The Show Must Go OnWritten by: Freddie Mercury/Brian May/Roger Taylor/John Deacon
Musicians:
Freddie Mercury - lead vocals
Brian May - guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, backing vocals
- Issued as a single backed with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in October 1991 in the US (where it did not chart). Rereleased as a Double A-Side with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in February 1992 in the US (where it hit #2). Issued as a single backed with ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ and ‘Queen Talks’ in October 1991 in the UK (where it hit #16) Issued as a single backed by ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ in October 1991 in Australia (where it hit #60), France, The Netherlands (where it hit #7), and Italy. Issued as a single backed with ‘Las Palabras De Amor (The Words Of Love)’, ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ and ‘Queen Talks’ in October 1991 in Germany.
Played live at The Freddie Tribute Concert (with Elton John who also sang it at the Bejart Ballet for Life with the band.) Also played by Roger on his 1994-95 tour, Brian on his 1998 tour and then resurrected for 2005-2008 and 2012 tours with live performances featured on The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, 46664 Concert, Return Of The Champions, 2005 Official Downlaods, Live In Ukraine, 2008 Official Downloads, and on Greatest Hits III.
QUOTES:
"It's my favorite song on the album, now. It's got that kind of sadness, but it's hopeful." - Brian May - August 1991 - Guitar World
"Typical Queen, sort of a closing track, metaphorical in a way." - Roger Taylor - 1993
"'The Show Must Go On' came from Roger and John playing the sequence, and I started to put things down. At the beginning, it was just this chord sequence, but I had this strange feeling that it could be somehow important, and I got very impassioned and went and beavered away at it. I sat down with Freddie, and we decided what the theme should be and wrote the first verse. It's a long story, that song, but I always felt it would be important because we were dealing with things that were hard to talk about at the time, but in the world of music, you could do it." - Brian May – 1994
“For some reason, John and Freddie and Roger had been playing around with things in the studio and I heard one of the sequences they had come up with , and I could just hear the whole thing descending from the skies – almost in the form, soundwise, that it ended up. It’s something that came as a gift from heaven, I suppose. I did some demos, chopped things up, did some singing demos and some guitar and got it to a point where I could play it to the guys, and they all thought it was something worth pursuing. Then Freddie and I sat down, and I got out my scribblings and said, ‘What do you think of all this?’ It was a very strange and memorable moment really, because what I’d done was come up with something which I thought was the world viewed through his eyes. We didn’t talk about it as such. We talked about in terms of the story…it was very poignant at the time, but strange, not precious in any sense. It was just a song and we just loved the idea of it. I was very pleased with the way it came out, especially the way Freddie pushed his voice to ridiculous heights. Some of that stuff I mapped out in falsetto for him, and I remember saying, ‘I really don’t know if this is asking way too much…’ And he went, ‘Oh darling, not a problem. I’ll have a couple of vodkas and then go ahead and do it.’ And he did.” – Brian May – Goldmine - 2001
“I very much like the last track on the album, which is called ‘The Show Must Go On’. It’s one of those things which evolved, and there’s bits of all of us in it. It has a little bit of retrospective stuff and it has a little bit of forward looking stuff. There was a point where I looked into it and got a vision of it, and put it down a few things; and felt it meant something special, so I’m pretty fond of that one. Sometimes these tracks havea life of their own and no matter what you do they have a certain sound to them. It has a very broad and lush sound to it, which I like.” – Brian May – Vox
ALTERNATE VERSIONS
GREATEST HITS II EDITNO YT
- NOT Essential - slight early fade.
ULTRATRAXX REMIXNO YT
- NOT ESSENTIAL - long and drawn out to be honest.
LIVE VERSIONS
QUEEN + ELTON JOHN - FREDDIE TRIBUTE 1992- The first version I ever heard...and made me search out the original to be BLOWN AWAY. It is a powerful version especially given the situation.
ROGER TAYLOR - LIVE IN PARIS - 1994- It was a great surprise to hear Rog try it but he really does do a great job. Sad hearing it from him but still beautiful...
QUEEN + ELTON JOHN - BEJART BALLET 1997- The Bejart Ballet combined the music of Freddie Mercury and Mozart to make a Ballet to fight AIDS. ON opening night, Queen and Elton performed the track.
- It would prove to be the last (to date) time John Deacon would perform with the group.
BRIAN MAY - LIVE IN BUDAPEST 1998- He didn't put it in his 1992-93 tour but did in 1998 as part of the Queen medley. So it's not the full song but interesting nonetheless.
QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS - SHEFFIELD 2005- Paul's bluesy voice really did do the song justice in a way I didn't think would be possible. I thought it was just a very powerful version.
QUEEN + WWRY CAST - LONDON 2012 -WWRY 10th ANNIVERSARY- Roger's drum riser didn't work properly so he only sneaks on at the end
But it was a nice way to end the 10th anniversary performance nonetheless!
QUEEN (BRIAN REALLY) - HAMMERSMITH 2012- I love it just for it's uniqueness - Brian doing a snippet of track accoustically.
QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT - HAMMERSMITH 2012- This was very easily my favorite version of Adam's - Nice glory note at the end. VERY powerful!
PERSONAL NOTES:
- I cry when I hear this song. SUCH a powerful number and I know the situation gives it extra weight but it is simply breathtaking. Quite simply one of my favorite songs of all time. There are times when I would say this was my favorite of all time. Just so powerful.
NEXT? We move on to the B-Side - the bluesy
Lost Opportunity
Based on London Day 3, here are some times:
- Kiev version
I wouldn't say definitely mind you, but I think it's got a better than average chance
But it was a nice way to end the 10th anniversary performance nonetheless!