When was “Headlong” released as a single?

US radio/lead single on January 14, 1991; UK single on May 13, 1991.

Who wrote “Headlong”?

Brian May, credited to Queen on the album.

What were the main B-sides?

US cassette with “Under Pressure”; UK formats often with “All God’s People” and “Mad the Swine.”

Where did it chart highest?

No. 3 on Billboard Mainstream Rock in the US; No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart.

Headlong Lyrics – We Will Rock You

Headlong Lyrics

Meat:
And you're rushing headlong, you've got a new goal
And you're rushing headlong out of control

Brit:
And you think you're so strong
But there ain't no stopping and there's nothin'
You can do about it

Both:
Woo! There's nothin' you can do
No there's nothin' you can do about it

Brit:
No there's nothing you can

Galileo:
Nothing you can

Scaramouche:
Nothing you can

Meat:
Do about it

All:
And you're rushing headlong you've got a new goal
And you're rushing headlong out of control
And you think you're so strong
But there ain't no stopping

Galileo & Scaramouche:
And there's nothing you can do about it

Meat:
He used to be a man with a stick in his hand

All:
Oop diddy diddy, oop diddy doo

Brit:
She used to be a woman with a hot dog stand

All:
Oop diddy diddy, oop diddy doo

Meat:
Now you've got soup in the laundry bag

Brit:
Now you've got strings, you're gonna lose your rag

Meat:
You're gettin' in a fight and it ain't so groovy

Brit:
When you're screaming in the night
Let me out of this cheap B-movie

All:
Headlong down the highway
And you're rushing headlong out of control
And you think you're so strong
But there ain't no stopping

Meat:
And you can't stop rockin'

All:
And there's nothin' you can, nothin' you can
Nothin' you can do about it

Galileo:
When a red hot man meets a white hot lady

All:
Oop diddy diddy, oop diddy doo

Scaramouche:
Soon the fire starts to burn and gets 'em more than half crazy

All:
Oop diddy diddy, oop diddy doo

Galileo:
Oh, now they start freaking everywhere you turn
You can't start walking 'cos your feet got burned

Meat:
It ain't no time to figure wrong from right
Cause reasons out the window, better hold on tight

All:
Headlong down the highway
And you're rushing headlong, out of control
And you think you're so strong
But there ain't no stopping and there's

Brit:
Nothing

Meat:
Nothing

Galileo:
Nothing

Scaramouche:
Nothing

All:
Nothing you can, nothing you can
Nothing you can do about it
Headlong!
Last Update: September, 15th 2025

Song Overview

Headlong lyrics by Queen — Queen is singing the 'Headlong' lyrics in the music video.

Review and Highlights

Scene from Headlong by Queen — 'Headlong' in the official music video.

I hear “Headlong” as Queen lunging back into guitar-first rock with a grin. Brian May’s riffing is stacked and springy, Roger Taylor’s hi-hat drives like a motor, and Freddie Mercury barrels through the verses with that effortless, aerodynamic bite. It’s hooky but unruly - a late-era single that still sounds impatient to get out the door.

Highlights - the call-and-response between Mercury’s lines and May’s answering figures; that mixed-mode edge where blue thirds scrape against a bright D center; and a chorus that delays harmonic resolution just long enough to keep you leaning forward. On radio, it hit No. 3 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock tally in the US and peaked at No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart - a hard-rocking entry that still cut through in 1991.

Creation History

May wrote “Headlong” with the intention of parking it on his solo set Back to the Light, then changed course after hearing Mercury sing it - the right call, given the way Freddie snaps each phrase like a snare. The track was credited to Queen and co-produced with David Richards, whose drum-programming touch underpins Taylor’s kit with fast 16th-note pulse - that propulsive tick you feel under the guitars.

The promo clip - one of the last color videos with Mercury - was shot at Metropolis Studios in London by DoRo (Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher). It alternates performance setups with candid studio moments, and even contains a tiny musical insert not issued on audio formats.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Queen performing Headlong exposing meaning — Music video exposing meaning of the song.

Plot

The narrator watches someone tumble into desire and chaos at full speed. New goal, zero brakes. It starts as swagger - “you’re rushing headlong” - and spirals into comic mishap: fights, burned feet, the plea to escape a “cheap B-movie.” By the time the outro chants “gnoldaeh” (headlong reversed), the story has flipped from bravado to self-awareness, like rewinding tape to catch where it all went wrong.

