It is impossible to hear this song and not think of the video. For many of us in the UK, the first time we saw it was the day after Freddie died, when the BBC broadcast an impromptu tribute in the evening. Just before the end of the programme came the video for These Are The Days of Our Lives and we saw the truth. Despite it being over 30 years later the feeling of shock is still visceral. Freddie was emaciated; almost unrecognisable. That vicious disease had simply ravaged him and we are watching a dying man saying goodbye. For as long as I live whenever I hear this song I will think of that video.
I was thinking the same thing but you worded it beautifully. The video is shocking, sad and beautiful all in one. And that "I still love you!" at the end!...
I will never forget that. It struck us all watching that tribute. No one expected it. You took the words right out of my mouth as this is exactly how i felt about it.
This song is a masterpiece. It captures the reality of the human condition in a both sad , and yet beautiful way. Both at the same time. As my years roll on , I find myself playing this song more and more. The melancholy in the music makes for some very reflective moments. It is a realisation of our time on this planet. Every part of this song is played to perfection. The soft drums, the wailing guitar , the solid bassline and then Freddies almost talking to me vocals. Wonderful.
I rarely find myself in total disagreement with Amy, but this is one of those times. I find this song immensely moving, and Brian May's guitar work throughout is beautifully calibrated, with the solo - to me at least - full of emotion.
This song never fails to bring tears to my eyes with that line: "When I look And I find I still love you" Dang, even writing it makes me teary! That is the power of pure poetry; producing meaningful images in the minds of the recipients.
Credited to all four members of the band but primarily written by Roger Taylor. Freddie's interpretation and his performance on the video displaying with bravery his own mortality takes the song to a different level.
For millions of true Queen fans this song is taken very seriously and still hurts. Seeing Freddie and the guys in the video still causes nostalgic pain. Guess you ‘ had to be there’
In Europe, as far as I remember, this song was released after "The Show Must Go On" and of course after Freddie's death. In that context it could only be perceived by most people as a kind of goodbye from beyond the grave. So I think that not only true Queen fans can feel the nostalgic pain you mentioned so rightly. But I also believe that you had to be there...
Well, people can always be educated. However, Sir Bri is my favourite guitarist because of his astounding playing but also his astounding expressiveness. So, maybe you're right.
The Innuendo album was stunning. Those who remember when it was released can attest to how powerful this album was. People tend to look through rose colored glasses when it comes to Queen. They actually lost most of their original fan base with the musical direction the band chose. Innuendo won those fans back. I remember on the subway heading to work I read the NY Post and there was a small article where Freddy came out that he contracted AIDS and was sick. The very next day I opened the paper and read that he passed away. I couldn’t believe it. The world became emptier without Freddie’s brilliance in it. It’s amazing to see how popular Queen still is and how young people are discovering them. Long Live Queen!!
The world became emptier without Freddie’s brilliance … TY have been trying to put into words how I felt that day Freddie died and those few words do it for me …… still
Innuendo had a klunker or two, but MORE than made up for it with the lyrical pain and the musical breadth. It’s a Five star masterpiece and quickly became my favorite Queen album, even surpassing the ANATO and Jazz albums. It contains the best song ever written, for a start ( The Show Must Go On).
You are so right! When Innuendo was released I was so young, that I knew Queen only by their poppy hits like Radio Gaga, so I considered them just another pop band like so many in the 80s. It just wasn't the kind of music I respected and particularly liked (now I'm much less critical, though). When I heard Innuendo (the song) I thought that maybe that band isn't so bad after all, and I paid much more attention to the next singles they released. And then, one day I heard on the radio that Freddie announced he had AIDS. I thought something like "what a pity, I just started liking the band, I hope they will be able to record for a few years at least". And just like you I remember that the next day I heard te news that he died. But only after I became much more aware of the Queen music from earlier years, I realised what a loss it was.
@@jmichaelbell5434 Hopefully he will have her do a follow up reaction of the song WITH watching the video. Then she'll get it and understand the song more.
@@philosopher0076 I sincerely hope, hell, I pray, there will be, ‘Coming Soon’ QUEEN-50 II in which we find our heroes, Vlad and Amy, diving deeper into the majesty that was, that is, that shall ever be, QUEEN!!
I find the solo quite emotional. It reminds me of Gilmour with the long bends and echoes/delay. I love how the delay is perfectly timed for the echoes to harmonise with the notes Brian was playing.
I understand that songs have to be judged on their own merits. Having said that, I think that watching the video changes the way one relates to this song, especially if you're a fan. Freddie is dying in front of you, it's impossible to miss. This track might not be musically complex, but the video turns it into one of the most emotionally charged. Many of us can't watch the video without crying and honestly, if the song was also musically intense, I don't know if we would survive!!
She lost the line some songs ago. She said she wanted to know how Freddie's situation affected to the band's music but passed over songs like "Was it all worth it". She's got now only 3 songs left and maybe "Delilah", "Bijou", "Scandal" or maybe " A winter's tale" or "Mother love" will be out (I suppose "The show must go on" will be not skipped).
I have told my family that this is the song that needs to be played at the end of my funeral (which is hopefully still a few decades away). To remind my loved ones of the good times we had, and my final sign-off will be that same heartfelt "I still love you."
@@Quotenwagnerianer Yes, when I first heard it on Innuendo it evoked an image of a man in his 40s sitting by the riverside on a sunny afternoon in late summer and contemplating his life. Easy-going, nothing painful really, just a bit nostalgic. I was shocked too when I saw the video shortly after Freddie's death. Black-and-white, very gloomy, almost as if one was attending a funeral service, and the clean-shaven face, the make-up and the wide shirt that he was wearing all underscored his physical decline. Also, apart from his physical appearance, his staccato movements seemed strangely out of place in conjunction with the quiet and peaceful mood of this song. I do appreciate how the clip can be seen as a conscious final goodbye to the world, but it's the first association that I had when I heard this song on the album that has stuck with me. The video, however, has an altogether different vibe.
