15 September, 1986 – ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐งโ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐, โ๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซโ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐ง
This beautiful , heartfelt ballad was written by Brian May for the soundtrack, โHighlander.โ It was the sixth track on Queenโs twelfth studio album, โA Kind of Magic.โ
Queen was backed up by an orchestra, with orchestrations by the co-composer of the film’s score, Michael Kamen.
โThis is a very different era, of course. The song was written โ I’ve documented this very well, I know โ 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 โ I hadn’t read the script; I don’t think any of us had โ 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 โ 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 โ 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.’ To my mind, I don’t think the video does that much for the song, but it’s nice to see Freddie very formal.”
Extracted from Brian Mayโs commentary on Queenโs Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD – 2003
It peaked a respectable number 24 in the UK and has since become a firm favourite amongst fans.
Hereโs the video โฌ๏ธ
https://youtu.be/_Jtpf8N5IDE
The B-Side is Freddie Mercuryโs clever song, โKiller Queenโ This track was originally released October 1974 and included on Queenโs third album, โSheer Heart Attack.โ During its release, it peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart and became their first US hit, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100!
Freddie definitely kept his Moet et Chandon
in a pretty cabinet awaiting celebration ๐ฅ๐พ
โWe’re very proud of that number. It’s done me a lot of proud. It’s just one of the tracks I wrote for the album to be honest. It wasn’t written as a single. I just wrote a batch of songs for the Sheer Heart Attack album and when I finished writing it, and when we recorded it, we found it was a very, very strong single. It really was. At that time it was very, very unlike Queen. They all said: ‘Awwwwwww.’ It was another risk that we took you know. Every risk we’ve taken so far has paid off.”
Freddie Mercury to the Record Mirror 1976
