“39” by Queen

"'39" sits fifth on A Night at the Opera, Queen's fourth album, in 1975, and it's Brian May's baby from top to bottom: he wrote it and sings lead, with Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor behind him on backing vocals. The story comes out of May's astrophysics studies, a crew of space travelers who set off on what feels to them like a year-long voyage and come home to find a century gone on Earth, thanks to time dilation, and everyone they loved dead or grown old.

The credits read like a back-porch session: May on acoustic and electric guitar, John Deacon on double bass, Taylor on bass drum and tambourine. Roy Thomas Baker produced with the band, Mike Stone engineered, and the song also turned up as the B-side of "You're My Best Friend".

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.