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talon
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Queen Discussion Thread Feb 25, 2013 7:29:57 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Feb 25, 2013 7:29:57 GMT -5

No Turning Back

Written by: John Deacon/Robert Ahwai

Musicians:

John Deacon - bass guitar, keyboards (?)
Lenny Zakatek - vocals
Robert Ahwai - guitar

NOTE - It is most likely a drum machine - I don't know who drums in the video and I don't know the female backing vocalists.

No time to fuss, no time to fret
No time to think, no time to worry
Waiting is for dreamers, give me time to catch my breath
Seeing is believing, give me time to take a rest

Cast alone with you
You know I've got to go quite soon
There'll be no time for love to go cold on us

I'm a restless kind of guy
There's no turning back now
Gotta live before I die
There's no turning back now

With every move, with every break
Gotta give my best and soon discover
Standing on the inside, there's a time to hesitate
Looking to the future, you can't leave it to the airs of fate

Visions I have seen (visions I have seen)
My dreams I wanna share with you (share with you)
But my freedom now (is all I ask of you) lord I ask of you

I'm a restless kind of guy
There's no turning back now
Gotta live before I die
There's no turning back now (oooh oooh oooh)

I'm a restless kind of guy
There's no turning back now
Gotta live before I die
There's no turning back now
I'm a restless kind of guy
There's no turning back now (oooh oooh oooh)
Gotta live before I die
There's no turning back now
I'm a restless kind of guy
(no turning no turning no turning back)
I'm turning back

(restless kind of guy)
oooh oooh oooh

- Credited to The Immortals, this was John and his friend Robert Ahwai getting together and penning the theme song to the film, Biggles: Adventures In Time - notable for being Peter Cushing's final performance.
- Obviously never performed live, the song was re-written so to speak for Japanese artist Minako Honda later on with different lyrics.

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSIONS:

JOYSTICK MIX

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Basically an extended version by you guessed it, extending some instrumental sections

CHOCS AWAY MIX

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Basically an instrumental with some incidental vocals.

PERSONAL NOTES:
- I just listened to this for the first time in years and realize it wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered. It's not a classic by any means and it is definitely dated but it is a very happy typical 80s tune so you might just like it!

Next up? Queen returns. A Kind of Magic

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Queen Discussion Thread Feb 25, 2013 17:31:51 GMT -5

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Post by gzkey on Feb 25, 2013 17:31:51 GMT -5

Feb 25, 2013 7:28:16 GMT -5 talon said:

Hey gzkey

Unfortunately it is correct. Freddie's last actual performance was 4/4/88 in the Dominion Theatre during the charity gala of Time The performances with Montserrat were in fact mimed for one of the following (or all of the below - it has never been made crystal clear):

a. Freddie's voice was starting to be affected by AIDS so he was never quite sure if he would have his voice or not.

b. The fact is that Montserrat's diva schedule was so tightly packed that it was impossible to find a time to rehearse a live version of it - as I will make mention later, even on the album it was less a collaboration as Freddie and Mike would do all the work and Montserrat would fly in, learn it, sing it, and then fly out. There was never time for a proper rehearsal.

Freddie didn't like miming but he had little control over it.

Thanks Talon! You are amazing. As we say in Spain, you are like an encyclopedia with legs.

talon Member Posts: 2,933 Location:	Queen Discussion Thread Feb 26, 2013 9:37:13 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by talon on Feb 26, 2013 9:37:13 GMT -5 :D Thanks gzkey! Glad you're enjoying it and thanks for participating!
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Queen Discussion Thread Feb 26, 2013 9:38:31 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Feb 26, 2013 9:38:31 GMT -5

A Kind Of Magic

A little background:

After having planned to take time off, Live Aid really invigorated the band and they went back in the studios in September. Two weeks later One Visionwas done and released but the rest of the album would have to wait a bit. During this time they were approached by filmmaker Russell Mulcahy who was making Highlander a fantasy tale starring Christopher Lambert (Hmmm...

) and Sean Connery. He approached the band about doing a theme song, perhaps another one but the band liked what they saw so they decided to contribute a bunch of new songs for it.

Some would later argue that it was detrimental to the album as instead of having a Highlander soundtrack with some of Michael Kamen's score, now A Kind Of Magic was half from the film, a single from a year prior, and a few other hodge podge tracks making the album a bit scattered.