The song the press called 'album filler', a video that broke our hearts and a meaning we all can relate too. I'm lucky, as a gay man coming out in the 90s, I was able to raise my children and watch them grow without the curse of this terrible disease that took Freddie from us far too soon entering my life. RIP mate, although I suspect you're doing anything but rest my old friend 😇
The music press never liked Queen. An album filler? Hah, I'm almost hearing Freddie responding with his famous: Don't be ridiculous! 😅 And yes, I also think Freddie isn't resting up there, he is probably giving angels singing lessons... 🥰
I am going to get a lot of flack for saying this, and people will balk, but i consider this song a perennial classic, and up there with the great American songbook, I am not being ironic here, more artists should cover this song, along with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", this song transcends Queen, lyrically very relatable. Great song.
I hear the whole bands closeness and shock as they seem to be privately closing ranks around each other & Freddie in the midst of his decline. It makes me weep when Freddie whispers he still loves you to us all. The video is heartbreaking 💔 too. Freddie looks so ill but his magic still sparks at times. The whole band looks bittersweet and protective of a very ill Freddie.
The song is even harder to listen to without a video (and Freddie's frail appearance). It is an embracing of the inevitable ... so heartbreaking. Hard to explain the feelings and even harder to think what state of mind all four of the band members were in at that time.
Yes, it would be a logical end point for a chronological sequence of Queen compositions. It would also be nice if the sentiment were taken to heart, and marked a return to earlier Queen material (eg. The Prophet’s Song).
I don't listen to this song much, because it brings back so much sadness for me. Freddie's death was a gut punch to me, and my dad died a week later. It's such a pretty song, though. After a long, sad winter as a teenager, the spring of 1992 was when I began to heal, and the Tribute Concert at Wembley was a much needed shot of adrenaline that helped me celebrate not only Freddie, but my dad as well.
Freddie was dying, he didn't know what to say, the rest of the band put words to what he felt. The album is very emotional, hinting at what was to come
I’m feeling more the last stage of grief, acceptance. I know that when I heard this January 1991, we didn’t know for sure that Freddie was about to leave us. Hearing this song we knew.
I don't really see this as a song of resignation, I see it more as a statement of acceptance - the fight may be over but I've come to terms with it and I'm ready to let go. Many see this song as Freddie's final goodbye to his fans, and I think it is, but he's leaving them with a message - appreciate those in your life right now, these days don't last forever.
I really like this one, both sonically and lyrically. A very reflective song, particularly considering the circumstances. I also like the various little guitar interjections that ornament different parts of the song. I liked your description of the guitar solo, but I wouldn't have described it as passionless, since the word that came to my mind was expressive, which doesn't fit with the word passionless for me. Great commentary on the lyrics and the state of mind of the band as they tried to put this all into perspective.
The fact that Roger Taylor took his own personal life into this song, It takes on a darker meaning considering another’s circumstances. He even utters ‘I still love you!’ as both a callback to ‘Love of My Life’ and an emotional farewell message to his loved ones/audience. Edit: I think the word you seek is ‘passive’. Every instrument (including vocals) lacks not just a lead role, but also a driving force and just flows with ‘the current’. It’s a peaceful recollection of the past without trying to move back (fighting the current).
New subscriber here. My thoughts: If you ever wonder what true friendship is, you only have to look at the the band Queen. Here are 4 fantastic musicians with a band who toured extensively for the majority of their 20+ years together - yet did NOT tour for 5 years from August 1986 till Freddie passed in late 1991. Other bands would have called it quits - maybe even tried to find a new lead vocalist - or go their own way - but not Queen. These 4 continued to work together to produce some of the most innovative, magical, wondrous music during those last 5 years. They stuck by Freddie - solidly guarding his privacy, allowing him his dignity, allowing him to express his majestic voice through the songs they wrote together. I simply can't define true FRIENDSHIP without referencing QUEEN because of those last albums they produced TOGETHER. This is what these last albums mean to me. I can hardly listen to some of the songs - this beautiful song among them - without tears welling in my eyes. With maybe a couple of exceptions, the songs are solid works of musical art - all the songs have that almost indefinable perfect musical expression which I rarely find in most bands but which I ALWAYS find in Queen. Looking forward to listening to your other Queen reactions - all 42 of them!! Kudos and thank you.
Really glad you did this song but as many have said, you need to watch the video. I was really surprised you didn't watch the video, while it's heartbreaking to watch, it makes a difference when you don't see the video while listening to the song. I remember when they announced Freddie had aids, I'd already lost many friends who died from aids. I went to my cousin's wedding and when we got home we turned on the tv and saw that Freddie had died. Heartbreaking 💔 We still love you Freddie ❤️🙏💔
Yes, Love of my Life was written for and about Mary Austin, but over the years this staple ballad of their live shows, became Freddie's love song to the audience, to the fans. The whispered ending utterance of "I still love you..." was the period on that statement of love to the fans. So how fitting and no accident, I believe, that this song refers to it again, to reemphasize this point and also, as you so eloquently pointed out, a statement of love to one another as bandmates and friends. Reflecting back over their journey together, which was soon to come an end, it was beautiful, poignant, melancholy, and somehow sad and joyful or celebratory at the same time. A form of goodbye without the need of those words, as through the power of music, there is no need. We'll have it forever and thus the love affair with Queen and Freddie continues. Enjoyed the reaction. Thank you.❤
Even in the first verse you can hear snippets of Brian's guitar among the synth sound ... and "a bird" is just a glitch of 🎸 strings... That "🎸bird" will sing in Bijou ... 💎 I just can't stop tears from falling even after almost 33 years... 💔 And hearing that guitar wailing 😢 ... it brings me to tears every time ...
Esta canción me rompe el corazón cada vez que la escucho, y es inevitable que el video no venga a mi cabeza, para un oyente casual puede ser una canción más, para los que seguimos a Queen e intuíamos algo, fue la revelación definitiva, incluso antes de ver el video, algo especial en la letra, la melodía, la aparente tranquilidad que transmite, y la voz de Freddie, la forma en la que dice esas palabras, y ese final "I still love you"... Una despedida agridulce, pero que sigue siendo tan emotiva que es imposible para muchos que no se nos escape alguna lágrima...
Thanks Amy for the analysis. I listened to this song many times in my youth on the radio and it always left me with a feeling of something beautiful, positive, and certainly did not cause tears. Literally a year ago I first saw the video for this song and the video broke my heart. Now, after watching your analysis, I realized that my first impressions were probably the most correct and I think that the last thing Freddie wanted was for people to feel sorry for him and cry for him, but to enjoy his music and songs.
This is tears floating in the air slowly moving and dancing from spherical to oval shape without stopping. This is the animal pain within us perceived by our cruel neural consciousness. This was our life and what we want it to be for those who are lucky enough to still be here... on Earth. I continue to love you, life, despite everything.
You couldn't be more wrong about the "passionless" part. This was the last video Freddie was healthy enough to record, and a big part of the instruments being pared back is to give Freddie's thinning voice the space it needs to be heard and understood. This was straight-up recorded a year before this man died of AIDS, and as great of a singer as he was, he could only do so much. The lyrics also reflect that tender emotional state, and I think more bombast would do the song a disservice.
If you saw the video, you’d see why it seems passionless. It was his goodbye song…”I still love you” whispered at the end, looking straight into the camera, close up. He pushed himself to do this video; he was in a LOT of pain, his foot half eaten away, weak, looking like a skeleton. Poor Freddie…just 6 years after Live Aid, where he was so vibrant and gave (with Queen) the best live performance ever. 💔
Yes, he wore two pair of pants so his skeleton like legs would not be so noticeable but even with two pair of baggy pants his legs still looked like chopsticks. Awful disease.
This song is very reflective in it's approach and almost resigned in it's execution. Everything that had to be said has been said and now it's a period of serene affirmation of the inevitable. There's some sad moments to be had, (particularly in the solo), but it's reserved and contained under the same premise of being reflective with a sense of dignified acceptance of what was to come.
I wonder,Amy, if when in professional music analytical mode, just very occasionally you find yourself focusing on the wrong things in a song. I think in 95% of songs your analysis is informative and pertinent, but then just occasionally a song like this comes along where you appear to miss the essential quality of the piece. In this case, the heart rending poignancy and pathos - it is a dying man singing goodbye to the life he loved and goodbye to every single one of us who cares to listen and the guitar solo surely underpins this. This may also be one of those rare songs that shouldn’t be separated from the video on first listen. Having said this. What you do is amazing, responding and analysing on the fly in real time in such creative and interesting ways - so don’t think of this as criticism of what you do, but rather just something to reflect on for about 5 seconds and then move on. You are a genuine inspiration x
This is Freddies goodbye. When he sings his last words you can feel it. He knows what is going to happen to him and he has excepted it. I also think this is one of Brians best solos ever. So melodic and with so much emotion. I have watched your reactionvideo twice now Amy, and I think you're the point here.
I think you really have to watch the video as you listen to the song in order to absorb and really feel the meaning of this song. It’s truly not about a vacation. It’s about the finality of 4 close friends who became family and are watching one of their brothers die before their eyes as they reminisce their time together. It’s also a farewell by Freddie to all of his beloved fans. Amy, I don’t think this song is passionless. IMO it’s full of sad, melancholy, hopeless passion, and I think Brian’s guitar solo sounds of those feelings. It’s a solo that’s sad but restraining tears for his best friend. For me it’s a heart wrenching song and video 💔😢💔😢💔😢💔😢
I first heard this song when watching a hastily put together tribute done by the BBC which aired the night after Freddie died. This was right at the end described as "an unreleased single". I openly wept at the end of this (and even 33 years later I remember it like yesterday and my eyes have welled up again, just remembering this). The video was such a shock, but Freddie signing off at the end, as you said so accurately, with a sense of resignation was unforgettable.. I write and record a few songs as an enthusiastic amateur, and in my tribute to Freddie (called "Pretending"), the last words in the verse are "Later on, when I heard the words of the drummer boy, a tear fell from my eye".
What a strange reaction, I really don't understand what you are trying to say. This is emotionally an extremely powerful song, masterly delivered by Queen
You have to have had a genuine and deep emotional connection to Freddie and Queen, to fully grasp the emotional impact of this song. It's not enough to just intellectually know the story behind it. You have to feel the same kind of loss that the band felt. She is right, though, that it isn't a song that's about histrionics and grand outpourings of emotion; rather it's about quiet acceptance of the inevitable. And that's reflected in the instrumentation.
This and "Mother Love" (which ought to be number 50 in the Queen series) are for me the most emblematic music of Freddie's last days - so emotional and impactful. Good examples of the circumstances dictating the art. And you absolutely must watch the video. It's not the final song Freddie recorded but the video is the last thing he ever did with Queen.
I cried when this song came out on video. I realized we were losing Freddie. For Brian, John, and Rodger, they were losong a member of their little family. They were losing the voice of Queen. I can't imagine how you missed the sadness in the guitar solo. The song is about looking back and impending loss. It also allowed Freddie to say goodbye to all of us.... The fans.
Regarding it seeming passionless, I would argue that there is still a lot of affect there. If you look at it through the lens of anticipatory grief and loss, it’s a song from a man who is trying to make peace with his circumstances, the inevitability of immutable change, who is trying desperately to dwell in and savor the moment. It takes an ocean of resolve to remain present in those circumstances, and I think this song captures that determination well. As always, I really enjoy your reactions and feedback!
The melancholy underscoring the optimism in Taylor's song was clearly influenced by Freddie's illness and Freddie equally clearly spied the opportunity to say goodbye to his fans. By all means listen to the song, but as an art form, it should also be listened to in conjunction with the video.
Amy you really must do “Mother Love” to hear the aching passionate death throws from Freddie. How it ends is just… And please do “A Winter’s Tale” so you can know how much Freddie still appreciated life, even at the end. It is Queen’s most nostalgic song. Always makes me think of the time right before Christmas, on a snowed in winter’s day with a cup of tea or coco.
'passionless'.... maybe a better word is 'acceptance'? - growing up as a queen fan... I still remember the moment vividly, when hearing of Freddie's death.
This is my ringtone for many reasons. It gives me hope, because he was so strong at the end. I also use breakthru, because it's an excellent drive song. I just admire John Deacon.
What the guitar solo had in it...was pain. As did the rest of the song. Maybe seeing the video really hammers it home. Freddie was close to death and you can see it on all of their faces. That last "I still love you" was a message from Freddie. It's absolutely heart-breaking to watch. I kind of wish I'd never seen it 💔❤🩹
See, I hear the exact opposite! I guess that is that what sets us apart. As I have listened to Queen music all my life and they have become an important part of my upbringing and life. Thank you for your input and insight!
I have ever appreciated this song. First of all because it's quite easy to sing on karaoke and for a Queen fan it's not so easy to find some. This song has been a gift from Roger to Freddie as 'The show must go on' has been basically a gift from Brian to Freddie but the friendship between Roger and Freddie was very different from that one between Brian and Freddie for examples. They knows each other like 22 years and spent a lot of time together at work in the Kensingthon high street 27 market if i well remember. Freddie uses to go there in taxi even if he had not a penny on his pocket for food or maybe a cafè, and he did it just because it make him feels like a star. His clothes at that time were very extravagant. He uses a lot furs on winter,silk trousers made to measure.. he used to act like a star even if he was literally unknown. Roger was most likely a country boy.There were always a lot of friends for sleeping around his family home and one day his mother says to him 'hey boy, i know you are young but that's not an hotel..' and that's been an input to write down 'the loser in the end' song in end 1972.. In this last album Queen have done a lot of things that normally they didn't uses to do. It's been a non-conventional album for them. They have had a more free space inside this album including a lot of 'personal works' in it. Things that has never happened before in their career.. But without 'All God's People' and 'Delilah', this album cannot be appreciated entirely. The Artist way has been putted largely apart..
This song makes me sad and remember my precious kitty who passed w cancer in 2021 this is a beautiful piece made by a wonderful unique band rest in peace Freddie and my beloved cat Alley ❤️ 🕊️
For many of us this song is deeply tied with the Video, which is also where many first heard it. And that visual/aural bonding changes how we still hear it. I am also affected in a similar way when I hear Drive (who's going to drive you home) by the Cars. It accompanied a powerful video clip of starvation, broadcast during the LiveAid concerts in the 80's. Even though it wasn't written for LiveAid, I can't not see the imagery when I hear it now.
The guitar in this track is very prominent in the mix actually, it's not "riffy" that wouldn't fit the track but very prominent nonetheless. Brian May, despite being a rock legend, doesn't get enough credit for the more "subtle" things he does in his music, his "clean" accompaniments are really beautiful and tasteful, nobody talks about that side of his genius, and that's too bad cause those chord works and beautiful voicings are really missing in todoy's mainstream music.
We can’t hear the song without the video playing in our minds and I think you can miss the full impact of the song without that. Vlad missed the mark with that.
So very disappointed that Vlad didn’t have you watch the video. To me, whenever I hear this song I see the video in my mind’s eye. Perhaps because of the video, I hear the passion in the song.
Please please watch the video this man has given is all to the fans and the realization for us that this is goodbye was totaly heartbreaking 😢 thank you fredie, shone brighter than a supernova loved forever ❤
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It is impossible to hear this song and not think of the video. For many of us in the UK, the first time we saw it was the day after Freddie died, when the BBC broadcast an impromptu tribute in the evening. Just before the end of the programme came the video for These Are The Days of Our Lives and we saw the truth. Despite it being over 30 years later the feeling of shock is still visceral. Freddie was emaciated; almost unrecognisable. That vicious disease had simply ravaged him and we are watching a dying man saying goodbye. For as long as I live whenever I hear this song I will think of that video.
Absolutely.
So, this video was released only after his death in november? Didn't america see it after it was released as a single in september?
I was thinking the same thing but you worded it beautifully. The video is shocking, sad and beautiful all in one. And that "I still love you!" at the end!...
I will never forget that. It struck us all watching that tribute. No one expected it. You took the words right out of my mouth as this is exactly how i felt about it.
Yes. He was brave to reveal himself in the video
This song is a masterpiece. It captures the reality of the human condition in a both sad , and yet beautiful way. Both at the same time. As my years roll on , I find myself playing this song more and more. The melancholy in the music makes for some very reflective moments. It is a realisation of our time on this planet.
Every part of this song is played to perfection. The soft drums, the wailing guitar , the solid bassline and then Freddies almost talking to me vocals. Wonderful.
This song contains my very favorite Brian May Guitar solo. Nothing fancy, fast or technical but so utterly beautiful, haunting and luscious
I rarely find myself in total disagreement with Amy, but this is one of those times. I find this song immensely moving, and Brian May's guitar work throughout is beautifully calibrated, with the solo - to me at least - full of emotion.
This song never fails to bring tears to my eyes with that line:
"When I look
And I find
I still love you"
Dang, even writing it makes me teary! That is the power of pure poetry; producing meaningful images in the minds of the recipients.
Credited to all four members of the band but primarily written by Roger Taylor. Freddie's interpretation and his performance on the video displaying with bravery his own mortality takes the song to a different level.
For millions of true Queen fans this song is taken very seriously and still hurts. Seeing Freddie and the guys in the video still causes nostalgic pain. Guess you ‘ had to be there’
💯what this person said. I find it tough to listen to for this exact reason. But I still listen and still love it.
Well said Diane, this is one of the few times Amy should have watched the video to truly understand the depth and meaning of the song.
@@andrewcarr5923Agreed.
In Europe, as far as I remember, this song was released after "The Show Must Go On" and of course after Freddie's death. In that context it could only be perceived by most people as a kind of goodbye from beyond the grave. So I think that not only true Queen fans can feel the nostalgic pain you mentioned so rightly. But I also believe that you had to be there...
This and Mother Love are just painful.
If you don’t hear the pain in Brian’s guitar solo I can’t help you. It is there. 😢
The guitar is wailing ... 💔
Totally agree!!!
Well, people can always be educated. However, Sir Bri is my favourite guitarist because of his astounding playing but also his astounding expressiveness. So, maybe you're right.
