According to Mark Hodkinson, author of "Queen: The Early Years", "Keep Yourself Alive" was conceived on acoustic guitars during Queen's practice sessions at Imperial College and the garden at Ferry Road in 1970. At the time, Queen had not yet found a permanent bassist; the group consisted of lead singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist May, and drummer Roger Taylor. In a radio special about their 1977 album "News of the World", May said he had penned the lyrics thinking of them as ironic and tongue-in-cheek, but their sense was completely changed when Mercury sang them.