Album: Greatest Hits (1980)

Charted: 7 1

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• Steve walks warily down the street
  With the brim pulled way down low
  Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet
  Machine guns ready to go
  
  Are you ready
  Are you ready for this
  Are you hanging on the edge of your seat
  Out of the doorway the bullets rip
  To the sound of the beat
  
  Another one bites the dust
  Another one bites the dust
  And another one gone, and another one gone
  Another one bites the dust
  Hey, I'm gonna get you too
  Another one bites the dust
  
  How do you think I'm going to get along
  Without you, when you're gone
  You took me for everything that I had
  And kicked me out on my own
  
  Are you happy, are you satisfied
  How long can you stand the heat
  Out of the doorway the bullets rip
  To the sound of the beat
  
  Another one bites the dust
  Another one bites the dust
  And another one gone, and another one gone
  Another one bites the dust
  Hey, I'm gonna get you too
  Another one bites the dust
  
  Another one bites the dust
  Another one bites the dust
  Another one bites the dust
  Another one bites the dust
  There are plenty of ways you can hurt a man
  And bring him to the ground
  You can beat him
  You can cheat him
  You can treat him bad and leave him
  When he's down
  But I'm ready, yes I'm ready for you
  I'm standing on my own two feet
  Out of the doorway the bullets rip
  Repeating the sound of the beat
  
  Another one bites the dust
  Another one bites the dust
  And another one gone, and another one gone
  Another one bites the dust
  Hey, I'm gonna get you too
  Another one bites the dust Writer/s: John Richard Deacon
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 96

• Jose Ole from MexicoSteam is readily down the street, in old hat o-hio. Ain't no sound but the sound of speed, machine guns ready to go.
• Rp SenftThis song is often suggested for keeping the pace when doing CPR, along with Stayin' Alive. Personally, I would rather use Stayin' Alive if doing CPR. Just saying....
• Seventh Mist from 7th HeavenLong ago, I heard a story that on the night of December 8th, 1980, a DJ somewhere in New England was playing a pre-programmed, taped collection of songs. He got a phone call from a friend, who shared the sad news with him about assassination of John Lennon. When the song that was playing ended, he stopped the tape and and shared the news with listeners. Without checking to see which song was next, he started the tape again and his audience heard "Another One Bites the Dust." No surprise that he was inundated with angry calls soon after, including at least one death threat. The station's management had to apologize the following morning.
• Kungfuspider from Salem, Oregoni heard this song is about divorce.
• Jacob from 22015It's amazing that with this Queen tune in particular, this is as closest that Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson come to being and sounding like one another.
• David from Victoria, AustraliaAs a long time old time games player and queen fan, I always thought "Another one bites the dust" was based on the Space Invaders arcade game. the backing sound, increasing/decreasing pitch etc all sound just like the game. and the name another one bites the dust is the aim of the game
• Camille from Toronto, OhSome of thee most effective bass playing ever in a song. It’s the sound of a bad guy sneaking up on his prey, like the theme song to Jaws. It’s a beat you want to get up and get down on the dance floor. Totally memorable and the perfect contrast to Mercury’s high pitched yips, “hey hey hey!”
• Markantney from BiloxeAs a kid when the controversy came out I cracked up my household when I said,
  
  "Whoever said the song says "Smoke Marijuana" when you play it backwards, must of been high on drugs?"
• Kieran from Brisbane, AustraliaReading the lyrics to this song I get the impression that it was influenced by a gangster movie, just with the references to machine guns and street life.
• Keith from Papillion, NeI feel bad for people whose minds are so small that they can't conceive of words spoken backwards having any meaning. The guy who thinks it's based on pronouncing words spelled backwards is naive an has no understanding of phonic reversal. And the guy who thinks nothing spoken backwards can sound like anything in any language has a wonderfully childlike faith in himself and his knowledge of all things possible. It's well documented that the worship of various dark lords includes talking backwards. We know it's possible, so why the adamant denials from these guys? It's true, the forward phrases don't always make much sense. That's why you hear forward lyrics like Led Z's "it's just a spring clean for the May queen." If you think backward lyrics are incomprehensibile, then please explain this line as played forward!
• Michael from Staten Island, NyI feel bad for the people who listen to songs backwards and think that they found some secret message or something. Still a great song anyway.
• Andy from Glen Burnie, MdNO lyrics, in any language,played backwards, are gonna sound like any language...the Mind plays tricks on the ears...period...
• Theresa from Murfreesboro, TnFreddie Mercury had the best voice, he's surely missed.
• Ian from Paddock Lake, WiDuh. It doesn't matter if it talks about marijuana backwards, personally I think the forwards message is just a bit higher of a crime... but it's a great, amazing song!!!
• John from Nashville, TnLike the first single from THE GAME (the Elvis-like "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"), this song was quite a departure from Queen's usual over-the-top opera-like production. Ironically the second single from this album (the typical Queen-sounding "Play The Game") stalled outside the top 40. So the #1 sucess of this album's first and third singles proved that Queen fans were open to new sounds from the group.
• Irfan from Bekasi, Indonesiain the chorus, "another one" line sounds like "anaujiram" reversed of "marijuana" lol but i don't care i still love this song. all-time greatest rock bassline .
• Jessie from Fernandina Beach, FlThis song is very addicting I was in the car and my son turned it up wierd because this is the stuff i grew up on soon as i got home that day i downloaded it and put it on my Ipod
• Patrick from Middleburgh Heights, OhThe song is obviously about a guy going around and shooting anyone who's wronged him. Anyway it's an awesome song, especially when you're angry!
• Jon from Philadelphia, PaWay to state the obvious, Brandon. It's the 4th Sound fact.
• Jon from Denver, CoAs far as the backmasking, I'm leaning more toward coincidence, though I found it interesting that one of the tracks (a single note, throughout the song) was reversed. After someone told me about it, I played it in reverse on a four-track cassette deck, and I did hear "it's fun to smoke marijuana" at one point in the song, though it's not 100% clear even there. And, yes, the song does make a lot more sense, overall, played forwards--and in my opinion is a better listen.
• Rauel from New York, NyI love this song!! it has a great beat, and is so fun to dance too. this may be strange, but i think it would be sweet if i could get this song played at my funeral. :)
• Andy from B'ham, AlSo, this is Queen using the disco beat? The same way the Bee Gees use the disco beat in "I Just Wanna Be Your Everything" and "Stayin' Alive": 2/2 time. Though it's nice and funky, I've wondered why at times it's been cut down to 2/2. Disco was intended for 4/4 time, wasn't it?
• Matt from All Over The Shop, --how cool is this song? it's like rappers playground riff but anyone can learn to play it.
  it's so simple they did well to have any more hits after this one it's just that good!
  you try writing something better but more simple!
  not gonna happen m8!
• Ched - from La Union, Philippinesimagine how great John Deacon played his guitar on this one...Great Job, John!
• Russ from Richmond, VaI don't know about all this "backwards" hype but forward the lyrics clearly speak of a very painful breakup with a lover/partner. Maybe the two also enjoyed smoking pot when they were together?
• Jena from Bonner Springs, KsI don't see this in the lyrics or see anything posted about this, but at one point in the song (played FORWARD), it clearly sounds to me like he says, (after "Hey!" - toward the middle of the song) "I'm Adopted!" It's right before he repeats "another one bites the dust" 4x times in a row. Does anyone else hear this, or what is he really saying?
• Stefano from Rome, ItalyJonathon, this song is included in The Game (track #3), not in Hot Space.
• Israel from San Luis Potosí, MexicoThis song makes me smoke marijuana
• John from Overland Park, KsBilly, I think you're right. The "play it backwards and see what it says" always struck me as a musical Rorschach test - you'll hear what you want or expect to hear.
• Matthew from Milford, MaOkay, can we please get back to the song's basic point about rage and vengeance? Man, this marijuana stuff is disturbing... I wonder what happened to Queen because of this?
• Brian from Dennis, Mait does work, me and my buddy did it on his computer, he says it weird, but its still there "fun to smoke marijana"
• Oliver from Hamburg, Germanywell, Cinincinati, nevertheless you have a point there.
  If http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/queen.php disparaged Johann Sebastian Bachs Mass in h-minor, jesus sang: 'my father is a motherf...'
• Billy from Cinincinati, AzHere is what I think of the backwards theory. You do'nt need mixing equipment to hear what it sounds like backwards. We can just try spelling/reading backwards or go slightly deeper and produce the syllables(sounds) backwards.It does'nt take long to realize that this theory is hogwash. Here's the first approach tsud setib eht eno rehtona Apparently the last word somewhat rhymes with marijuna, and the rest is filler-ups like "It's fun to" or "I love to" or maybe "It's great to ", or even "Decide to". In the second approach, the rough sequence of syllables in reverse order reads like st-du s-ite-b e-th en-o r-th-no-a which is not much better either.Evidently, it would take considerable mixing and editing or whatever, by someone pretty well-versed in that to get this to sound like,"It's fun to smoke marijuna".If you are doing this,my advice to you is to put your talents to better use. Clearly it's reading a meaning into words or sounds which does'nt exist. We are more likely to see what we want to see than what is really there. You guys are crackpots; bozo's even.I can't believe you have web pages dedicated to discussing the possibly hidden, lopsided, twisted and totally un-intentional meaning, and you even make it sound like it's the real thing. You are a million laughs, You either give the literal meaning,"First of all, I dont know who steve is", or the lopsided supposedly hidden meaning, "It's fun to smoke marijuna", never the figurative and the intended actual meaning. Of course, it would be nice if any song had a deeper if not hidden meaning. But this song appears to me to be more fantasy based than reality based as do some queen songs, like Bohemian rhapsody even.It sounds more like the first impressions of one who has just read a western comic; or seen "The good, The Bad and The Ugly"; for the first time.And typical of Queen songs, there is the inital phase, where one is the victim, and towards the end when one is triumphant and victorious.Queen themselves claim that their songs and even their symbol of the phoenix rising from the ashes is about constant ressurection, rejuvination, and renewal of the spirit amid calamity and disaster. This song does'nt appear to be much different.Dissecting it, in the second verse, it could be about heartbreak, "How do you think I'm gonna get along..." and the next verse begins like "There are plenty of ways you can hurt a man..." but towards the end of the song "But I'm ready, I'm ready for you....", which is a machoistic display of bravado and courage in the face of death and destruction, It certainly is about inner strength and character. It's also about facing up to life, its problems, and possibilities.It's more or less exactly spelt out in the song all god's people, of the innuendo album. "Better face up, Better grow up...." Just for my information, I would like to know, if Queen were the first to be victimised by this outrage intended to malign a good reputation.More precisely, I would like to know which was the first band, which was the first song which underwent this kind of surgical mis-treatment.Now that it has begun, I am sure, it must have a pretty faithful following and people who actually specialize in this, claiming it to be the love of art, and art for art's sake,and all that, though it's really desecration, and plagarism if that means mis-representation.....Thats what i think of it...your mother!
  
