Redeeming Queen

Queen was a teeny bit before my time. When I say Queen, I mean the rock group. But I have some memories. Oh, those memories. And the best ones were people that I knew that loved Queen.
Memory 1. John Davis-a tow headed boy I went to elementary school with. Why I can remember so well the names of my elementary cohorts so much better than high school, I do not know. Katrina Brown, Mike Reeves, Sarah Patton, Robin Standridge, Kaylon Jenkins, Mary Williams, Lane Cook and many others. If I ever meet back up with you guys, I just want to tell you thanks for making Bear School so much fun for me in the six years I attended. Back to John Davis. He LOVED "Another One Bites the Dust" and wrote all of the lyrics in pencil on the desk top. John wasn't in my class that year, but we shared the desk so that gives us a pretty neat connection.
Memory 2. My brother Chris who had (and maybe still does) a real gift for creative re-writing. I remember him singing "We are the Champions" as "We are the Pooters" with some incredible gas sound effects to make the song really special.
Memory 3. Senior High Church Camp at Gulftreat in Panama City. We gathered in the chapel, "We Will Rock You" would begin over the loud speakers, we would beat rhythmically on the backs of the pews and Robert Hay, a Presbyterian minister, would jump out from behind the pulpit with a broom in his hands and do an impassioned air guitar to the guitar solo at the end of "We Will Rock You." Is there any surprise, then, that I too would want to go into the ministry with such great mentors?

So imagine my disgust to hear a well known retail company has absconded with the coolness of "We Will Rock You" by using it to advertise buying Super Bowl snacks from them. How dare they!? It's worse than when U2 played at K-Mart, except U2 is beyond smudging so playing at K-Mart only confused me. It did not uncool U2. You just can't uncool U2 in my opinion. Still it pushed it a little for me. U2 at K-Mart. Even these years later, I still don't quite get that.

I'm sure this retailer paid the living members of Queen a hefty sum to use the song. And I get that paying the bills is important. The commercial was well done. But it feels wrong. Don't use "We Will Rock You" to sell chips. I hate that!! It's almost as bad as the Peanuts selling Met Life.

It just ain't right, people.

So, I'm redeeming the song by putting it on my blog. Not to push my book. Not to get my name out there more. Not to do anything except enjoy the cacophonous experience. (Look it up if you don't know what it means).

Then turn it up.

Queen, I salute you.

And maybe next time I'll write about how much I LOVED Flash Gordon.