“Long Live the Queen” by Frank Turner

When British singer-songwriter Frank Turner‘s friend Lex succumbed to breast cancer, he penned a beautiful tribute, “Long Live the Queen,” a punk celebration of a woman’s full of life. Turner shares what Lex told him when he last visited her in the hospital. Lex’s words help Turner face the future without her.

I was sipping on a Whiskey when I got the call
My friend Lex was lying in the hospital
She’d been pretty sick for about half a year
But it seems like this time the end was drawing near
So dropped my plans and jumped the next London train
I found her laid up and in a lot of pain
Her eyes met mine and then I understood
That her weather forecast wasn’t looking too good

Turner begins by telling the story of Lex’s illness, and listeners understand how close the two must be for Turner to drop his plans to visit her in the hospital. The realization that his friend may not get well again feels heavy as their eyes meet.

So I sat and spun her stories for a little while
Tried to raise her mood and tried to raise a smile
But she silenced all my rambling with a shake of her head
Drew me close and listen this is what she said now

Everyone who’s visited someone in the hospital has probably tried to cheer them up. Turner tries to get Lex’s mind off of her prognosis by telling old stories, but she doesn’t need that. She has something important to tell Turner.

You’ll live to dance another day
It’s just now you’ll have to dance for the two of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all your heart that the Queen is dead

Lex doesn’t want Turner to be sad or think of her illness or possible death. She encourages Turner to keep on living, keep on dancing and keep on singing. She wants the singer to dance more than he did before since now he’ll be dancing for both of them.

Yeah she told me she was sick of all the hospital food
And of doctors, distant relatives, draining her blood
She said “I know I’m dying, but I’m not finished just yet
I’m dying for a drink and for a cigarette”
So we hatched a plan to book ourselves a cheap hotel
In the centre of the City and to raise some Hell
Lay waste to all the clubs and then when everyone else is long asleep
We know we’re good and done

Turner and Lex leave the hospital together, and the singer gives his friend a last hurrah. They dance the night away because Lex tells him, “I know I’m dying, but I’m not finished just yet.” Though Turner may have wanted to grieve Lex’s predicament, he puts that emotion to the side to give his friend what she wants: a night on the town. They shine bright while most of the world sleeps.

The next verse of “Long Live the Queen” tells how Turner’s other friend calls to tell him that Lex has died. Turner feels bad for not being there when Lex took her final breath, but he “tried to think what Lex would want [him] to do / At times like this when [he] was feeling blue.” He remembers Lex encouraged him to keep on living, so he and his friends go out to celebrate.

We live to dance another day
It’s just now we have to dance for one more of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all our hearts, long live the Queen

At the end of the music video of “Long Live the Queen,” Turner and all of his bandmates and Lex’s friends gather on the makeshift stage to raise a glass. They have taken Lex’s advice to keep dancing for her as long as they can. Turner released this song as a single for a benefit for Breast Cancer Awareness in honor of Lex.

You can watch the full music video of Frank Turner’s “Long Live the Queen” here: