Somebody To Love
Memories of another time
I took this photo in Marseille, 2016.
One of the things my parents gifted me with was great music. Classic rock. Zeppelin, Queen, Bowie, and more.
My almost four-year-old son is a natural musician. When he was in the womb, I would spend hours a day teaching music lessons, and he would flip around while I would play and sing. When he was a mere few weeks old, he was already conducting to music, moving his arms around rhythmically to the sounds of Max Richter’s orchestral twists of Vivaldi.
Only years earlier though, I was wondering if I would ever find somebody to love.
On a mission to buy cigarettes in Marseille as a lonely flight attendant, I would stop at a tabagie close to our hotel as part of my usual run.
It was a burger joint too, bustling with middle-aged Marseillen men having a meal and a smoke. There was a large TV screen that I never really noticed until one morning, when I was lined up outside behind the usual patrons waiting their turn.
It was playing Queen’s “Somebody to Love”, live in Montreal, my hometown. This is the best live version of the tune, the most well-known.
As I watched Freddie Mercury sway and soulfully hammer the keys, his eyes closed as he sang, I started to sway too, and sing under my breath.
The men in line didn’t sway, they didn’t move. But I wondered, if they too, were as internally moved as I was by the performance.
My son, husband and I have been on a classic rock binge. This song came to mind a few days ago, and I invited him to listen. He immediately said, “Can you put this on my electric jeep?”.
His electric jeep has a little USB drive full of songs that he loves, so he can jam as he drives around outside.
“Yes,” I said. Of course.
Listening to Somebody To Love still moves me the same way it did that day in Marseille. I remember what it was like when I didn’t have somebody to love, and I am grateful and nostalgic when I listen now, with somebody to love. Two somebodies.
Happy Valentine’s day. Whether you have somebody to love or not, may this song strike a chord in your hearts.
If this essay spoke to you, please consider sharing with a friend, and leaving a comment below.
It's amazing how songs can wend their way through our lives. Thanks for sharing a story about one of my favorite Queen songs. For me it's mostly memories that songs evoke. "Wonderful Tonight" was the theme of my first homecoming dance and I still think of dancing with my girlfriend whenever I hear it.
I love this, thank you for writing it Kate. I love Max Richter - his "She Remembers" frequently still haunts me in my grief, reminding me that times of struggle are there for a reason. Love Queen as well and so thank you as well for that reminder.