• Jonathon from Clermont, FlOne of the best crossover dance songs ever. I also like "Silly Love Songs". Anyway, the "Hot Space" album wasn't a total mistake, because some of the songs on it are palatable. I'd even like "Body Language" if it had some guitar parts in it other than the end...
• Jake from Newport, NhActually the rumor is Freddie did that to police men because others in the group did it to Freddie. Roger probably put it in Freddie's food or drink.
• Paul from Redditch, EnglandQueen admitted they used to take marijuana, in their biography it says they used to put it into cakes and even got a couple of policemen to eat some in the early seventies!! Students eh?
• Daniel from Tywyn, Waleswhen the Wyclef Jean version was released, the British banned it from being played in Iraq, in the first gulf war, because the government feare it would offend British troops. when a British news crew went over too interview a squad, they were ambushed by Iraqi troops.No British were hurt, but two Iraqi soldiers were dead. When the commanding officer went to the squad, he said "Another one bites the dust, eh boys?"
• Julia from Prineville, OrIn my opinion, I would say that this song was about WWII. Because of him having the machine gun ready to go, and that another one bites the dust. It also runs hand-in-hand with Bohemian Rhapsody, which also has to do with WWII. Also in my opinion, this is one of the greatest songs Queen has ever done, and I could listen to it over and over again without hesitation and/or boredom.
• Zach from Hershey, PaThis song was originally intended to be about cowboys when Deacon first started to write the song. Cowboys was it's main intent. Anything else seems to be coinciedence. We can't ask Deacon because he's missing.
• Kd from Chicago, IlThis was the Detroit Lions' "theme song" in 1980. They had another crappy season so the fans would sing "Another one beats their butts". I know. I'm a long suffering Lions fan.
  