However, the album was one of their most successful around the world (except for the US where they were snakebit for various reasons. In fact they would only start to crawl back to respectability in the US during their next album and finally back for their last before's Freddie's death woke America up again at least for awhile.

It would also launch their biggest and what would sadly turn out to be their final tour.

It sold roughly 14 million copies worldwide hitting #1 in the UK, #46 in the US, 12 in Australia, #3 in Austria, #50 in Canada, #2 on the Dutch carts, #6 in France, #13 in Italy, #25 in Japan, #5 in Norway, #9 in Sweden, and #4 in West Germany.

Tracks on the album:
1. One Vision (Mercury/May/Taylor/Deacon)
2. A Kind Of Magic (Taylor)
3. One Year Of Love (Deacon)
4. Pain Is So Close To Pleasure (Mercury/Deacon)
5. Friends Will Be Friends (Mercury/Deacon)
6. Who Wants To Live Forever (May)
7. Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme) (May)
8. Don't Lose Your Head (Taylor)
9. Princes Of The Universe (Mercury)

Additional released tracks:
10. Blurred Vision (Mercury/May/Taylor/Deacon)
11. A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling (Taylor)
12. Forever (May)

Unreleased tracks
13. New York, New York (Kander/Ebb)
14. Battle Scene (May?)
15. Butterfly (May)
16. Back To Storm (Mercury?)

First song up? One Vision

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Queen Discussion Thread Feb 26, 2013 9:41:01 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Feb 26, 2013 9:41:01 GMT -5

One Vision

Written by: Freddie Mercury/Brian May/Roger Taylor/John Deacon

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, sampler
Brian May - guitars, synthesizer, sampler
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, electronic drums

(God works in mysterious ways ... mysterious ways)

One man one goal one mission
One heart one goal just one solution
One flash of light yeah one god one vision

One flesh one bone
One true religion
One voice one hope
One real decision
Wo wo wo wo gimme one vision

No wrong no right
I'm gonna tell you there's no black and no white
No blood no stain
All we need is one world wide vision

One flesh one bone
One true religion
One race one hope
One real decision
Wo wo wo wo oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah

I had a dream
When I was young
A dream of sweet illusion
A glimpse of hope and unity
And visions of one sweet union
But a cold wind blows
And a dark rain falls
And in my heart it shows
Look what they've done to my dreams

So give me your hands
Give me your hearts
I'm ready
There's only one direction
One world one nation
Yeah one vision

No hate no fight
Just excitation
All through the night
It's a celebration wowowowo yeah

One one one one...
One vision...

One flesh one bone
One true religion
One voice one hope
One real decision

Gimme one light
Gimme one hope
Just gimme
One man one man
One bar one night
One day hey hey
Just gimme gimme gimme gimme
Fried chicken

- Inspired by Martin Luther King rather than the assumed Live Aid (which pissed Roger off), this was the first time the band allowed cameras in to film the creative process. Brian later said they didn't like it as they all found themselves hamming it up a bit for the cameras.

- Although John is credited he claims he was away for most of the writing.

- Some of Roger's original lyrics included "Just one politician" and "One goddamned religion"

- The opening distorted voices say: "God works in mysterious ways" (said by Freddie) and "Mysterious ways" (said by Brian).

- Issued as a single in the UK where it hit #7 and in the US where it hit #61.

QUOTES:
- "Freddie was on the phone, and he wanted to go back into the studio and do some more recording. So, in the end, we went back into the studio, and we actually recorded another single. It was his idea, really, that we could go in and actually write a song together. In fact, I was late getting to the recording sessions because I was on holiday at the time, but it's credited as a Queen composition, but to be honest, I would say it was mainly Roger, Brian, and Freddie that did most of the writing for it." - John Deacon - 1985

- "The original words were actually about Martin Luther King, Jr., and now I haven't got a clue what it's about! Somebody said it was about Bob Geldof, but I don't think it is."
Do you know the meaning of the original set of lyrics?
"No, not anymore! Well, they changed my words!"
Who did?
"That rotter Freddie!" - Roger Taylor – 1986

- When answering accusations that the single was a cash-in on Live Aid: "I was absolutely devastated when I saw that in the press. It was a terrible mistake, and I was really annoyed about it. Some public relations person got hold of the wrong end of the stick. I went absolutely bananas when I saw that." - Roger Taylor - 1986

