Lyrics Experiment: Killer Queen

Here’s an idea… I was listening to Queen’s Killer Queen and I got this impression that the song lyrics might have a lot of hidden clues to the character of Kira Yoshikage. Now, I am aware that some of my interpretation might be borderline cherry-picking meaning where there’s none, or simply pointing out coincidences. However, Araki has clearly a passion for his work, Jojo being around since 1987 and still managing to maintain a high quality and originality is proof enough. Being the creative mastermind that he is, maybe overanalysing the lyrics that inspired his Stands could reveal some interesting stuff… just maybe. 

(Obvious spoilers for Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable)

(Obvious spoilers for Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable)

So, quick recap. Kira Yoshikage is the main antagonist of part 4. A serial killer with a hand-fetish that just wants to mind his own business and not be bothered. He just wants to be alone and live life in his comfort zone, going to his mundane work, eating sandwiches and having dinner with peoples’ hands. The evil that haunts the town of Morioh, Kira is a Stand User, and his Stand reflects perfectly what he is all about.

Killer Queen, the humanoid cat, is capable of turning everything he touches into a bomb, and exploding whatever it is at will.

Killer Queen.

Although he can only explode one bomb at a time, the ability is capable of doing exactly what Kira needs, what he desires the most, erasing evidence that might put him in the spotlight. You see, Stands are not visible for non-stand users, so in most cases the Stand attacks are also invisible; Stands are spirits, lest we forget. So when Kira explodes, maybe something that could incriminate him, that thing is taken out of existence completely. For example, Kira’s victims are no longer needed after he takes their hands out of their bodies, so that would be rather inconvenient to dispose of them. Well, with Killer Queen he can just touch his victims and blow them up. There’s no leftovers, they just disappear.

Alright, now what does one of the best rock songs of all time reveal about the character it inspired? What does Killer Queen, the song, hides in its lyrics?

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KILLER QUEEN

“She keeps Moet et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
‘Let them eat cake’ she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Kruschev and Kennedy
At anytime an invitation
You can’t decline

Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice

She’s a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?

To avoid complications
She never kept the same address
In conversation
She spoke just like a baroness
Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minah
Then again incidentally
If you’re that way inclined

Perfume came naturally from Paris
For cars she couldn’t care less
Fastidious and precise

She’s a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

 

Drop of a hat she’s as willing as
Playful as a pussy cat
Then momentarily out of action
Temporarily out of gas
To absolutely drive you wild, wild.
She’s all out to get you

 

She’s a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?
You wanna try.”

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I highlighted the parts of the song that I believe might have given Araki directions to take for Kira Yoshikage’s character. Tell me if the sentences below sound a little familiar?

Killer Queen – Highlighted Parts

1.”Well versed in etiquette” and
“Extraordinarily nice”

2.”Moet et Chandon”, “At anytime an invitation” and “You can’t decline”

3.”Dynamite”, “Blow your mind” and “Fastidious and precise”

4.”Momentarily out of action”, “To avoid complications”, “She never kept the same address”, “Drop of a hat she’s as willing as”
“Playful as a pussy cat”

5.”Marie Antoinette” and “She’s all out to get you”

This that you just read might as well be the main key points to Kira’s arc in Diamond is Unbreakable. Let’s go by items:

1. Even though Kira doesn’t go out of his way to be polite and “nice”, there is a certain politeness to his actions, just enough to be seen as a normal regular guy. This together with him being “well versed in etiquette” are pretty much what we know about Kira at first sight: A regular guy that respects people on a social level.

2. Next we meet the dirty side of Kira trough his peculiar hand fetish, having dinner with his victim’s hand. Surely the “invitation” to this dinner couldn’t be “denied”, since the poor women he kills never get to choose; also, the invitation to be murdered comes at “any time”, whenever Kira feels like it. “Moet et Chandon” is a champagne producer, champagne being consider a fancy beverage, just like Kira’ dinner with his hands.

3. Now we know how “fastidious and precise” Kira Yoshikage can be to be able to live his way of life. And the main tool he uses to do that is his Stand, Killer Queen. The ability to “blow your mind”, or better explode your head out of existence just like a magical “dynamite”. 

4. After the battle with the main protagonists, Kira escapes and goes into hiding. You can say he is “momentarily out of action” so that the Joestar group won’t find him. He steals the identity of another man and takes his place, including his wife and son. All this “to avoid complication” to his peaceful life, Kira was ready to continue living his new identity with no problems, just like that, at the “drop of a hat” he becomes docile as a “cat”. “Never kept the same address” might as well have inspired this event, as Kira completely changes his in all the ways he can.

5. Are you familiar with the Marie Antoinette Syndrome? It is described as when someones hair suddenly turns white. a quick google search will be enough to find the reference coming from the idea of Marie Antoinette’s hair turning white after being captured. The “stress” of losing it all was able to do that with her hair. How far is it from Kira’s hair suddenly becoming white after he develops the ability of Bites the Dust under “extreme stress”? In my opinion not that far. Soon after he gains this new ability, Kira is ready to go back into action and kill the people threatening his peaceful life. He is out to get them.

Before

After

And these are my observations regarding Killer Queen’s lyrics and Kira from Jojo part 4.