I think that the guitar solo is brilliant. A perfect example of "less is more"
One of the most emotional solos I’ve ever heard. I also love the little bits of scat he plays from the second verse on
The Innuendo album was stunning. Those who remember when it was released can attest to how powerful this album was. People tend to look through rose colored glasses when it comes to Queen. They actually lost most of their original fan base with the musical direction the band chose. Innuendo won those fans back. I remember on the subway heading to work I read the NY Post and there was a small article where Freddy came out that he contracted AIDS and was sick. The very next day I opened the paper and read that he passed away. I couldn’t believe it. The world became emptier without Freddie’s brilliance in it. It’s amazing to see how popular Queen still is and how young people are discovering them. Long Live Queen!!
The world became emptier without Freddie’s brilliance … TY have been trying to put into words how I felt that day Freddie died and those few words do it for me …… still
I absolutely loved the Innuendo album ,It was an absolute masterpiece of an album, The title track Innuendo is stunning as well
RIP Freddie 🙏🙏
Innuendo had a klunker or two, but MORE than made up for it with the lyrical pain and the musical breadth. It’s a Five star masterpiece and quickly became my favorite Queen album, even surpassing the ANATO and Jazz albums. It contains the best song ever written, for a start ( The Show Must Go On).
You are so right! When Innuendo was released I was so young, that I knew Queen only by their poppy hits like Radio Gaga, so I considered them just another pop band like so many in the 80s. It just wasn't the kind of music I respected and particularly liked (now I'm much less critical, though). When I heard Innuendo (the song) I thought that maybe that band isn't so bad after all, and I paid much more attention to the next singles they released. And then, one day I heard on the radio that Freddie announced he had AIDS. I thought something like "what a pity, I just started liking the band, I hope they will be able to record for a few years at least". And just like you I remember that the next day I heard te news that he died. But only after I became much more aware of the Queen music from earlier years, I realised what a loss it was.
"i still love you" 😭 that was "goodbye darlings"
Still bothers me to see it ( the waste)
I do hope you're going to watch the video which I think is important to see!
My bet is that Vlad will ask Amy to watch video, after the commentary of the track.
I hope there will be a new series reacting to videos and live performances.
@@jmichaelbell5434 Hopefully he will have her do a follow up reaction of the song WITH watching the video. Then she'll get it and understand the song more.
@@philosopher0076 I sincerely hope, hell, I pray, there will be, ‘Coming Soon’ QUEEN-50 II in which we find our heroes, Vlad and Amy, diving deeper into the majesty that was, that is, that shall ever be, QUEEN!!
the documentary behind it is soo good too
Jhonn's bass line is so smooth and sweet during the whole thing, love it,
Dear sweet John. Wore his heart on his sleeve
It’s so important to watch the video along with this. Tears every time. I remember it first airing. Heartbreak. 💔
I find the solo quite emotional. It reminds me of Gilmour with the long bends and echoes/delay. I love how the delay is perfectly timed for the echoes to harmonise with the notes Brian was playing.
I understand that songs have to be judged on their own merits. Having said that, I think that watching the video changes the way one relates to this song, especially if you're a fan. Freddie is dying in front of you, it's impossible to miss. This track might not be musically complex, but the video turns it into one of the most emotionally charged. Many of us can't watch the video without crying and honestly, if the song was also musically intense, I don't know if we would survive!!
"Simple" isn't a pejorative.
She lost the line some songs ago. She said she wanted to know how Freddie's situation affected to the band's music but passed over songs like "Was it all worth it". She's got now only 3 songs left and maybe "Delilah", "Bijou", "Scandal" or maybe " A winter's tale" or "Mother love" will be out (I suppose "The show must go on" will be not skipped).
Brian is the master of playing what is needed. No ego driven overkill.
I have told my family that this is the song that needs to be played at the end of my funeral (which is hopefully still a few decades away).
To remind my loved ones of the good times we had, and my final sign-off will be that same heartfelt "I still love you."
Is this or Who Wants To Live Forever for me.
I know this one it’s one of my favourite Queen tracks along with The show must go on
I don’t understand how you can’t hear and feel the pain in this song
Easy: People who hear the pain heard this song the first time in conjuction with the video.
@@Quotenwagnerianer Yes, when I first heard it on Innuendo it evoked an image of a man in his 40s sitting by the riverside on a sunny afternoon in late summer and contemplating his life. Easy-going, nothing painful really, just a bit nostalgic. I was shocked too when I saw the video shortly after Freddie's death. Black-and-white, very gloomy, almost as if one was attending a funeral service, and the clean-shaven face, the make-up and the wide shirt that he was wearing all underscored his physical decline. Also, apart from his physical appearance, his staccato movements seemed strangely out of place in conjunction with the quiet and peaceful mood of this song. I do appreciate how the clip can be seen as a conscious final goodbye to the world, but it's the first association that I had when I heard this song on the album that has stuck with me. The video, however, has an altogether different vibe.
The song the press called 'album filler', a video that broke our hearts and a meaning we all can relate too.
I'm lucky, as a gay man coming out in the 90s, I was able to raise my children and watch them grow without the curse of this terrible disease that took Freddie from us far too soon entering my life. RIP mate, although I suspect you're doing anything but rest my old friend 😇
He is up there, jamming with Mozart.....
The music press never liked Queen. An album filler? Hah, I'm almost hearing Freddie responding with his famous: Don't be ridiculous! 😅
And yes, I also think Freddie isn't resting up there, he is probably giving angels singing lessons... 🥰
@@iris67si From NME to the Sun - the press hated them, especially Freddie. But talent always prevails
Watch the video and see a dying man sing this song and you’ll have tears.
I would describe that guitar solo as serene, which would describe everyone's performance in this song, especially Freddie's.
I am going to get a lot of flack for saying this, and people will balk, but i consider this song a perennial classic, and up there with the great American songbook, I am not being ironic here, more artists should cover this song, along with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", this song transcends Queen, lyrically very relatable. Great song.
@@XFLexiconMatt Not to start a feud, but I believe this song need not be covered. Only Queen could master this beauty of a track in the studio.