- "We do a lot of stuff for charities, but 'One Vision' was a way of getting back to what we're doing. And if we didn't run ourselves as a business, we wouldn't be around for the next Live Aid. We're not in the full-time business of charity at all. We're in the business of making music, which is a good enough end in itself." - Brian May - 1986

- "There's a lot of influences on here: the drum solo on here is just an opportunity to do strange, psychedelic things." - Brian May - 2003

- "It was basically my lyric with the others putting in the odd line. It was a good collaboration on that song." - Roger Taylor - 2003

- "We made a very rare decision to have documentary cameras in there while we were recording, but the documentary cameras actually ruined the whole thing, because I think everyone was so conscious of them being there – everyone sort of played to the cameras. And when I watch any pieces of that now, I think it's totally false." - Brian May – 2003

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSIONS

SINGLE VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Mainly cuts out the longer intros/outros

EXTENDED VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL but nice.
- Some additional percussion and Freddie bits.

7" PROMO VERSION
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- The single version with a bit more of the intro pruned.

CLASSIC QUEEN VERSION
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Keeps the intro, but still excises the outro.

SILLY VISION

- ESSENTIAL
- Basically a practice session from The Magic Years documentary with Freddie adlibbing hilarious lyrics:
''God works in misterious waaaays!
And hey people! Around the world...I look foward to those glorious days once agaaain!''

''One man, one goal, one true religion.
One Dump, one turd, two tits, John Deacon.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Ckicken Feed babe!
One Heart, one soul, one sex position!
One shrimp, one bra, one clam, one chicken! Hey!
One Man, one goal! One Vivvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvsion!''

UNRELEASED VERSIONS

OUTTAKES
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Not many differences, just an earlier take.

OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:

LIVE MAGIC VERSION

- AUDIO ONLY
- From Knebworth Park, the final Queen show.

LIVE AT WEMBLEY - 1986

- From the legendary Wembely gigs

HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY VERSION
- AUDIO ONLY
- Great set opener!

QPR - LIVE IN UKRAINE

- QPR did this song for only a few times during the 2008 tour before abandoning it. It was a truncated version and they had a lot of problems with the timing. Still a great opener!

PERSONAL NOTES:
- I LOVE this song. This is a great mood lifter. It's a flat out rocker that just makes you sing and tap your feet. Fun!

Next up? A Kind Of Magic (the song)

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Queen Discussion Thread Feb 27, 2013 10:06:19 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Feb 27, 2013 10:06:19 GMT -5

A Kind Of Magic

Written by: Roger Taylor

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, synthesizers
John Deacon - bass guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, electronic drums, drum machine, synthesizer, backing vocals
Brian May - guitars

It's a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
A kind of magic
One dream one soul one prize one goal
One golden glance of what should be
It's a kind of magic
One shaft of light that shows the way
No mortal man can win this day
It's a kind of magic
The bell that rings inside your mind
Is challenging the doors of time
It's a kind of magic
The waiting seems eternity
The day will dawn of sanity
Is this a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
There can be only one
This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be done
This flame that burns inside of me
I'm hearing secret harmonies
It's a kind of magic
The bell that rings inside your mind
Is challenging the doors of time
It's a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
The rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be will soon be
Will soon be done
This is a kind of magic
There can be only one
This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be done, done
Magic, it's a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic
Magic magic magic magic
Ha ha ha it's magic
It's a kind of magic

- Issued as a single and hit #3 in the UK and #42 in the US.

- Roger had written it for Highlander after a line in the movie. However Freddie soon took over and rearranged it, even adding a bassline recycled from Keep Passing The Open Windows to turn it into a pop hit. Roger's original more rock version was heard during the credits for the film.

- Played live through 1986, and then Roger played it on his solo tours in 1994 and 1999 and brought it back for QPR & QAL. With WPR Roger sometimes shared vocals with Paul. In 2008 towards the end he actually drummed and sang lead at the same time!

QUOTES:
- “Freddie totally lightened it up to make it a commercially accessible kind of thing, putting in this bass kind of thing and making little sort of mantras out of it. Originally it was much more filming, in fact it was used at the end of the movie, Highlander, as the closing credits, and it was much less sort of ‘bounce’ oriented, it had much more broken-up tempo and it was a sort of grander concept. We then reworked it, and I know Freddie took an interest in the song; and we reworked it into a single, really.” – Roger Taylor

- "Basically the song is an actual line from the movie, and that was where the song came from. It’s just sort of about an immortal, I suppose. ‘This rage that lasts a thousand years, Will soon be gone.’ And all that. It was written for the movie and it became very popular on stage, and I used to remember when we played it on the 1986 tour, it used to go down incredibly well.” – Roger Taylor

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSIONS:

ORIGINAL HIGHLANDER VERSION

- ESSENTIAL
- I prefer the more rocking version myself.

