# Oh, so \*that's\* what they're singing!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-theyre-singing/438520>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 21, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-theyre-singing/438520 "2008-02-21T05:24:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-theyre-singing/438520/1 "2008-02-21T05:24:33Z")

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For 33 years (omigod!), I have been unable to decipher what Freddie Mercury is singing in one line of the chorus of “Killer Queen.”

“She’s a killer queen  
…  
Dynamite with a laser beam…”

With the massed vocals, it was near impossible to make out what the words were. It sounded sort of like “got bad intebbitty” - but that’s just stupid! I’ve listened to the 24-track master tapes tonight, isolating the vocal track, and I _still_ couldn’t make it out. So I turned the internet virus shield on full and went to a lyric site. As it turns out, he is saying, “gunpowder gelatine,” but pronouncing it “gel-a-teen.” No wonder it was indecipherable! Some other phrases are much clearer without all the music obscuring them.

Anybody else out there discovered the correct lyric that you’ve been hearing wrong for years and years? I don’t mean to start a thread on mondegreens here; we’ve done that to death. I wonder about you, personally, and what you’ve heard that you found out was wrong. Who’s next?

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-theyre-singing/438520/2 "2008-02-21T05:54:51Z")

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Just Google “Killer Queen Lyrics” and get:

She’s a Killer Queen  
Gunpowder, Gelatine  
Dynamite with a laser beam  
Guaranteed to blow your mind  
Anytime

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**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-so-thats-what-theyre-singing/438520/3 "2008-02-21T06:01:47Z")

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Duplicate thread [over here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=456726).