Queen – “We Are the Champions” (2)

 

Lysippos (390-300 BC) – Victorious Youth

“We Are the Champions”:  Queen’s hymn for victories of any kind obtained through hard work and perseverance.

Verse 1

I’ve paid my dues
Time after time
I’ve done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I’ve come through
And I need to go on and on, and on, and on.

In the first verse. Mercury draws a picture of the hard process of becoming a champion. He thinks he has paid his “dues” to his team and the nation. He has no debt to anyone now that he has achieved glory.
He compares everything he has had to go through to be successful to a prison “sentence”, even if he has “committed no crime”. The only one may have been the desire to attain fame and glory for himself, his team and his nation. For this, he has struggled and sacrificed, he has endured failure but has never given up: he has had to face both his inner demons and external difficulties, an experience similar to having “sand kicked in (his) face.”
But now that he has gone through this battle, he has become a champion… and he will continue to fight.

Chorus

We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting ’til the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
’cause we are the champions of the world

These popular lines express the rights of the champions who, after all the hardships they have been through, cannot be stopped.

Verse 2

I’ve taken my bows
And my curtain calls
You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it
I thank you all
But it’s been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain’t gonna lose

And I need to go on and on, and on, and on.

In the second verse what started out as a victory anthem for sports, becomes a personal confession. He says he has enough of “bows’ and ‘curtain calls” (both ways of artists getting acknowledged on stage after a performance) and then thanks his fans for their support over the years. But his success has been the result of hard work and sacrifice. Not a “bed of roses” or smooth sailing. However, success is his challenge, and he is ready to take it on.

Outro

We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting ’til the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
’cause we are the champions of the world

We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting ’til the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
’cause we are the champions

The chorus repeats twice and in the final repetition, the song usually finishes at “’cause we are the champions’” without the expected “of the world” ending, maybe to hint at the impermanence of things, which belongs to the cycle of life