"Spread Your Wings" is a power ballad by the rock band Queen, from their 1977 album News of the World. Written by bassist John Deacon, it was released as the A-side of the single "Spread Your Wings"/"Sheer Heart Attack" in 1978. According to music writer Benoit Clerc, "Spread Your Wings" was chosen as the 2nd single from News of the World because the band regretted releasing "Tie Your Mother Down" as a single from A Day at the Races over Deacon's "You and I." Background The lyrics of "Spread Your Wings" tells of a character named Sammy, who works cleaning floors at a bar but dreams of improving his life despite his boss telling him that he has no ambition. Deacon has said: Queen FAQ author Daniel Ross described "Spread Your Wings" as Deacon's "first attempt at narrative songwriting." Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury considered it to be the best song Deacon had written to date. Musicologist Nick Braae describes the structure of "Spread Your Wings" as being somewhat unusual, in that after the initial verse and refrain centered on the key of D major, there is a bridge centered on the key of B minor, followed by an instrumental bridge that starts moving back to D major for the next verse-refrain pair. Deacon used this double-bridge strategy in several other songs, including "You and I" and "Need Your Loving Tonight." The track features Freddie Mercury on piano and vocals, Brian May on electric guitar, Roger Taylor on drums, and John Deacon on bass and acoustic guitars. The song is unusual for Queen in that it uses a 3rd person narrative. It is also the only Queen single that does not have the rest of the group providing backing vocals to Mercury's lead. "Spread Your Wings" was not released as a single in North America. However, the live version from Live Killers was featured as the B-side to Queen's 1979 hit, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Reception Dayton Daily News critic Gary Nuhn called it "a song with Beatles-like lyrics of a man pulling himself up. Courier-News critic Bill Bleyer says that it makes a similar point as the more popular song, "We Are the Champions," – that "while the established order continues to hold down the young, they can still make it if they try" – it does so