ORIGINAL VERSION EDIT

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Edits out the magic voices intro - placed over Wembley/fire picture gallery.

A KIND OF A KIND OF MAGIC

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Mostly instrumental.

EXTENDED VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Adds a bit more instrumentals to the track.

HOT TRACKS MIX & ULTRATRAXX MIX

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Dancy remixes.

GREATEST HITS 2 FADE
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Fades out quicker

A KIND OF VISION DEMO

- ESSENTIAL
- An early demo which had bits of One Vision and A Kind Of Magic together before Roger split them into two songs. Some great ideas here.

OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:

LIVE MAGIC VERSION

- AUDIO ONLY.

LIVE AT WEMBLEY

HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY VERSION

-A great version!

RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS VERSION

-Paul handles it well...not as good as Freddie or Roger, but decent!

UNOFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS:

ROGER TAYLOR - MICK RONSON TRIBUTE 1994

- AUDIO ONLY but one of the first times Roger sang the song.

ROGER TAYLOR - LIVE IN MANCHESTER 1999

- AUDIO only
- Great performance though.

QPR - LIVE IN SANTIAGO 2008

- I LOVE seeing Roger drum and sing at the same time. I wish he did the QAL gigs like this.

QAL - LIVE IN KIEV 2012

- One of the best performances ever of the song. Roger seemed reenergized, Brian was blazing through portions of it. Just a great verison of a great track!

PERSONAL NOTES:
- I prefer the rock version unsurprisingly and the pop one is a bit droll for me. But I love it when done live. And I think Roger's voice suits it best. All in all another decent track!

Next up? John's big contribution, One Year Of Love

Last Edit: May 30, 2014 7:12:14 GMT -5 by talon

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Queen Discussion Thread Feb 28, 2013 8:10:59 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Feb 28, 2013 8:10:59 GMT -5

One Year Of Love

Written by: John Deacon

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
John Deacon - bass guitar, synthesizer, sampler, drum programming
Roger Taylor - drums (?), tambourine (?)
Steve Gregory - saxophone
Lynton Naiff - string arrangement

**NOTE - it's possible that like Brian, Roger doesn't appear at all and it's all programmed drums.

Just one year of love
Is better than a lifetime alone
One sentimental moment in your arms
Is like a shooting star right through my heart
It's always a rainy day without you
I'm a prisoner of love inside you -
I'm falling apart all around you - yeah
My heart cries out to your heart
I'm lonely but you can save me
My hand reaches for to your hand
I'm cold but you light the fire in me
My lips search for your lips
I'm hungry for your touch
There's so much left unspoken
And all I can do is surrender
To the moment just surrender

And no-one ever told me that love would hurt so much
Oooh yes it hurts
And pain is so close to pleasure
And all I can do is surrender to your love
Just surrender to your love
Just one year of love
Is better than a lifetime alone
One sentimental moment in your arms
Is like a shooting star right through my heart
It's always a rainy day without you
I'm a prisoner of love inside you
I'm falling apart all around you
And all I can do is surrender

- Issued as a single in France and Spain (chart information is unclear).
- The rare usage of an outside musician in Steve Gregory on sax. John would later return the favor on his album.
- A Highlander song.
- This was never attempted live.

QUOTE:
- "John wrote it, and that was written around a different romantic interest. It's about the Highlander as he is in the 20th century when he's just about to fall in love again, even though he said he wouldn't - har har! That's a romantic song too." - Brian May - 1986

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

EXTENDED VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL - from a DVD release of The Highlander - The Immortal Edition
- This adds a more instrumental beginning.

FILM VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- As it is in the film so some dialogue.

EARLY VERSION
NO YT VID - I DON'T HAVE THIS ONE
- Features less orchestra and includes a guitar solo from John!

PIANO VERSION
NO YT VID
- More piano and Fred on this one obviously but I haven't heard the full thing.

