad version of this song

One of their best. The Radio Ga-Ga video is brilliant. Freddy looks determined, and on a mission. Great personality! I remember the tribute concert; there were lots of moustached Freddy lookalikes in the audience - a fine tribute to a well-loved singer.

I've been a huge Queen fan forever and I was happy to see Roger finally get a hit (overdue) but I have always been embarrassed by the lyrics. Roger has always had terrific music and awesome vocals but he loses it on the lyrics, in my opinion.

I read the first comments regarding this song. It seems like it annoyed a few people at first. I did not know this song at all until I saw a tribute to Freddy and Live Aid, etc. It is very exciting when everyone in the audience participates in the chorus. That is always a turn-on. It shows such unity. For five minutes and 48 seconds, everyone is in agreement.

I was just listening to it yesterday and noticed what a nice melody it has - and the lyrics are good, apart from the chorus, which is still annoying. I too have flicked the station when it came on before but like it 100% better now.

David, Australia via Belfast

Though a Queen fan, I found this song somewhat annoying. But I must admit its great live impact.

I like this song. At first, I used to change off it all the time, then I watched the one from Live Aid, and it became a favorite after I watched the music video for it. I also like their costumes in the video.

Say Queen And PR. Taylor sang this. His voice has preserved very well.

Lots of praise for a popular song here. I have always found it to be annoying. Actually, having said that I heard it on the radio (of course) and decided to give it a good listen. It went up a good 83% in my feeble opinion, but still has me switching channels. Sorry!

Does anyone do the hand clapping thing when the video plays? lol

The video shows a few clips from past Queen Videos from Bohemian Rhapsody,Don't stop me now , tie your mother down,a few live performances, and last back to the current video.

The chorus for the song is typed wrong on this site. It's actually:
"All we hear is Radio ca-ca
Radio goo goo
Radio ga ga"

I love how everyone clapped along at Live Aid. It was just perfect, and if you watch the video, EVERYONE in the stadium is doing it. It's amazing that there were tons of fans there coming to see all sorts of different bands, and they can all get together on this one. Freddie really was the king of the world. I didn't know he was battling Laryngitis though... weird since you can't tell at all. His voice was flawless, which is why everyone says Queen stole the show- they were perfect. No microphone feedback, no off-key songs, no wrong notes, nothing wrong with the cameras (ie when The Who played), nothing getting out of control and running over (ie U2's performance of "Bad")... it was just perfect. I've heard that as Bob Geldof was busy figuring out stuff for the rest of the show and organizing stuff, he stopped and noticed that this band was playing better than anyone yet, and he asked "Who is that?" and then he had to just stop and listen for a few minutes.

One Comment...WTF?

i think this song is just a LITTLE too long. just a little. but its still awesome.

This song is cool. I have a friend who loves Queen and it's one of her favorites.

LOL STEPH! I love this song! The video is something else...but in a good way! Freddie really used his imagination for this one. I love the parts in the song where they clap. All of the ppl that were in this scene suprised Queen when they knew where and when in the song to clap. They seem to have rehersed without the band knowing. Its just a great video and song! Well done Roger, well done!

Radio Ga Ga came from Rog's 2 year old son Felix who continuded to say "Radio Poo Poo!" while listening to the radio. As Roger put it, "I thought that sounded good, so I changed it around a bit and came up with 'Radio Ga Ga'. The song came after I'd locked myself in a studio for three days with a synthesiser and a drum machince."

I heard the song was sopposed to be how out of style that the radio was but freddie mercury helped change some of the lyrics around to make it the exact opposite

Up through 1980, Roger sang all of his own songs, either with lead vocals or prominent support vocals (Sheer Heart Attack). Afterwards, Freddie sang virtually everything. They may have been catching on that all of their hits were songs sung by Freddie.

Ya its cool at Live Aid that every fan was clapping exactly right and every one of them knew the song. I highly recommend the Live Aid DVD. Its unbelievable.

At Live Aid, everybody in Wembly Stadium clapped in unison at the right moment of this song.

This is a great and funny song!!!. Has anyone heard Electric six's version of it?.

While Queen was on break, some reporters from a radio station came to Roger's home for an interview. Roger's 3 year old son, Felix, was walking around, and when he heard the radio was coming he said: "Radio, Poo Poo". That inspired Roger to write this song. The song became soon an anthem for Queen fans, where they would clap their hands along. The video feautures clips from the old film 'Metropolis'. This song is considered by some, as a protest against MTV.

Radio Ga Ga was one of the the most funniest songs I've ever heard and it was featured in a ballet performance aired on Bravo!

When boy-band Five covered "We Will Rock You", they purloined the dance from "Radio Ga-Ga" in the video for their version, as "We Will Rock You" did not have a dance of it's own

The second verse of the song relates to the golden age of radio, when radio was not just a medium for music and talk shows; but when we listened to shows featuring famous comedians, dramas, etc. The part about wars of worlds invaded by Mars relates to "War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells. Orson Wells read this story on the radio in the 1930s, and when he did so, it caused panic throughout the U.S., showing that at the time, radio was a very powerful medium.

The band invited members of their Official Fan Club to paricipate in the video. The members had to apply for the rights to be in the video and were picked at random. Then the lucky winners gathered at a studio and were the crowd that the band were in front of.

A few other Queen video's after did the same thing. ("I Want to Break Free" and "Friends Will Be Friends.")

When the video was released, some people thought that the saluting in the chorus was the Nazi salute.