I may well be one of the last people to know about this, but I thought it was pretty cool and thought I’d share it with you.
I’ve long been a huge Queen fan. I remember writing out the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody by hand, copying them carefully from the album liner of my mother’s copy of A Night at the Opera, when I was about eight years old. They’ve always been one of my favourite bands, and I think the loss of Freddie Mercury is on par with John Lennon’s death.
I have to admit, I was a little skeptical when I heard that band members Brian May and Roger Taylor had reformed the group with new lead singer Paul Rodgers. Who could ever fill Freddie Mercury’s shoes?
But then I heard that they released a free single called “Say It’s Not True” and I had to check it out. The single was originally written back in 2003 to support Nelson Mandela’s 46664 World AIDS Day fundraising concert. It was recorded as a single this year and released for free download on December 1st, World AIDS Day. From the official QueenOnline site, Roger Taylor said:
“By making the song available for free we hope to help Madiba [Nelson Mandela] with his campaign to get across the message that no-one is safe from infection. We have to be aware, we have to protect ourselves and those we love. The song follows the line of his personal message: it’s in our own hands to bring a stop to this.”
I think it’s a great new song, and a lovely tribute to both Nelson Mandela and Freddie Mercury. You can download it for free from QueenOnline.
Free music not your thing? How about Free Rice? I first saw this nifty little vocabulary game that lets you donate grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program while demonstrating your wordy prowess at Bub and Pie’s place, but it’s been all over since then. (Warning: it’s very addictive! Don’t click through unless you have some time to play!! And don’t be lulled into a false sense of security – they get harder as you go along.)
Related posts (automatically generated):
- Patriotic ear worms I recently heard someone refer to those songs that get stuck in your head as ‘ear worms’. While the term makes me shudder just a little bit, I must admit that it has a certain cachet. I think I’m particularly susceptible to ear worms. As I walk through the mall...
- Pregnancy songs You remember how it is with your first pregnancy, when you actually buy the pregnancy magazines, and hang out on the message boards at iVillage comparing each twitch and twang with 600 other pregnant mothers due in the same month as you, and you spend months agonizing over the nursery...
- Another gift for you!! Who loves ya, baby? I do!! And, as my mother always says, “If you love me, buy me things!” Well, in this case, I’ll give you things. The nice people at iTunes Canada would like you to know that you can now buy iTunes gift cards at Sobeys, Mac’s, A&P,...
- Free books! Have you heard about Project Gutenberg? They’re one of the oldest purveyors of free online books on the Internet, and to celebrate their anniversary this year, they’ve teamed with the World eBook Library Consortia to create the World eBook Fair. Starting in July, they’ll be providing free (FREE!) access to...
- This is worth reviving the sideblog for! Found this and had to share! “Ever dreamed to go space journy with your R2D2?? Unfortunately, such a dream can’t be true at the moment. But now this tiny R2D2 can serve you Soy Sauce by your one-hand little move, leaning the R2 body a little to put appropriate Soy...
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooh, you’re right. It’s very addictive. They’ve issued a challenge in their FAQs, too, saying that few people should expect to get by level 48 (of 50). If you see me all bleary-eyed around town or hear a man’s voice asking someone to shut the darn computer and come to bed, it’ll be your fault.
I love Queen. I’ll have to check out the song. Thanks, Dani.