  
• Amy from Dallas, TxI think the 'I want to smoke marijuana' part is nothing but a bunch of jibberish, thats how i hear it.
• Iara from Santiago, Chilewell,i think that Queen is one of the greatest bands ever (and i'm sure that a lot of people is agree with me) and this song is definetely one of the best of them.And,yeah,i spent enough time laughing of the 'hidden message' ("it's fun to smoke marijuana"?? What the hell is that???)
• Flo from Toulouse, FranceGood rap cover by Refugee Camp All Stars, but it does not equal Queen's.
• Thefox31 from Edmonton, CanadaIf you've heard "good times", you'd recognize the bass line instantly.
  
  Not that I mind. This song is better than Chik's.
• Juan Loire from Vallarta, MexicoThis song became #1 in 3 genres of music. Funk, Rock, and Disco. (disco? go figure)
• Billy from Boston, MaGreat song. Also Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are The Champions. We Will Rock You is OK, but overplayed.
• Travis from Laconia, NhSounds like the Columbine incident....
• Bryan from Melbourne, FlDum dum dum dum-dum-dum dum dum DUM!
• Amy from Dallas, Txin the Hot Space tour Freddie says 'bite, bite it hard baby!' Lol such a funny guy, He also says that in Montreal
• Jeanette from Irvine, Caweird al also incorporated backwards messages...
• Jeanette from Irvine, Cawell the pink floyd message "congratulations you've found the secret message" was put in as a joke. but the one from this song...i doubt they put it in on purpose. its fun to smoke marijuana...seriously thats the kind of message thats easily heard no matter what but most likely not put in on purpose.
• Nathan from Defiance, OhI had a incident where I almost hit someone with my car while this was playing on the radio, and now I have a flashback everytime I hear it. I think scientists call it a Pavlovian effect.
• Anna from Syracuse, Nyi think it sort of sounds like "its fun to smoke marajuana" but if they DID mean toput that in then you have to respect what great songwriters they are b/c thats ingenious, and not that many people can make hidden messages, so even if they did smoke marajuana, im not saying they did, but they had to be talented to figure out how to incorporate a backward message.
• Randall from Dallas, TxThe only way you can hear it say anything about marijuana backwards is to be stoned.
  
  Incidentally, if you're tripping, they say things about acid.
  
  Kinda freaky, eh?
• Stephen from Altamont, IlThe Steve is Steve Mc.Queen.
  
  The backmasking stuff; most of it is unintentional. One of Pink Floyds songs has an actual message like 'Congratulations, you've found the secret message!'. Wierd O_o.
• Ross from Independence, MoStewie says the first line of this song soon after trapping a kid in that playground hole in an episode called damnit janet on family guy.
• Troy from London, EnglandI'm sorry but I have to put you all straight on this. I used to be a member of the fan club and read an interview with John and he said that, yes he got the title from watching old cowby mivies, but saw a documentary about the St. Valentines day Massacre and it inspired him to write this song. Hence the reference to machine guns...
• Alicia from Tamaqua, PaThis is another one of Queens GREAT songs. Its a MUST listen to for me atleast. My favorite part of the song is when you suddenly hear a "motorcycle" start up and Freddie shouts "AHHHH, TAKE IT". Even though some of the words are hard to determine when he sings them, but thats what the Internet is for to look up lyrics :-) Anywho, as for the hidden messege if played in reverse, I hardly think thats true. Even if it sounds a little like that, I purely think it was ablsolutely unintentional.
• Jared from North Bend, Wawho really cares about the backwords message, its not like they actually tried to do it
• Tony from St Louis, Mothe backwords message is funny
  i dont think they did it on puropse though
• Patrick from Port Pirie, AustraliaWill people please see the song for what it really is - a song with a catchy tune and a brilliant bass beat? If they really did insert a the marijuana message, you have to realise that these messages have no effect on you whatsoever and Queen were about fun and good music, not encouraging drug use.
• Wade from Katy, TxIt goes on and on... Easy to get stuck in your head, and it takes forever to get it out!
• Aj from Cleveland, GaNot only does it say "it's fun to smoke marijuana", it also says "give some acid" when played backwards
• Mike from Westfield, Mathis is true . Queen did have the intentions for it to say it's fun to smoke marajuana. if you want to hear the whole song go to www.bearshare.com download it (free version) and then type in it's fun to smoke marijuana and a few will come up try to download all of them and one will download and listen to the whole song. for those of you out there that do not understand why this is it is not just reversind it. it is called backmasking . they flip it and reverse it. hard to explain. you need a backmasking kit to hear it for yourself if you do not believe the bearshare or albinoblacksheep version. A lot of rock does this. led zepplin's stairway to heaven talks about the devil
• Jude from Thomasville, GaIt is a great song with a killer bass line. That's all. Remember all the foolishness about "Paul is dead", how stupid all that turned out to be? Same thing. Just hush up, listen to the song the way it was meant to be heard and think to yourself, John Deacon really knows how to play bass!
• Mistik from Sydney, Australiathis songs a classic, its good, the bass is real cool, even if queen aren't really what i like. they're pretty good and i like this song, so damn catchy.
• Martijn from Helmond, NetherlandsIt seems just about every other song on this website has somebody claiming it's about drugs. Do you guys really believe that is all musicians think or write about? As for the backwards masking: what a bunch of drivel. Invented by paranoid reverends with nothing better to do. Don't believe any of it!
• Nessie from Sapporo, Japan<> Mark you CHEESEBURGER and I totally CHEESEBURGER agree on this CHEESEBURGER one. Hmm...I seem to be getting hungry.
• Mark from Madison, WiWhat does it matter if it was intentional or not? Backmasking doesn't work. I mean, it doesn't distort your thoughts or anything. Studies have been done. Subleminal messages flashed on tv screens, however, DO work. So I don't think we should really worry about backmasking.
• Aron from Amsterdam, NetherlandsI'm kinda stunned no one sees it; this song has to be about coke or speed. the first part about this steve guy perfectly describes the jumppy freaked out mood one gets from not sleeping for days and from uppers in general.How long can you stand the heat? The rest of the lyrics speak for themsleves; how do you think im gonna get along without you when you're gone..you took me for everything that i had and kicked me out on my own....The sound effects dont leave much to the imagination either, *snort*
• Sundaresh from Bangalore, IndiaHere is what I think of the backwards theory.
  