The guitar solo evokes heartache every time i hear it
Perfect for the song
Longing for life in its second stanza
I think that Brian was trying thru his guitar to express the pain he was feeling about Freddie's illness...
This is such a sad and incredibly pretty song. Thank you!
I hear the whole bands closeness and shock as they seem to be privately closing ranks around each other & Freddie in the midst of his decline. It makes me weep when Freddie whispers he still loves you to us all. The video is heartbreaking 💔 too. Freddie looks so ill but his magic still sparks at times. The whole band looks bittersweet and protective of a very ill Freddie.
The song is even harder to listen to without a video (and Freddie's frail appearance). It is an embracing of the inevitable ... so heartbreaking.
Hard to explain the feelings and even harder to think what state of mind all four of the band members were in at that time.
It really haunts me that the LAST time he appears in front of camera he tells everyone "I still love you *
Can't wait for the "show must go on" review..
This will be #50 in queen-50 series
Yes, it would be a logical end point for a chronological sequence of Queen compositions. It would also be nice if the sentiment were taken to heart, and marked a return to earlier Queen material (eg. The Prophet’s Song).
@@dennish.7708 I feel Mother Love would also be a great last song
@@vladislavvaintroub2674Good! It deserves to be the finale. ❤
@@cutthr0atjake just my prediction: :) , ultimately it is up to the other Vlad
It's a different feeling because its a reflection on a life near the end..and a goodbye 😢
I don't listen to this song much, because it brings back so much sadness for me. Freddie's death was a gut punch to me, and my dad died a week later. It's such a pretty song, though. After a long, sad winter as a teenager, the spring of 1992 was when I began to heal, and the Tribute Concert at Wembley was a much needed shot of adrenaline that helped me celebrate not only Freddie, but my dad as well.
May your dad and Freddie rest in peace 🙏
Freddie was dying, he didn't know what to say, the rest of the band put words to what he felt. The album is very emotional, hinting at what was to come
In the category of "I cannot believe that the singer did not write this song", This ranks right up there with Johnny Cash's Hurt
A sad and melancholic signing off by Freddie with Queen. Perfectly and appropriately delivered.
The Show Must Go On.
This really needs to be watched with the video to give it context
Nooooo...I feel like we're going to cry 😭😭😭
For me this is one of Brian’s most beautiful solos
I’m feeling more the last stage of grief, acceptance. I know that when I heard this January 1991, we didn’t know for sure that Freddie was about to leave us. Hearing this song we knew.
I don't really see this as a song of resignation, I see it more as a statement of acceptance - the fight may be over but I've come to terms with it and I'm ready to let go. Many see this song as Freddie's final goodbye to his fans, and I think it is, but he's leaving them with a message - appreciate those in your life right now, these days don't last forever.
I really like this one, both sonically and lyrically. A very reflective song, particularly considering the circumstances. I also like the various little guitar interjections that ornament different parts of the song. I liked your description of the guitar solo, but I wouldn't have described it as passionless, since the word that came to my mind was expressive, which doesn't fit with the word passionless for me. Great commentary on the lyrics and the state of mind of the band as they tried to put this all into perspective.
I think the bird was finger string slip on Brian’s guitar
The fact that Roger Taylor took his own personal life into this song,
It takes on a darker meaning considering another’s circumstances. He even utters ‘I still love you!’ as both a callback to ‘Love of My Life’ and an emotional farewell message to his loved ones/audience.
Edit: I think the word you seek is ‘passive’. Every instrument (including vocals) lacks not just a lead role, but also a driving force and just flows with ‘the current’. It’s a peaceful recollection of the past without trying to move back (fighting the current).
Looking forward to this one. It was played at both my Dad's and my Brother's funerals.
New subscriber here. My thoughts: If you ever wonder what true friendship is, you only have to look at the the band Queen. Here are 4 fantastic musicians with a band who toured extensively for the majority of their 20+ years together - yet did NOT tour for 5 years from August 1986 till Freddie passed in late 1991. Other bands would have called it quits - maybe even tried to find a new lead vocalist - or go their own way - but not Queen. These 4 continued to work together to produce some of the most innovative, magical, wondrous music during those last 5 years. They stuck by Freddie - solidly guarding his privacy, allowing him his dignity, allowing him to express his majestic voice through the songs they wrote together. I simply can't define true FRIENDSHIP without referencing QUEEN because of those last albums they produced TOGETHER. This is what these last albums mean to me. I can hardly listen to some of the songs - this beautiful song among them - without tears welling in my eyes. With maybe a couple of exceptions, the songs are solid works of musical art - all the songs have that almost indefinable perfect musical expression which I rarely find in most bands but which I ALWAYS find in Queen. Looking forward to listening to your other Queen reactions - all 42 of them!! Kudos and thank you.
Worth watching the video too.
Really glad you did this song but as many have said, you need to watch the video. I was really surprised you didn't watch the video, while it's heartbreaking to watch, it makes a difference when you don't see the video while listening to the song.
I remember when they announced Freddie had aids, I'd already lost many friends who died from aids. I went to my cousin's wedding and when we got home we turned on the tv and saw that Freddie had died. Heartbreaking 💔 We still love you Freddie ❤️🙏💔
Yes, Love of my Life was written for and about Mary Austin, but over the years this staple ballad of their live shows, became Freddie's love song to the audience, to the fans. The whispered ending utterance of "I still love you..." was the period on that statement of love to the fans. So how fitting and no accident, I believe, that this song refers to it again, to reemphasize this point and also, as you so eloquently pointed out, a statement of love to one another as bandmates and friends. Reflecting back over their journey together, which was soon to come an end, it was beautiful, poignant, melancholy, and somehow sad and joyful or celebratory at the same time. A form of goodbye without the need of those words, as through the power of music, there is no need. We'll have it forever and thus the love affair with Queen and Freddie continues. Enjoyed the reaction. Thank you.❤
Even in the first verse you can hear snippets of Brian's guitar among the synth sound ... and "a bird" is just a glitch of 🎸 strings...
That "🎸bird" will sing in Bijou ... 💎
I just can't stop tears from falling even after almost 33 years... 💔
And hearing that guitar wailing 😢 ... it brings me to tears every time ...
This song and video clip is very emotional for me. Make me cry I miss you Freddie, so much.
Actually one of my favorite Brian May solos.
Esta canción me rompe el corazón cada vez que la escucho, y es inevitable que el video no venga a mi cabeza, para un oyente casual puede ser una canción más, para los que seguimos a Queen e intuíamos algo, fue la revelación definitiva, incluso antes de ver el video, algo especial en la letra, la melodía, la aparente tranquilidad que transmite, y la voz de Freddie, la forma en la que dice esas palabras, y ese final "I still love you"... Una despedida agridulce, pero que sigue siendo tan emotiva que es imposible para muchos que no se nos escape alguna lágrima...
We still love you too x
Another fabulous Deacon bass line
Thanks Amy for the analysis. I listened to this song many times in my youth on the radio and it always left me with a feeling of something beautiful, positive, and certainly did not cause tears. Literally a year ago I first saw the video for this song and the video broke my heart. Now, after watching your analysis, I realized that my first impressions were probably the most correct and I think that the last thing Freddie wanted was for people to feel sorry for him and cry for him, but to enjoy his music and songs.
This is tears floating in the air slowly moving and dancing from spherical to oval shape without stopping.
This is the animal pain within us perceived by our cruel neural consciousness.
This was our life and what we want it to be for those who are lucky enough to still be here... on Earth.
I continue to love you, life, despite everything.
L' ultimo,ti amo ancora, è per noi fan da parte di Freddie Mercury ❤
Im going to echo most of the comments here, you simply must watch the video. We still love you too Freddie
Such a beautiful song ❤
That "bird outside" was Brian's guitar. If we listen carefully, there's a lot of subtle guitar in this song.
Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukhitatta. May All Beings Be Happy, May All Beings Be Free.
Thank you.
This a song of resignation...and the last from a very sweet and incredibly talented human being!
My thoughts as well. I think the alternate word (from "passionless") that Amy was searching for, is "resigned."
You couldn't be more wrong about the "passionless" part. This was the last video Freddie was healthy enough to record, and a big part of the instruments being pared back is to give Freddie's thinning voice the space it needs to be heard and understood. This was straight-up recorded a year before this man died of AIDS, and as great of a singer as he was, he could only do so much. The lyrics also reflect that tender emotional state, and I think more bombast would do the song a disservice.
I still love you is the a reflection of love of my life from 1975. Thats not a coincidence that its Freddie's last words to his fans
If you saw the video, you’d see why it seems passionless. It was his goodbye song…”I still love you” whispered at the end, looking straight into the camera, close up. He pushed himself to do this video; he was in a LOT of pain, his foot half eaten away, weak, looking like a skeleton. Poor Freddie…just 6 years after Live Aid, where he was so vibrant and gave (with Queen) the best live performance ever. 💔
Yes, he wore two pair of pants so his skeleton like legs would not be so noticeable but even with two pair of baggy pants his legs still looked like chopsticks. Awful disease.
This song is very reflective in it's approach and almost resigned in it's execution. Everything that had to be said has been said and now it's a period of serene affirmation of the inevitable. There's some sad moments to be had, (particularly in the solo), but it's reserved and contained under the same premise of being reflective with a sense of dignified acceptance of what was to come.
I wonder,Amy, if when in professional music analytical mode, just very occasionally you find yourself focusing on the wrong things in a song. I think in 95% of songs your analysis is informative and pertinent, but then just occasionally a song like this comes along where you appear to miss the essential quality of the piece. In this case, the heart rending poignancy and pathos - it is a dying man singing goodbye to the life he loved and goodbye to every single one of us who cares to listen and the guitar solo surely underpins this. This may also be one of those rare songs that shouldn’t be separated from the video on first listen. Having said this. What you do is amazing, responding and analysing on the fly in real time in such creative and interesting ways - so don’t think of this as criticism of what you do, but rather just something to reflect on for about 5 seconds and then move on. You are a genuine inspiration x
My favourite Queen song. Thank you for studying this one!
Only 3 left. I do hope mother love is there, as the last song he sung, so sick, was not able to finish. But What a Swan song xx
This is Freddies goodbye. When he sings his last words you can feel it. He knows what is going to happen to him and he has excepted it. I also think this is one of Brians best solos ever. So melodic and with so much emotion.
I have watched your reactionvideo twice now Amy, and I think you're the point here.
I think you really have to watch the video as you listen to the song in order to absorb and really feel the meaning of this song. It’s truly not about a vacation. It’s about the finality of 4 close friends who became family and are watching one of their brothers die before their eyes as they reminisce their time together. It’s also a farewell by Freddie to all of his beloved fans. Amy, I don’t think this song is passionless. IMO it’s full of sad, melancholy, hopeless passion, and I think Brian’s guitar solo sounds of those feelings. It’s a solo that’s sad but restraining tears for his best friend. For me it’s a heart wrenching song and video 💔😢💔😢💔😢💔😢
I'm guessing the next songs are "The Show Must Gon On", "A Winter's Tale" and "Mother Love".
I really hope we get A Winters Tale especially, it's very overlooked but it's so beautiful
Bijou is next according to the Patreon page
@@oscardavies9589 Interesting choice.
@@oscardavies9589 If Bijou is the next I will guess the end of the series will be: "The Show Must Go On" and "No One But You"
@@stargzer_nzm2239 I agree although I would love her to listen to A Winters Tale
I first heard this song when watching a hastily put together tribute done by the BBC which aired the night after Freddie died. This was right at the end described as "an unreleased single". I openly wept at the end of this (and even 33 years later I remember it like yesterday and my eyes have welled up again, just remembering this). The video was such a shock, but Freddie signing off at the end, as you said so accurately, with a sense of resignation was unforgettable..
I write and record a few songs as an enthusiastic amateur, and in my tribute to Freddie (called "Pretending"), the last words in the verse are "Later on, when I heard the words of the drummer boy, a tear fell from my eye".
What a strange reaction, I really don't understand what you are trying to say. This is emotionally an extremely powerful song, masterly delivered by Queen
Exactly.
You have to have had a genuine and deep emotional connection to Freddie and Queen, to fully grasp the emotional impact of this song. It's not enough to just intellectually know the story behind it. You have to feel the same kind of loss that the band felt.
She is right, though, that it isn't a song that's about histrionics and grand outpourings of emotion; rather it's about quiet acceptance of the inevitable. And that's reflected in the instrumentation.
This and "Mother Love" (which ought to be number 50 in the Queen series) are for me the most emblematic music of Freddie's last days - so emotional and impactful. Good examples of the circumstances dictating the art.
And you absolutely must watch the video. It's not the final song Freddie recorded but the video is the last thing he ever did with Queen.
Wonderful song full of meanings in a terrible year for Freddie and Queen. Video is very very sadly.
Everybody who loves music must see the video of his final time among us.
How dissapointed I feel with this. This song always makes me cry, and then she comes and says is passionless 😭
I cried when this song came out on video. I realized we were losing Freddie. For Brian, John, and Rodger, they were losong a member of their little family. They were losing the voice of Queen. I can't imagine how you missed the sadness in the guitar solo. The song is about looking back and impending loss. It also allowed Freddie to say goodbye to all of us.... The fans.
You can say, Brain May: The Crying Guitar.😢
Regarding it seeming passionless, I would argue that there is still a lot of affect there. If you look at it through the lens of anticipatory grief and loss, it’s a song from a man who is trying to make peace with his circumstances, the inevitability of immutable change, who is trying desperately to dwell in and savor the moment. It takes an ocean of resolve to remain present in those circumstances, and I think this song captures that determination well. As always, I really enjoy your reactions and feedback!
The melancholy underscoring the optimism in Taylor's song was clearly influenced by Freddie's illness and Freddie equally clearly spied the opportunity to say goodbye to his fans. By all means listen to the song, but as an art form, it should also be listened to in conjunction with the video.
Correct. The video is simply an absolute necessity to understand and truly get this songs power and mood.
Amy you really must do “Mother Love” to hear the aching passionate death throws from Freddie. How it ends is just…
And please do “A Winter’s Tale” so you can know how much Freddie still appreciated life, even at the end. It is Queen’s most nostalgic song. Always makes me think of the time right before Christmas, on a snowed in winter’s day with a cup of tea or coco.
'passionless'.... maybe a better word is 'acceptance'?
- growing up as a queen fan... I still remember the moment vividly, when hearing of Freddie's death.
Que linda análise, I still love you, Freddie ❤
The video for this song would of been more appropriate 👍
Yes, hopefully she will do a re-do reacting to the video.
This is my ringtone for many reasons. It gives me hope, because he was so strong at the end. I also use breakthru, because it's an excellent drive song. I just admire John Deacon.
Definitely one of my fav queen songs
What the guitar solo had in it...was pain. As did the rest of the song. Maybe seeing the video really hammers it home. Freddie was close to death and you can see it on all of their faces. That last "I still love you" was a message from Freddie. It's absolutely heart-breaking to watch. I kind of wish I'd never seen it 💔❤🩹
See, I hear the exact opposite! I guess that is that what sets us apart. As I have listened to Queen music all my life and they have become an important part of my upbringing and life. Thank you for your input and insight!
I have ever appreciated this song. First of all because it's quite easy to sing on karaoke and for a Queen fan it's not so easy to find some. This song has been a gift from Roger to Freddie as 'The show must go on' has been basically a gift from Brian to Freddie but the friendship between Roger and Freddie was very different from that one between Brian and Freddie for examples. They knows each other like 22 years and spent a lot of time together at work in the Kensingthon high street 27 market if i well remember. Freddie uses to go there in taxi even if he had not a penny on his pocket for food or maybe a cafè, and he did it just because it make him feels like a star. His clothes at that time were very extravagant. He uses a lot furs on winter,silk trousers made to measure.. he used to act like a star even if he was literally unknown. Roger was most likely a country boy.There were always a lot of friends for sleeping around his family home and one day his mother says to him 'hey boy, i know you are young but that's not an hotel..' and that's been an input to write down 'the loser in the end' song in end 1972.. In this last album Queen have done a lot of things that normally they didn't uses to do. It's been a non-conventional album for them. They have had a more free space inside this album including a lot of 'personal works' in it. Things that has never happened before in their career.. But without 'All God's People' and 'Delilah', this album cannot be appreciated entirely. The Artist way has been putted largely apart..
This song makes me sad and remember my precious kitty who passed w cancer in 2021 this is a beautiful piece made by a wonderful unique band rest in peace Freddie and my beloved cat Alley ❤️ 🕊️
Passionless? Queen? Never!
My favorite song!
For many of us this song is deeply tied with the Video, which is also where many first heard it. And that visual/aural bonding changes how we still hear it.
I am also affected in a similar way when I hear Drive (who's going to drive you home) by the Cars. It accompanied a powerful video clip of starvation, broadcast during the LiveAid concerts in the 80's. Even though it wasn't written for LiveAid, I can't not see the imagery when I hear it now.
The guitar in this track is very prominent in the mix actually, it's not "riffy" that wouldn't fit the track but very prominent nonetheless.
Brian May, despite being a rock legend, doesn't get enough credit for the more "subtle" things he does in his music, his "clean" accompaniments are really beautiful and tasteful, nobody talks about that side of his genius, and that's too bad cause those chord works and beautiful voicings are really missing in todoy's mainstream music.
You should listen to No-one but you, kind of follows on from this and is incredibly sad, love this channel, only just found it❤
We can’t hear the song without the video playing in our minds and I think you can miss the full impact of the song without that.
Vlad missed the mark with that.
So very disappointed that Vlad didn’t have you watch the video. To me, whenever I hear this song I see the video in my mind’s eye. Perhaps because of the video, I hear the passion in the song.
Please please watch the video this man has given is all to the fans and the realization for us that this is goodbye was totaly heartbreaking 😢 thank you fredie, shone brighter than a supernova loved forever ❤