My Top 2000 Songs #1135: Fat Bottomed Girls

Just as "Bohemian Rhapsody" was probably the perfect Queen song for 9-year-old me, "Fat Bottomed Girls" was just about right when I was 12. The single off 1978's Jazz was sophomoric and a little dopey, just like me. And, sure, it might be considered a little cringe, but Freddie Mercury's delivery was way too camp to be offensive, even if 12-year-old me didn't quite get that. Plus, when the local station played it on the radio back then, they'd usually pair it with the flip-side, "Bicycle Race," which was a hoot in a very different way, a twofer I greatly preferred over "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions," which was so not me. And bonus points for helping inspire Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom," which took this song to its logical conclusion.

But why does nearly-60-year-old me still find this a kick? Maybe I'm still partial to the sophomoric and a little dopey. And I've made no secret about being a sucker for killer harmonies, which the band deploys in glorious splendor here. Plus, musically, it's awfully cool, a slow build as each verse adds a bit more whoomp, culminating in that mid-song rototom roll to end all rototom rolls.

Streamlined single version:

Live 1982:

Hayseed Dixie's country cover: