Recorded March/May 1980 at Musicland Studios in Munich
This song sounds very simple, but there are more instruments and track than you probably think...
John wanted to do something very different. So Roger had to do a drum loop. Roger did it under protest, cause he didn't like to do a loop. That's the reason for the tight drum-track, which actually has got only two different parts: the basic pattern (you can hear it about two milion times) and the fill. You can really hear that they had a new producer now (Mack) who was using all the new techniques.
After the loop was finished John took a Music-Man Stingray bass and put his bass groove on the track. There were also some handclap-loops recorded. And there are some treated cymbal overdubs.
Then Brian recorded a guitar doubling the bass on some parts, two octaves higher. The next guitar-track played the funky lick in the verses (clean sound, with limiter effect). Then there were two distorted guitars recorded, which are playing fills and some other licks. They're both doubling and playing different things. If you're interested in the four guitars on that song, just take a look at my guitar-tab.
After the guitar stuff was recorded Freddie, John and Mack did the synth-sounds and effects. It's quite complicated to explain the synth-tracks, but I'll try it. I suppose that's all one track, but I'm not sure. At 0:14 a effect fades in, which is a piano-tone played backwards. This thing also happens at 1:01, 1:15, 2:31, 2:46 and 3:20. The effects that are following the backwards piano are cymbals that are filtered and treated and pitched higher.
In the middle part there are lots of synth-things. It starts with a low rumbling backwards piano, then there is a very tricky thing by Brian done with the two distorted guitars: he does a dive bomb with the bar and picks the strings in a special way that I can't explain. He uses a echo pedal for this. Then the synth plays a helicopter sound, doubled with a swept-pad and some filter and flutter effects, then the piano follows and finally there is a filter effect again. And at 3:00 you can hear a little richochet.
At last Freddie did the lead vocal and another vocal track to double the first on some parts.
Tempo:110
Key:?