  You do'nt need mixing equipment to hear what it sounds like backwards.
  We can just try spelling/reading backwards or go slightly deeper and
  produce the syllables(sounds) backwards.It does'nt take long to realize
  that this theory is hogwash.
  
  Here's the first approach
  
  tsud setib eht eno rehtona
  
  Apparently the last word somewhat rhymes with marijuna, and the rest is
  filler-ups like "It's fun to" or "I love to" or maybe "It's great to ", or even
  "Decide to".
  
  In the second approach, the rough sequence of syllables in reverse order
  reads like
  
  st-du s-ite-b e-th en-o r-th-no-a
  
  which is not much better either.Evidently, it would take considerable mixing and
  editing or whatever, by someone pretty well-versed in that to get this to sound
  like,"It's fun to smoke marijuna".If you are doing this,my advice to you is
  to put your talents to better use.
  
  Clearly it's reading a meaning into words or sounds which does'nt exist.
  We are more likely to see what we want to see than what is really there.
  You guys are crackpots; bozo's even.I can't believe you have web pages dedicated
  to discussing the possibly hidden, lopsided, twisted and totally un-intentional meaning,
  and you even make it sound like it's the real thing.
  You are a million laughs,
  You either give the literal meaning,"First of all, I dont know who steve is",
  or the lopsided supposedly hidden meaning, "It's fun to smoke marijuna",
  never the figurative and the intended actual meaning.
  
  Of course, it would be nice if any song had a deeper if not hidden meaning.
  But this song appears to me to be more fantasy based than reality based as do
  some queen songs, like Bohemian rhapsody even.It sounds more like the first
  impressions of one who has just read a western comic; or seen "The good,
  The Bad and The Ugly"; for the first time.And typical of Queen songs, there
  is the inital phase, where one is the victim, and towards the end when one is
  triumphant and victorious.Queen themselves claim that their songs and even their
  symbol of the phoenix rising from the ashes is about constant ressurection,
  rejuvination, and renewal of the spirit amid calamity and disaster.
  
  This song does'nt appear to be much different.Dissecting it, in the second verse,
  it could be about heartbreak,
  
  "How do you think I'm gonna get along..."
  
  and the next verse begins like
  
  "There are plenty of ways you can hurt a man..."
  
  but towards the end of the song
  
  "But I'm ready, I'm ready for you....",
  
  which is a machoistic display of bravado and courage in the face of death and destruction,
  It certainly is about inner strength and character.
  It's also about facing up to life, its problems, and possibilities.It's more or
  less exactly spelt out in the song all god's people, of the innuendo album.
  