HOLLYWOOD PROMO EDIT
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Issued as a promo CD backed with ‘We Are The Champions’ and ‘Barcelona’ in 1992 in the US.
- Edits out some of the instrumental section

PERSONAL NOTES:
- I love the lyrics and the sentiment. I just personally don't like sax in rock songs. I never have. Just a personal preference. So I don't like that. It's also very syrupy - luckily Freddie makes it listenable but it's definitely not my favorite Queen track. Next up? Freddie and John do motown to the chagrin of many Queen fans but I have grown to like it quite a bit! Pain Is So Close To Pleasure

Last Edit: Feb 28, 2013 8:15:03 GMT -5 by talon

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Queen Discussion Thread Mar 1, 2013 7:57:23 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Mar 1, 2013 7:57:23 GMT -5

Pain Is So Close To Pleasure

Written by: Freddie Mercury/John Deacon

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, synthesizer, sampler, piano
John Deacon - bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drum programming, synthesizer, sampler
Brian May - guitars
Roger Taylor - drums

Oooh oooh pain is so close to pleasure oh yeah
Sunshine and rainy weather go hand in hand together all your life
Oooh oooh pain is so close to pleasure everybody knows
One day we love each other then we're fighting one another all the time

When I was young and just getting started
And people talked to me they sounded broken hearted
Then I grew up and got my imagination
And all I wanted was to start a new relation
So in love but love had a bad reaction
I was looking for some good old satisfaction
But pain is all I got when all I needed was some love and affection

Oooh oooh pain is so close to pleasure yeah yeah
Sunshine and rainy weather go hand in hand together all your life
Pain and pleasure
Oooh oooh pain and pleasure

When your plans go wrong and you turn out the light
But inside of your mind you have to put up a fight
Where are the answers that we're all searching for
There's nothing in this world to be sure of anymore
Some days you're feeling good some days you're feeling bad
But if you're feeling happy someone else is always sad
Let the sweetness of love wipe the tears from your face
For better for worse so let's make the best of the rest of our years

Oooh oooh pain is so close to pleasure I told you so
Sunshine and rainy weather go hand in hand together all your life
Pain and pleasure
Oooh oooh pain is so close to pleasure yeah yeah
Sunshine and rainy weather go hand in hand together all your life
All your life
Pain - pleasure ....

- Issued as a single in the US only after a drastic remix but it did not chart.
- This was never attempted live and I doubt it ever will be

QUOTE
- "There's a song called 'Pain Is So Close To Pleasure' which I started off, and I think again John and Freddie worked together on it. That's really sort of a motown sounding track, very unusual for us." - Brian May - 1986

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSION

SINGLE MIX

- ESSENTIAL
- It changes the instrumental beginning, adds a little section and makes the whole thing a bit punchier and crisper. A definite improvement.

EXTENDED VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL but nice.
- This version actually extends the single version, not the album version.

PERSONAL NOTES: This is not high on many Queen fan's lists but it is a very guilty pleasure of mine that took me awhile to get into. I used to skip it during listens to this album but I gave it another shot a few years back and especially after getting the single mix and now it's one of my favs on the album! Freddie's falsetto and choir harmonies are awesome!

Next up? Freddie tries to create another singalong ala We Are The Champions in Friends Will Be Friends

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Queen Discussion Thread Mar 3, 2013 4:55:43 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Mar 3, 2013 4:55:43 GMT -5

I missed a day! :( Sorry about that

I'll give you two today to make up for it...

Friends Will Be Friends

Written by: Freddie Mercury/John Deacon

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals, piano, synthesizer, sampler
Brian May - guitars, backing vocals
John Deacon - bass guitar, rhythm guitar
Roger Taylor - drums, backing vocals
Spike Edney - keyboards

Another red letter day
So the pound has dropped and the children are creating
The other half ran away
Taking all the cash and leaving you with the lumber
Got a pain in the chest
Doctor's on strike what you need is a rest

It's not easy love but you've got friends you can trust
Friends will be friends
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention
Friends will be friends
When you're through with life and all hope is lost
Hold out your hands because friends will be friends right till the end

Now it's a beautiful day
The postman delivered a letter from your lover
Only a phone call away
You tried to track him down but somebody stole his number
As a matter of fact
You're getting used to life without him in your way

It's so easy love because you got friends you can trust
Friends will be friends
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention
Friends will be friends
When you're through with life and all hope is lost
Hold out your hands because friends will be friends right till the end

It's so easy love because you got friends you can trust
Friends will be friends
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention
Friends will be friends
When you're through with life and all hope is lost
Hold out your hands because friends will be friends right till the end

