Highlights
- Brian May initially had mixed feelings about “Don’t Stop Me Now” being used in Shaun of the Dead.
- Queen has allowed their music to be used in over 500 projects, but May is selective.
- May feels protective over certain songs like “We Will Rock You”.
Shaun of the Dead is easily one of the most successful horror satires of all time. The 2004 film, which was co-written by director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg, is also famous for one of the best uses of a Queen song in a movie ever. This is, of course, excluding the stellar inclusion of “Bohemian Rhapsody” in Wayne’s World, which Mike Myers actually threatened to quit over.
But the genre-bending epic isn’t the only famous song in Queen’s arsenal of music. Pegg, Wright, and their team knew the value of “Don’t Stop Me Now” and put it to extraordinary use in the climatic bar fight scene. But not everyone was thrilled about its inclusion. During a Vulture interview about some of the best Queen songs, guitarist and songwriter Brian May shared his true feelings about Shaun of the Dead’s use of “Don’t Stop Me Now”…
What Brian May Really Thought About “Don’t Stop Me Now” Being Used In Shaun Of The Dead
Brian May has been brutally honest about Queen’s best songs. In fact, the Queen co-founder has been pretty open about most things. This includes his feelings about Shaun of the Dead’s use of his song from 1978.
- “Don’t Stop Me Now” was originally part of Queen’s 1978 album, “Jazz’
- “Don’t Stop Me Now” was released as a single in 1979
During an interview with Vulture, Brian May admitted that he thought the use of the song was “delightful”. But this wasn’t his original reaction. In fact, it took him some time and distance to come to that opinion.
“I’m being honest here; this type of stuff happens at a distance. Mainly when somebody wants to put our music in the film, I think, ‘Oh, great’. If you really hate the concept of the film, you can say no. Which we sometimes do if it’s abusive,” May explained. “Some of the things we get asked to put Queen music on we really don’t like and reject it. We have the ability to say no.”
“Shaun of the Dead obviously passed the selection process.”
As per IMDb, Queen has had their music appear in over 500 projects. This, unlike contemporaries like Led Zeppelin, makes them one of the most generous rock bands. But that doesn’t mean the process of letting movies use their music is easy.
During his interview with Vulture, May even compared letting studios use his music to saying goodbye to a child.
“This child is out there standing on his own two legs. I don’t feel particularly paternal about ‘Don’t Stop Me Now.’ There are some songs that I do feel a bit more attached to.”
One song May feels particularly protective over is “We Will Rock You”, as he doesn’t like how it can be trivialized. But when it comes to any of his songs, May has to be absolutely sure of the intent behind its use in a movie or TV show. The music has to be respected and it has to actually add to the project.
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Shaun Of The Dead Box Office Stats |
According to Box Office Mojo |
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Domestic Box Office |
$13,542,874 |
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International Box Office |
$16,496,518 |
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Worldwide Box Office |
$30,039,392 |
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May then revealed his somewhat complicated feelings about “Don’t Stop Me Now” in 2004’s Shaun of the Dead:
“This is my long way around saying, yeah, I thought Shaun of the Dead was funny. I’m a bit on the cusp, though. There’s a lot of space these days glorifying violence. I’m a little bit equivocal about it. There’s a time when it makes me feel uncomfortable, though I don’t think Shaun of the Dead made me feel uncomfortable. But it’s on the edge.”
What Brian May Said About Queen Songs Used In Movies And TV Shows
Brian May has complicated feelings about the use of Queen songs in movies and TV shows, despite the fact that they’ve allowed this to happen at least 511 times. According to his interview with Vulture, it all depends on how the song is used and in what framework. May has the same feelings about other musical artists sampling their work.
During his interview with Vulture, Brian May claimed that he tends not to like when rappers attempt to incorporate their work, including Eminem.
“We’ve had some stuff sent to us where it’s tough, particularly in the rap domain. I love good rap. I love Eminem. But some of the stuff that sampled and incorporated our music has made my skin crawl. I felt it was so abusive. This isn’t just me — the whole group feels the same. We talk about this. We don’t want Queen music associated with that kind of a mentality. Maybe they think it’s funny. Maybe they think it’s a feeling of power. I don’t know. But it seems abusive to us, so we say no to that stuff.”
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As mentioned earlier, Brina May is particularly protective of “We Will Rock You” as he doesn’t want it devalued in a movie or TV show. Usually, this happens when the song is used in a comedy way.
“It doesn’t mean I don’t like comedy. I love comedy. That’s okay for me. But if it becomes commonplace, I think that would be upsetting for me. I would like “We Will Rock You” to always be some kind of a call that hits you viscerally. From time to time I’ve said, ‘No, I don’t want this to happen.’ If somebody puts new words in, ‘We will something you,’ it becomes, ugh. That’s a no every time. It’s something that I suppose everybody wrestles with. We’re lucky to be able to wrestle with it. What a nice problem to have.”
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May went on to claim that he was far more flexible with his solo song, “Flash”, which was written for the Flash Gordon movie. Years later, a floor cleaner company asked if they could use it.
“At first I thought, I don’t want this. This is just going to trivialize it. It’s making a mockery of my song. And then I thought, ‘Hang on, Brian. You’re being too self-conscious about this. The song has a sense of humor to it. It’s deliberately cartoonish’. I saw the script and I thought, This is actual humor. It makes people laugh, so why not? And they’re going to give us money for doing it. I like money. I do good things with money. So I said yes.”
There have been many incredible uses of Queen songs in movies and TV shows, including Shaun of the Dead’s famous bar fight scene. According to Screen Rant, some of the best include “Another One Bites The Dust” in Iron Man 2, “Under Pressure” in Atomic Blonde, “Brighton Rock” in Baby Driver, and, of course, the entire soundtrack to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Source: NewsFinale