Song Meaning

I read it as a cautionary romp about momentum - how lust and ambition can outrun judgment. The band leans into physical language (burned feet, raging fire) to draw the heat of attraction while mocking the delusion of control. The message: speed thrills, but it also erases the lane markers; once you’ve tipped into the rush, there’s “nothing you can do about it.” Mood-wise, it’s celebratory and slightly satirical - headstrong rock dressed with slapstick detail, framed by a riff that never sits still.

Annotations

The intro begins with 1/16 pulsing drums from Roger Taylor backing the single D-note on the piano that provides a pedal bass throughout the intro.

That locked D pedal makes the band’s mixed-modal crunch feel anchored, even as guitars arc in distorted power chords.

The Chorus is 16 measures long with square phrasing (A-B-A-C)… The modality is mixed… The second half of the section omits the tonic.

Omitting the tonic in a chorus that big is a sly way to keep tension alive - the tune shouts certainty while the harmony withholds it.

The sixteen-measure verse starts with a repeated pair of phrases with strong bluesy flavor due to the blue thirds and flat sevenths (Dorian inflection).

That Dorian tug is why the verses feel both tough and buoyant; May’s guitar licks answer like punctuation marks.

This is a very clever play… It is, in fact, a very smart Innuendo.

The wink fits the album’s title: innuendo as theme and toolkit.

The person having strings could mean that they are being controlled… If you lose your rag, you’re going to suddenly get angry…

The image of “strings” shifts the headlong rush into a puppet’s flail - motion without agency.

A ‘cheap B movie’… not exactly something you want your life to resemble.

That line pivots the tone from sexy slapstick to “get me out of here,” and the band obliges with a break that feels like a jump cut.

‘Red hot’… ‘White hot’… a description of a very attractive man meeting a very attractive girl.

Heat escalates to the point where, as the lyric says elsewhere, there’s no time for “wrong from right.”

‘They’ could refer to disapproving family members… It could also mean the paparazzi…

Either way, the couple’s rush becomes public property - more fire, less air.

The outro is a vamp of the pulsing tonic… this final “headlong” is played backward four-time…

Hearing “gnoldaeh” ride out feels like a tape-trick punchline and a narrative rewind at once.

Gnoldaeh is headlong backwards. It could be the person wishing to rewind their hasty actions and go back in time.

Exactly - the rush ends with the desire to undo the rush.

Shot of Headlong by Queen — Short scene from 'Headlong' video.

Rhythm and production

Taylor’s kit plus programmed 16ths gives the song its piston feel; May’s stacked guitars ride that grid without getting rigid. The chorus harmonies are big, but the arrangement keeps leaving little gaps for guitar retorts - that classic Queen habit of letting riffs answer the singer like a second narrator.

Cultural touchpoints

The video’s studio setting doubles as a meta-message: the band, in late period, still delighting in speed, noise and craft. It landed on Greatest Hits II, which is how a generation met it outside the album cycle.

Key Facts

Artist: Queen
Composer: Brian May
Producer: Queen, David Richards
Release Date: January 14, 1991 - US radio/lead single; May 13, 1991 - UK single
Album: Innuendo
Label: Hollywood Records (North America); Parlophone (Europe)
Genre: Hard rock
Length: 4:38 (album); ~3:47 (radio edit)
Language: English
Instruments: Lead vocals, multi-tracked backing vocals, electric guitars, bass guitar, drum kit, piano, keyboards, drum programming
Music video: Directed by DoRo at Metropolis Studios, London; among the last color videos with Mercury
B-sides: “Under Pressure” (US cassette); “All God’s People” and previously unreleased 1972 cut “Mad the Swine” on certain 12-inch/CD singles
Mood: High-velocity, teasing, combustible
Music style: Mixed-mode rock with blues inflection, riff-driven chorus delaying tonic resolution

Questions and Answers

Who produced “Headlong”?: Queen with David Richards.
When was “Headlong” released as a single?: US lead single to radio on January 14, 1991; UK single on May 13, 1991.
Who wrote it?: Brian May, credited to Queen on the album.
What were the main B-sides?: US cassette backed with “Under Pressure”; UK formats often added “All God’s People” and “Mad the Swine.”
Where did it chart highest?: No. 3 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart in the US; No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart.

Awards and Chart Positions

Notable peaks - UK Singles Chart: No. 14. US Billboard Mainstream Rock: No. 3. Canada: No. 25. Ireland: No. 25. Netherlands (Single Top 100): No. 43.

Additional Info

“Headlong” later appeared on Greatest Hits II, solidifying its place in the band’s 90s canon. The 2011 remaster campaign surfaced a version with Brian May on lead vocal - a glimpse of the song’s original trajectory before Queen claimed it as a band statement.

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