Digital Media Concepts/Love of my Life (Queen song)
| Released | November 21, 1975 |
|---|---|
| Length | 3:39 |
| Recorded | 1975 at various studios |
| Record Label | EMI, Elektra |
| Songwriter | Freddie Mercury |
| Producer(s) | Queen, Roy Thomas Baker |
One the most famous songs, "Love of my Life" was created by the unparalleled British rock band, famously known as "Queen. The ballad [1] originated from the album A Night at the Opera and turned out to be a huge success towards many countries worldwide. The ballad was performed by all members of the British rock band consisting of lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, lead guitarist Brian May, lead drummer Roger Taylor, and lead bassist John Deacon. Love of my Life was first written on the piano and guitar by the lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury. Brian May then touched up upon the ballad with an acoustic 12-string guitar solely for live performances. Brian May also occasionally added guitar phrases to the original recording and then played the harp. Followed by pasting together multiple takes of single chords altogether in the end. Queen’s “Love of My Life” is one classic tribute to love.
Background Behind the Song
[edit | edit source]The intention of this song is dedicated to Freddie Mercury's ex-fiancée, best friend, and the true love of his life, Mary Austin[2]. Mercury's true passion for Mary Austin is clear in every performance of this song by Queen. Written entirely by Freddie Mercury himself, this song is a confession towards his unconditional love and affection towards Mary Austin.
But who exactly is Mary Austin?
Mary Austin was just an ordinary girl, born in 1951 in London, UK. Her first encounter with a future Queen band member was first, Brian May during college. Mary Austin befriended Brian May and even dated for a little awhile, and since then Austin has tagged along with May into the upbringing of a forming a rag-tag band in college with Roger Taylor. After Brian May and Roger Taylor's lead singer departed from them, they were introduced to Freddie Mercury who then later on changed the group band name famously known to ‘Queen.’ This then began Mary Austin and Freddie Mercury’s relationship, where in 1973 they moved in together, and even got engaged. Unfortunately, they never got officially married due to their relationship fallout. Mercury and Austin resided together for seven years. As revealed to in an interview with Freddie’s mother Jer Bulsara by The Telegraph, Mary Austin labored two children named Richard and Jamie, not biologically related to Freddie. Mercury became the godfather of the two children of Mary. And even after Mercury and Austin's fallout with their relationship, they both remained very close friends until Freddie’s death in 1991. When Freddie tragically passed away due to AIDS, Mary Austin was passed on Mercury’s massive mansion in West London.
Accolades
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"Love of my life" is deemed to be one of Queen’s best works put forth of their mixed portfolio. Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury takes a step back from the usual formula of Rock and writes and performs a new serenading song with his showing of his unbelievable vocal expertise. “Love of My Life” is also apart of one of the biggest and top selling Rock albums of all time, which is ‘A Night at the Opera’ by Queen from the year 1975. The album as well is also the home to one of the most well-respected Rock songs ever created “Bohemian Rhapsody.” "Love of my life" was such a hit song worldwide that it was coincided with Queen's other hit songs into a highly requested, full pledged CD of Queen's Greatest Hits.
Band Members
[edit | edit source][[File:Queen - montagem.png|thumb|Queen's band members: Freddie Mercury, Brian May drummer Roger Taylor John Deacon
- Freddie Mercury – Vocals & piano
- Brian May – Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Orchestral Harp
- Roger Taylor – Cymbals
- John Deacon – Bass Guitar
Notable Queen Quotes
[edit | edit source]Some notable quotes by Queen band members regarding the ballad, "Love of my Life":
| “ | Interviewer: Did you learn to play harp for "Love Of My Life"? Learning would be too strong a word. I did it chord by chord. Actually, it took longer to tune the thing than to play it. It was a nightmare because every time someone opened the door, the temperature would change and the whole thing would go out. I would hate to have to play a harp on stage. I just figured out how it worked – the pedals and everything – and did it bit by bit.[3] |
” |
| — Brian May, 1982 | ||
| “ | I hate this thing about trying to recreate the albums on stage. We sometimes deliberately change. Look at 'Love Of My Life', for instance. On record I play piano on that but on stage it's just Brian playing the guitar and me singing it, because it works on stage better that way.[4] | ” |
| — Freddie Mercury, 1984 | ||
| “ | "Love Of My Life" is adapted on stage for guitar, but it was written on the piano. I've totally forgotten the original and if you asked me to play that now, I couldn't. Sometimes, I have to go back to the music sheet, and I can't read that well either.[5] | ” |
| — Freddie Mercury, 1981 | ||
External Links
[edit | edit source]- Official YouTube videos: Original Music Video, Love of my Life Remastered, Live Performance at Wembley, Live Performance at Montreal, Live Performed by Brian May w/ Freddie Mercury Video
- Lyrics at Queen official website
- Lyric Review & Song Meaning
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "Top 10 Freddie Mercury Queen Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
- ↑ "Mary Austin: The woman who inspired Freddie Mercury as a muse and stood by him at the end".
- ↑ Queen Archives – Brian May Interview, On the Record 1982. Queenarchives.com. Retrieved on 2018-11-06.
- ↑ Love Of My Life – Queenpedia.com – Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, Discography, Bibliography, Charts. Queenpedia.com (2009-08-19). Retrieved on 2015-10-21.
- ↑ Queen Archives – Freddie Mercury Interview, Melody Maker 05-02-1981. Queenarchives.com. Retrieved on 2018-11-06.