1979 · Behind the Songs
Rockabilly, with a smile.
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” is a bright, light rockabilly song, written in the style of early Elvis Presley. The song is short, fast and joyful, with a guitar riff that does most of the work and a vocal that sounds like it is having fun. After the complexity of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” it showed that Queen could also write a simple song and make it sound effortless.
The song’s charm is in that lightness. It does not try to be important; it tries to be enjoyable, and it succeeds because the band plays it with total commitment. Heard next to the heavier songs on The Game, it shows a band willing to step outside hard rock and enjoy a different kind of American music, without losing its own voice.