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Seven Seas of Rhye" is a song by English rock group Queen. Written by Queen front-man Freddie Mercury, it is the final track on both the group's debut album Queen (1973) and its follow-up Queen II (1974) with a much less-developed instrumental version was featured on the former. The completed version served as the band's second single, the earliest-released song to appear on their Greatest Hits album, with the exception of some versions where their first single, Keep Yourself Alive, is included.
The song was released as a single, and after the band performed it on Top of the Pops it became their first hit, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
The song is about Freddie Mercury's childhood fantasy world named "Rhye". The land of Rhye was originally made up by Mercury and his sister Kashmira when they were children. After joining Queen as an adult, Mercury wrote some songs about that country, including "Seven Seas of Rhye", Lily of the Valley, "My Fairy King, "Ogre Battle", "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke","The March of the Black Queen", "Great King Rat", and "Mad the Swine".
The song became a live favourite throughout Queen's existence. It features a distinctive arpeggiated piano introduction. The theme also appears at the end of "It's a Beautiful Day".
The version on Queen II ends with a cross fade, instruments blending into several people singing "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside". Its inclusion here on the final track of Queen II is briefly mirrored in the first few seconds of "Brighton Rock", which opens their next album, Sheer Heart Attack. (A few whistled bars can be heard over the introductory noise).
In a 1977 radio interview, Freddie Mercury described the subject of the song as a "figment of his imagination." In the Queen musical We Will Rock You, the Seven Seas of Rhye is a place where the Bohemians are taken after they are brainstormed by Khashoggi.
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