Friends will be friends
When you're in need of love they give you care and attention
Friends will be friends
When you're through with life and all hope is lost
Hold out your hands because right till the end
Friends will be friends

- Issued as a single and hit #14 in the UK. Also issued in Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands (where it hit #17), New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, and Spain. Issued as a single backed with ‘Gimme The Prize’ in June 1986 in Brazil and on cassette in New Zealand.
- Written with a fan singalong in mind. This is why they made the somewhat controversial decision to include it on the Magic Tour slotted BETWEEN We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. Despite liking the song, Brian later admitted that that was a setlist mistake and that they should never keep WWRY and Champions apart like that. 1986 was the only year it's been played live.

QUOTE:
- "Freddie’s written a song called ‘Friends Will Be Friends,’ and I think Freddie and John worked on it together. It’s something which I took to heart very much as well because it’s kind of a traditional Queen sound. It has this…if you can remember ‘We Are The Champions’ or ‘Play the Game’, it’s in that kind of mould, it has all the Queen trademarks. And yet it’s a new song and a new idea, and that’s something I instantly related to. Very nice. Very good track. It sounds very complete.” – Brian May

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSIONS:

VIDEO VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Basically as the video is the band "performing" the song, the video adds in some crowd noise and a singalong and a bit drum beat from Roger at the end.

EXTENDED VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Some additional instrumental sections.

FRIENDS WILL BE FRIENDS WILL BE FRIENDS
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Basically the extended version with a truncated outro.

OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS

LIVE MAGIC VERSION

- AUDIO ONLY

LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM DAY 1

LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM DAY 2

- From the legendary Wembley gigs. Fun performances.

UNOFFICIALLY RELEASED VERSION

LIVE AT LEIDEN 1986

- One of only two performances that are practcially the full song. After that it was chopped in half.

PERSONAL NOTES: Freddie definitely knows how to write a good singalong! Nice sentiment, nice song, great for live performances!

Next up? One of Queen's absolute best...Who Wants To Live Forever

Last Edit: Mar 3, 2013 4:58:28 GMT -5 by talon

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Queen Discussion Thread Mar 3, 2013 5:47:31 GMT -5

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Post by talon on Mar 3, 2013 5:47:31 GMT -5

Who Wants To Live Forever

Written by: Brian May

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
Brian May - synthesizer, guitars, backing vocals, drum programming, orchestral arrangements
Roger Taylor - backing vocals
Michael Kamen - orchestral arrangements, conductor
National Philharmonic Orchestra - strings

There's no time for us
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away from us

Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever....?

There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us

Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?

Who dares to love forever?
When love must die

But touch my tears with your lips
Touch my world with your fingertips
And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today

Who waits forever anyway?

- Issued as a single that hit #24 in the UK. Also issued in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and Spain.
- On the album version, Brian actually sings the first verse (and part of the bridge) and the Freddie comes in for the second verse. In the film version, Freddie sings the first verse as well.
- Written by Brian for Highlander after viewing a rough cut of the film.
- Played during the 1986 tour and brought back for the Freddie Tribute with Seal performing the lead and again with Adam Lambert in 2012.

QUOTES:

- "The hero of [Highlander] discovers in his first battle that he can't die, and unfortunately he finds that he falls in love with this girl, and everybody tells him that it's a bad idea if they stay together because eventually she must grow old and die, and he won't. But nevertheless he does, he stays with her and she does grow old and she dies in his arms and she says, 'I never understood why you stayed with me,' and he says, 'I see you just the same as I saw you when I first met you', and she's old and she's dying. I was very moved by that and I wrote this song called 'Who Wants To Live Forever (When Love Must Die)'." - Brian May - 1986

- "This is a very different era, of course. The song was written – I've documented this very well, I know – but what happened was we went to see the Highlander rushes with Russell Mulcahy, and that was our first experience in any way with Highlander – I hadn't read the script; I don't think any of us had – and it was very moving. [The film is] about a man who becomes conscious that he's immortal, and he's reluctant to accept that fact, but he's told that if he falls in love he's in big trouble, but of course he falls in love anyway. And the girl that he falls in love with eventually grows old and dies in his arms, and that kind of opened up a floodgate in me – I was dealing with a lot of tragedies in my life: the death of my father, the death of my marriage, and so forth. I could immediately hear this 'Who Wants To Live Forever' in my head, and it was almost complete in the car going home – I remember singing it to my manager as he drove me home, and he was pretty surprised. He said, 'Where did that come from?' and I said, 'I don't even know.'" - Brian May - 2003