  "Better face up, Better grow up...."
  
  Just for my information, I would like to know, if Queen were the first to be
  victimised by this outrage intended to malign a good reputation.More precisely,
  I would like to know which was the first band, which was the first song which underwent
  this kind of surgical mis-treatment.Now that it has begun, I am sure, it must have a pretty
  faithful following and people who actually specialize in this, claiming it to be
  the love of art, and art for art's sake,and all that, though it's really desecration,
  and plagarism if that means mis-representation.
• Freddie from Orlando, FlJohn Deacon wanted to write a song about cowboys. He originally had lined up a song in which it tells a mini story of a cowboy in each verse, and at the end each of the cowboys dies-- "bites the dust". he was originally inspired to write the song after hearing the phrase and liking it. Once the band started to record the song, however, it adopted a more adrk kind of beat, not suiting for the lighthearted fun cowboy lyrics, so John decided to change it. The "steve" was part of the remains, however. and I highly doubt the band wanted it to have to do anything about sendnig backwards messages of marijunna. I cant see them caring so much to do somthing like that.
• Liquid Len from Ottawa, CanadaThis was Queen's last big hit, you heard it nonstop when it was out (late fall 1980). Temporarily resurrected an old phrase. As for the backwards stuff - this is by far the clearest 'backward' message I have ever heard. I still think it's a coincidence. Play enough songs backwards and you will hear something that sounds like a word, or phrase. Believe me, if you have ever been in a studio, you will realize there's plenty of work to be done to make a song sound right, played FORWARDS. 'You can almost tell that from listening to it forward'? Is that so? Maybe if you've taken the song's (backward) advice.
  
• Iorek from Reading, EnglandIts quite funny how this song was released the same year as the Iranian Embassy siege, which was in May 6th, and this song was released August 22nd (? if i remember correctly), if i hadnt known about how john had written it about a cowboy i'd have thought he took inspiration from the siege!
• Rebecca Hesford from Bowral Nsw, AustraliaC'mon. Queen was so so into drugs, and all that stuff. Another one bites the dust is obviosly saying Smoke Maraijuana. It's the main line in the song. Doesn't it make sense. If it was just chance that a backwards recording said that, how come 1 it's the main senctence in the song 2 the chances of it being in the order of those exact words.
• Rayne from Orcutt, CaIf you're into the whole "Backwards music" deal, check out Led Zepelin's Stairway to Heaven. I personaly belive it was Intentional for the line. I could write a whole song around one phrase, why can't they do it?
• Leona from Edinburgh, ScotlandTom from Bloomington - I believe the marijuana line was probably UNintentional. What are the chances a sentence forward would make "another one bites the dust" backwards? Seriously, what are the chances the words would be in the correct order, have the correct verb and everything...slim to none. You don't just decide to include a hidden message within a song and hooray! It turns out the chosen message forms an actual sentence when played backwards.
  Joking aside though, Queen never sat around talking one day, decided to incorporate 'it's fun to smoke marijuana' backwards into a song then played those words backwards to find out - much to their delight - that they just happened to say 'Another one bites the dust.' It's ludicrous to suggest that this was an intentional hidden message.
  
• Brandi from Enon, OhI really doubt that it is really supposed to sound like that. Who would really fo through that much time to try to make a song that has a message backwards. Would they want to put that much effort into doing something like that. To be honest, who would think of listening to a song backwards but i hav to admit that it is pretty cool that somebody thought of doing that.
• Loreena from Rio Negro, ArgentinaMy cousin and I were bored one day...so we were backmasking a bunch of songs, including this one, although it was already discovered...try Jessie's girl. Marijuana backwards is ana-oo-ee-rahm. How does backmasking take something like that and get Another one bites the dust and its fun to smoke marijuana?????! Odd...
• Kent Lyle from Palo Alto, CaThe band was surprised when this song became a major hit. All of them considered it a risky release. It was their first crossover hit, introducing them to a black audience, with the initial reaction being strongest in New York.
• Kent Lyle from Palo Alto, CaFor some reason, "another one" and "I know that I" sound very much like "marijuana" when played backwards. Thus, any song with those lyrics could be guilty.
• Sam from Sydney, Australiaalthough it is a good point that the chances of a line saying sumthing fairly clearly when played backward, the chances are very slim that freddie or john sat down and realised that if you sing another one bites the dust in a certain way then bacwards it has sumthing about pot
• Brian from Medford, OrFrom what I've heard John Deacon wrote a first draft of lyrics about a cowboy, but deemed them too silly. Then Freddie helped him shape the lyrics into the song you hear now. Also, the beat was inspired by Chic's "Good Times" but nothing was actually borrowed from it.
• William from Streetsboro, Oh"It's fun to smoke marijuana?" Please, you guys are reading FAR too much into this song. I have Goldwave, which is a program that I can instantly reverse a song again and again. The section everyone thinks is about majiuana is simple Freddie singing "Another one bites the dust" four times in a row. There isn't any backwards masking. Nothing has been spliced into the song. This is similar to people believing their pets can express complex human emotions/reactions. It simply doesn't happen.
• Tom from Bloomington, MnI believe the marijuana line was probably intentional. What are the chances a sentence forward would make "its fun to smoke marijuana" backwards? Seriously, what are the chances the words would be in the correct order, have the correct verb and everything...slim to none. You don't just make a song and woops, it turns out it has messages in it that forms an actual sentence.
• Natasha from Chico, Caya, i've heard it played backward, and, ya, it does sound like they're saying "smoke marijuana" but, c'mon, basically anything can sound like anything when played backward, when said w/ the right intonations and such. I have doubts if queen did this intentionally. Just go to Frisco's exploratorium, and you can use this machine that plays what you say backward, it's quite trippy, you begin to hear these weird things, but you pretty much hear what you want to hear, like whats on your mind at the time,(like how you can hear ur name in a crowded place)and marijuana is on the minds of many ppl, especially when you're expecting to hear it, and especially when ur listening to rock 'n' roll...:)
• Shana from Pembroke, CanadaIm pretty sure this song is about the Mob...i can just picture a man in a trench coat with a top hat from the 40's standing on the corner of a dark alley with a beam of light on him, but u still cant see his face because of the shadow of his hat...thats what i think of everytime i hear this song..
  
• Amanda from Mineral Ridge, Ohhaha thats funny theres one on led zepplin and britney spears too. ha that made me day...uhhh night
• Jessen from Sydney, AustraliaThe song is about an argument between a man and a woman. the metaphorical 'bullets' are hard words exchanged between the two.
• Ryan from Lackawanna, NyI hered that this song might have actually been about Vietnam, or the mob, Im haveing trouble deciding
• Eef from Zoutleeuw, BelgiumFreddie Mercury was one great preformer. And even if it contains a message like that... Who cares? Look around, there songs which contain such message when played FORWARD so actually nothing to be surprised about.
• Jennifer from San Jose, Cabackwards its says "its fun to smoke marijuana" in face you can almost tell that from listining to it foward...if you think or another one turns into marijuana...
• Will from Portland, OrI always thought that this was about gun violence, and how it is bad, and doesn't solve anything. They are talking about guns a lot, and he says "another bites the dust." and also, he asks "Are you satisfied?"
  craazy song.
• Byron from Athens, GreeceMichael Jackson suggested Freddie Mercury to release this song as a single. It turned out to be their biggest hit in the US
• Mel from Hokitika, New ZealandFrom the 1980 album 'The Game', which was also their first album featuring a synthesizer.
  
• Brandon from Seattle, WaThe music was borrowed from Chic's "Good Times".

More Songfacts:

GloryJay-Z

Jay-Z's 2012 "Glory" features his daughter Blue Ivy Carter's cries and coos. At less than two days old, she became the youngest ever credited artist to feature on a Billboard chart when the song debuted on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at #74.

Who Let The Dogs OutBaha Men

"Who Let The Dogs Out" won a Grammy. It took the award for Best Dance Recording in 2000.

We Are The WorldUSA for Africa

Lionel Richie hosted the American Music Awards the night he recorded "We Are The World."

Mr. BojanglesThe Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

The Texas songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Mr. Bojangles" after a weekend in jail where a fellow inmate told him his life story.

Wanted Dead Or AliveBon Jovi

"Wanted Dead Or Alive" by Bon Jovi got the Unplugged craze going when Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora performed it with just their acoustic guitars at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.

Return To InnocenceEnigma

"Return To Innocence" by Enigma is based on a Taiwanese chant by a husband and wife. The couple won a lawsuit granting them royalties from the song.

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Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.