We will woke you!
Queen’s classic (but very non-PC) Fat Bottomed Girls bites the dust in new version of Greatest Hits album
IT IS one of Queen’s best-loved songs but Fat Bottomed Girls has been mysteriously dropped from the group’s new Greatest Hits collection.
The 1978 track, which was written by guitarist Brian May, has been enjoyed by generations of fans as a humorous and hard-rocking tribute to a young man’s appreciation of fuller-figured ladies.
But 45 years later, it appears that lyrics such as ‘left alone with big fat Fanny, she was such a naughty nanny, big woman, you made a bad boy out of me’ and ‘fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin’ world go round’ have been hit by the woke cancel culture.
It was such a popular hit for Queen that it appeared fourth on the band’s original 1981 greatest hits album along with Bohemian Rhapsody, Don’t Stop Me Now and We Will Rock You. But last week it was nowhere to be seen when Universal Records announced they would be releasing a version of the record on Yoto, the new audio platform aimed at young people.
The move has left music industry insiders bemused, with bosses insisting Fat Bottomed Girls has wrongly been singled out as it is ‘merely a bit of fun’.
One told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It is the talk of the music industry, nobody can work out why such a good-natured, fun song can’t be acceptable in today’s society.
‘It is woke gone mad. Why not appreciate people of all shapes and sizes like society is saying we should, rather than get rid of it.
It’s outrageous.’ Fat Bottomed Girls has long sparked debate about the suitability of its lyrics, and the promotional material that accompanied the release. The original sleeve for the song, taken from Queen’s album Jazz, featured a scantily clad female riding a bicycle but was altered after some stores refused to stock it.
The new version was the same image with knickers drawn over the woman. May told Mojo magazine in 2008: ‘I wrote it with Fred in mind, as you do, especially if you’ve got a great singer who likes fat bottomed girls... or boys.’
The newly released Yoto greatest hits album, released in collaboration with Queen’s record label Universal, is aimed at introducing the band to a younger audience.