- "Yeah, I got quite drunk doing this I couldn't remember my bits. I must've been drunk, because I'm dressed appallingly in some denim outfit. I must've fallen into a vat of bleach! This was a long, boring shoot, and it's all terribly serious. It looks a bit religious, so I can't say I'm very keen on that... I really love the song in the context of the Highlander film, with all the moving shots of the highlander and his wife, and she's getting old and it's all shots in the Highlands, and I thought that was very beautiful and very moving." - Roger Taylor - 2003

- "To my mind, I don't think the video does that much for the song, but it's nice to see Freddie very formal." - Brian May – 2003

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSIONS:

FILM VERSION

- ESSENTIAL
- Lovely version - this is not really a released version. The version in the film is Freddie but cut up with dialogue and pauses, etc. So a fan took Freddie's vocal and put it onto the regular track as a remix of sorts. It works very well.

SINGLE EDIT

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Just edits out the outro

VIDEO VERSION

- NOT ESSENTIAL but nice
- The official video that also includes some extra guitar in the middle.

GREATEST HITS 2 EDIT
NO YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Keeps a bit more of the outro than the Single Edit.

THE ALPS VERSION
NO YT VID
- In 2007 Brian "scored" a documentary film called "The Alps" by including a bunch of Queen tracks, reworked and in some cases playing new variations of them - in this case in snippets.

QUEEN + IAN & BELINDA

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- Brian, Roger, & John recorded this with young tv actors Ian & Belinda for a charity single in 1989 for the British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal.
- It features a rearranged ending that in all honesty is a better more definitive ending of the track. I wish I could have heard Freddie with this ending.
- During this time Brian had also been writing a protest song called The Green Parade intending it to be a B-Side but it never came to fruition. It is Brian's favorite protest song though and he posted some lyrics on his website:

Ooh - does your heart beat faster
Ooh - taste the air we breathe
Ooh - in the tears and the laughter
Marching in the Green,
Marching in the Green
Parade.

QUEEN + IAN & BELINDA EXTENDED & INSTRUMENTAL
No YT VID
- NOT ESSENTIAL - adds instrumental sections to the extended while the instrumental is the backing track only.

QUEEN + LOUISA MAY

- ESSENTIAL because it's cute.
- While recording the backing track for Ian & Belinda, Brian had his then 8 year old daughter, Louisa sing the track. MOST cute, especially when she drops the music in the middle - whooopsie!

BRIAN MAY + JENNIFER RUSH
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv8rZ5aOnuk
- ESSENTIAL
- Brian plays guitar, keyboards, does backing vocals and even does the second verse lead vocal!
UNRELEASED VERSIONS:

SKIP DEMO

- NOT ESSENTIAL BUT INTERESTING
- A VERY rough rough keyboard run through of the track - most likely Brian just laying down ideas.

OFFICIALLY RELEASED LIVE VERSIONS

LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM DAY 1

LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM DAY 2

- Day 2 includes Freddie's banter with the audience assuring them that despite rumors, Queen wasn't going to split up and that they'd stay together until "they fucking well died". Prophetic.

QUEEN + SEAL - THE FREDDIE MERCURY TRIBUTE

- A funny quote from Seal was that they lowered the key to the song and it seemed to fit him better. In fact he thought it might be the end of his career! It was the first song to make Seal cry.
- Features the Ian & Belinda style ending.

UNRELEASED LIVE:

BRIAN MAY + KERRY ELLIS + ADAM PASCAL - LONDON 2010

- This was more Kerry as Brian really only does the solo but it is a good one..and to hear Adam Pascal sing anything is amazing also!

QAL - LIVE IN KIEV 2012

- If there was one song that Adam made a real statement on in his defining moment with the band, I think this was it. His take on it was beautiful and spot on - very powerful. I know many Glamberts stake on The Show Must Go On and I appreciate that (and his performance) - but to me that can only be done truly and emotionally by Freddie. This song though was worth the price of admission.

PERSONAL NOTES:
- A Masterpiece. Brian's song is emotional, powerful, beautiful. I get emotional listening to it. Plain and simple masterpiece.

Next? Queen does the hardest rocking they've done in some time! The headbanging Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme).

Last Edit: Oct 21, 2014 6:16:15 GMT -5 by talon

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