Dislocate your spine if you don't sign he says
I'll have you seeing double (double)
Mesmerize you when he's tongue-tied
Simply with those eyes, ooh ooh ooh
Synchronize your minds and see
The beast within him rise

Don't look back
Don't look back
It's a rip-off
Flick of the wrist and you're dead baby
Blow him a kiss and you're mad, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Flick of the wrist - he'll eat your heart out
A dig in the ribs and then a kick in the head
He's taken an arm and taken a leg
All this time honey
Baby you've been had

Intoxicate your brain with what I'm saying
If not you'll lie in knee-deep trouble
Prostitute yourself he says
Castrate your human pride, ooh ooh ooh
Sacrifice your leisure days
Let me squeeze you till you've dried

Don't look back
Don't look back
It's a rip-off, aah, aah, aah

Work my fingers to my bones
I scream with pain
I still make no impression
Seduce you with his money-make machine
Cross-collateralize, (big-time money money)
Reduce you to a muzak-fake machine
Then the last goodbye
It's a rip-off

Flick of the wrist and you're dead baby
Blow him a kiss and you're mad, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Flick of the wrist - he'll eat your heart out
A dig in the ribs and then a kick in the head
He's taken an arm, and taken a leg
All this time honey
Baby you've been had



Lyrics submitted by f_mercury

Track duration: 03:17

"Flick of the Wrist" as written by Freddie / Mercury

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

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Flick Of The Wrist song meanings
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26 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I love this song. it's so catchy!
    Flag mercurythequeenon February 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I always interpreted the song to being about working for a massive company, that only cares about profit. So you know, working for basically any company now.

    Of course the manager interpret makes sense, since Freddie wrote songs about them before, but work is what I always think about.

    THIS IS A GREAT SONG.
    Flag orypecion November 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I always interpreted the song to being about working for a massive company, that only cares about profit. So you know, working for basically any company now.

    Of course the manager interpret makes sense, since Freddie wrote songs about them before, but work is what I always think about.

    THIS IS A GREAT SONG.
    Flag orypecion November 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i heard that a producer or something was trying to get queen to leave their old company and tried to sign them, and when they declined, the guy made one of his coworkers try to seduce freddie and then afterwards he wrote this song. dunno if that's accurate at all, i read the whole thing a while ago and can barely remember.
    Flag MochaFudgeon December 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Cross-collateraliziation is when the profits from one record pay for the debts caused by another.

    For instance, say you have record "A". It cost $100k to make, but only makes $50.k
    Then you record "B", which costs $100k and makes $200k.
    If you don't cross-collateralize, the record company eats the $50k it lost on the first album and the band gets the $100k profit on the second album.
    If you do, the company pays off A's $50k debt with the profits of B, but the band only earns $50k. When you consider that less than half the albums released end up turning a profit, you see why this kind of system is necessary.

    As others have mentioned, the album is about the band taking it up the ass from the music industry, though it could be true for any young band--they're wowed by the "money-make machine" when they're courted by a label, but once they're in it, they're screwed over and "reduced to a muzak-fake machine" and forced to sell out or bend to the whims of the label because of the contract.

    It's impressive how many songs there are about musicians who hate the machinations of the music biz after they get into it (cf. Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine"/"Have a Cigar", the Kinks' "Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-go-round" album).
    Flag ProfessorKnowItAllon October 18, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the line "flick of the wrist" is a reference to the motion of signing a contract, as well as possibly calling the exec/manager/etc. a w***er.
    Flag boffyon October 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Paulothemanio, I always took "dislocate your spine" to mean that they were being made of bend over backwards. I read " 'If you don't sign', he says, 'I'll have you seeing double' " as one sentence.

    I agree with the consensus that this is a precursor to Death on Two Legs.
    Flag boffyon October 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about heroin and maby other drugs...!!!!!!

    this song is about druggs!!!

    How dosent anybodey else see it??

    It is as mutch a heroin song as it can be!!
    Flag FullHouseon July 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:""greatest band ever and are truly under appreciated"""

    well the thing about being unappreciated, is true. some wankers don´t listen queen because freddie was gay.

    That´s a shame,
    Flag TheOlsnaon March 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Several of you are correct and several more close, while the others were just flat out wrong. This isn't about love or anything to do with sexual situations, such that was point out by "ledskynyrd". It's about their managers/producers...not sure if it's Trident or those immediatily following...but it is just as "Death On Two Legs". I've recently started taking drum lessons to go along with my guitar/vocals, just to round myself out as a musician...and OMG, Roger is killing those drums!! Queen are the greatest band not just rock but the greatest band ever and are truly under appreciated. They arranged their songs perfectly with the music and lyrics, and this song's just a pure example of that.
    Flag Dream MacLeodon March 11, 2007   Link

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