There is no question in my mind, that Adam is interpreting Killer Queen exactly the way Freddie meant it. He did not exactly hold back in his own version either, but obviously, could not take it quite as far as Adam can today.
Freddie was also quite forthcoming when it came to expressing that the role, the showman, that he plays on stage is closely related to that presented in this song.
There is this lovely and very famous quote of him: "I'm just a musical prostitute, my dear"
He personally felt the part, even though he had to veil that fact.
And he loved costuming for it too. And he did so at various other occasions, btw.
He did relate to the role he is singing about in this song.
With Freddie you just had to know how to connect the dots. He did say it all in his lyrics, but left it up the reader/listener to make up their own mind and interpret.
He said:
"It's about a high class call girl. I'm trying to say that classy people can be whores as well. That's what the song is about, though I'd prefer people to put their interpretation upon it – to read into it what they like."
But Adam is from a different generation. Burlesque has been around for a long time, even in the unusual setting of a rock show, while rare, but even that has been done. What is different, is that Adam can be open, does not have to keep up the charade that this is only theater and not related at all to his real life. That act, he does not have to play anymore in 2014. And on a personal level that gives him a freedom, that Freddie never had.
Of all the songs that Freddie has loved to sing, there is one, that he did not write, but performed and the video became well known all over the world. The Great Pretender. Imo, this is one song, that Adam simply cannot sing, and it has nothing to do with vocals or range or any of that. It has to do with content.
Freddie had to be the great pretender all his life. Live, as best he could, a dual life, public and private, and use his art to pour into the theatricality of his songs, and into the characters he brought to life, what he really would have liked to say out loud.
Adam does not have to pretend anymore. At least not about everything in his life. I am sure, he sometimes puts a good face forward and presents a story in positive light, when internally he may have different thoughts. But we all have to do that at times. The point is, he does not have to live his whole personal life as a pretense towards the public. It is still a hard fought freedom, and one which does carry a price tag for Adam, but it is possible to do it. And Adam is courageous and dares to be a pioneer. I am by no means thinking that it is easy for him, but I do think the mile marker has moved.
What I find astounding, is the generational change en-capsuled in this song.
Here is the original version by the Platters:
It is a beautiful song and beautifully sung. But what I see in the body language and performance style is resignation.
Whether that is resignation that they were presented like show poodles, performers fulfilling somebody else's ideas of a performance act, whether that was because they were presented as stars, when in reality they were dirt poor and had nothing, once they walked off the stage, whether that was race related, or whatever topic may have triggered this beautiful song to be written. The performers seem resigned to mechanically go through the movements. Their truth is nowhere revealed, they remain pretenders. Their smiles seem to be painted on, and clearly the audience did not mind or wonder about that one bit, at that time.
Enter Freddie.
Literally so, if you look at the video.
There is no resignation here. There is pride. And you could ask, well why would Freddie be proud to be pretending? The jarring contrast, between the message and the performance, of course, will make you think.
Whether Freddie felt he was pretending, because he hid his possible illness or whether it is hiding his personal life in general, or whether it is the pretense of every performer who is putting on a show for an audience, or all of the above, we don't know, but Freddie poured his life, work and destiny into what he felt he had to do, to create the show, he envisioned and/or the public demanded.
It is an accomplishment, to live with such a burden of pretense - keep the show going, no matter what. There is pride in what has been accomplished, and this pride of his is poured into this song.
Adam stands on the shoulders of Freddie, both in the songs he is performing now, as well as in the imagery, that he could build on, to find his own style. Times move on, the pretense of the showman remains, the pretense of his personal life is gone, and in fact, Adam lives his personal life in a public way for everyone to see, that keeps giving me chills, at times, in its honesty. Whether that is talking about loneliness and the wish for somebody to love, or whether that is a playful interaction with either the band or the audience, Adam presents himself as an open book to read, for anyone who cares to pay attention.
Adam may be a great pioneer - the great pretender he is not , and there is cultural progress in that.
is wrong with those people. My first Adam concert was GNT in Melbourne. I was three rows from the back in the upper balcony. There were no jumbatrons. Adam looked like an ANT in the distance. AND we HAD TO STAY SEATED. But my cup ranneth over because it was in an old theatre and the acoustics were spectacular. By Sleepwalker, my friend and I had tears pouring down our faces because THE VOICE is metaphysically osmotic and penetrates every cell in your body. I saw him up close and personal the next night in Sydney, so close you could see the glittery sweat and see how he gathers all the different aspects of his nature and channels them through his whole body and his eyes, which are like focussed laser beams when he is on stage. It WILL happen for you, simply because it must.
. This is how it went:
. So, I am going to be accompanied to my concert by two middle-aged men, one dressed in ocelot of some description and the other in modified bondage gear of some sort. 
Do you think Adam's reaction, if he sees them will be 
or this 
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