Legend has it that during the months preceding, Ferry went through a period of introspection, self-consideration, zoning out in front of the television set with the sound turned off, insular, trying to make sense of it all. The seductive yet coolly distant atmosphere of the song derives from its subject matter and the position that Bryan Ferry found himself in when he in the band entered the studio to record For Your Pleasure in February 1973. Did I mention the blistering hard-rock break at 2.30? We’ll get to that. Not even David Bowie ever sounded this odd ( Laughing Gnome not withstanding).
The track is so far removed from Frank Sinatra balladering that you can only scratch your head and wonder how they got away with it. Musically, ‘BQ’ is a haunting creation, the result of merging the classic ballad form with a host of disparate, wounded elements: heavily treated piano chords stir coldly to life a beautifully literate poetic sensibility paints pictures in bold strokes ( Your swimming pool eyes in sea breezes they flutter/The coconut tears heavy lidded they shed) the lead vocal chases down words, but it cannot capture, let alone tame them. For Your Pleasure was also more successful than Roxy Music – hitting #4 in the charts – and in turn produced, as Roxy archivist John O’Brien has succinctly put it, “a warmer more organic sound,” overlaying “the pop art devices of the first album with a more psychedelic treatment and hallucinatory insight” ( Viva). The song pulls the listener deep into an album that is at once both darker, more experimental, and certainly better recorded than its predecessor. ‘Beauty Queen’ derives its power from a fantastic musical presentation, sweeping and innovative vocal delivery and stylizations, and captivating lyrics (“Ferry’s best,” Rogan).
Beauty Queen (Ferry), Roxy Music For Your Pleasure, 1973
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