Lyrics
The song is considered to be Mercury's "hate letter" towards the former manager, incorporating a vast range of vicious lyrics, as described by Mercury, "It's so vindictive that Brian felt bad singing it. I don't like to explain what I was thinking when I wrote a song. I think that's awful, just awful."
Although "Death on Two Legs" never made a direct reference to Sheffield, upon listening to the song, he attempted to sue the band for defamation, and this revealed to the public the subject of the song. Before releasing the album, EMI, the publishers paid "a substantial sum." in an out of court settlement. During live performances, Mercury would usually rededicate the song to "a real motherfucker of a gentleman". This line was censored out of the version of the song that appeared on their Live Killers album in 1979.
Read more about this topic: Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...)
Famous quotes containing the word lyrics:
“Chad and I always look for deeper meanings; we can analyze Beastie Boys lyrics for hours.”
—Amy Stewart (b. 1975)