"These Are the Days of Our Lives" is a song by English rock band Queen. Although credited to the whole band, it was largely written by drummerRoger Taylor, and is the eighth track on the band's 1991 album Innuendo.[1] Keyboards were programmed by the four band members in the studio, and conga percussion (a synthesised conga) was recorded by their producer David Richards (although it was mimed in the video by Roger Taylor).
It was released as a single in the United States on Freddie Mercury's 45th birthday, 5 September 1991, and as double A-side single in the UK three months later on 9 December, in the wake of Mercury's death, with the seminal Queen track "Bohemian Rhapsody". The single debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, and remained at the top for five weeks.[2] The song was awarded a BRIT Award for "Best Single" in 1992.[3]
"These Are the Days of Our Lives" hearkens back to similarly themed 1975 Queen song "Love of My Life", twice using the line "I still love you". At the end of the song, Mercury simply speaks those words, as he would often do in live versions of "Love of My Life."[4]
Contents[]
[hide] *1 Live performances and covers
- 2 Music video
- 3 Track listings
- 4 Charts, certifications and accolades
- 5 Release history
- 6 Personnel
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Live performances and covers[edit][]
The song was first played live on April 20th 1992 at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, sung by George Michael and Lisa Stansfield.[5] This live version was included on the 1993 album "Five Live (EP)", credited to 'George Michael with Queen & Lisa Stansfield'.
The song was played on the 2005/06 Queen + Paul Rodgers tours with vocals provided by Roger Taylor. On stage the song was accompanied by a video of the band in their early days in Japan, including many shots focusing on ex-band members Mercury and Deacon.
The song was used on 1 July 2007 at the Concert for Diana.[6] It was a concert held at the new Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had died 10 years earlier. At the end of the performances, a video montage of Diana as a child was presented and this song was playing in the background.[6]
A cover version by Petula Clark is included on her 2008 compilation album Then & Now.
Music video[edit][]
The accompanying video was the last to feature frontman Freddie Mercury as he was in the final stages of his battle with AIDS. The majority of the footage used in the video was filmed by Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher of DoRo Productions on 30 May 1991.[7]
For the promotional video, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were present at the shoot, with additional footage of guitarist Brian Mayfilmed some weeks later and edited into the footage, as he was out of the country on a radio promotional tour at the time of the principal film shoot. The video was shot in black and white to hide the full extent of Mercury's faltering condition from AIDS (following rumours about his health that had been at the centre of much media and public speculation for over a year) following on from its use in the video for "I'm Going Slightly Mad" earlier in 1991.[7]
Colour footage of the band filming the video later emerged, showing just how frail Mercury really looked, and justifying the band's decision to film in black and white out of respect for him. In this music video, Mercury is wearing a waistcoat with pictures of cats that was made for him by a close friend, and which he loved. With his knowing farewell look straight at the camera, Mercury whispers "I still love you" as the song ends, which are his last words on camera.[4][7][8]
The version of the finished video serviced to the U.S. market also featured some animated footage produced by animators for the Walt Disney Studios, as Queen's North American record label, Hollywood Records, is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.[9] In Europe, a different, 'clean' version of the video without the animated sequences was released. Then another video version was released in 1992 to promote the Classic Queencompilation album in the US, combining old footage of the band from 1973 to 1991 plus the performances of the band from the US aired video.[10]
Track listings[edit][]
- First Issue
| Cassette | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "These Are the Days of Our Lives" | 4:10 | ||||||||
| 2. | "Bijou" | 3:36 | ||||||||
| US Modern rock promotional single | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "These Are the Days of Our Lives" | 4:18 | ||||||||
| 2. | "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (Edit) | 3:54 | ||||||||
| US Contemporary hit promotional single | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "These Are the Days of Our Lives" | 4:10 | ||||||||
- Second Issue
| CD, CT, 7" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | 6:00 | ||||||||
| 2. | "These Are the Days of Our Lives" | 4:15 | ||||||||
Charts, certifications and accolades[edit][]
Weekly charts[edit][]
|
Certifications[edit][]
Accolades[edit][]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release history[edit][]
| Country | Date | Format | Label | Catalog no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Issue | ||||
| United States | August 1991 | CD-R(Modern Rock / Alternative radio) | Hollywood Records | PRCD-10061-2 |
| 5 September 1991 | 7", CT | 64868 4 (7")
HR-64868-4 (CT) | ||
| 1991 | CD-R (Contemporary hit radio) | PRCD-8390-2 | ||
| Second Issue | ||||
| Europe | 9 December 1991 | 7", CD, CT | EMI, Parlophone | 016 2046497, QUEEN 20 (7")
2046492, CDQUEEN 20 (CD) 300201 4 (CT) |
| United Kingdom | 2046497, QUEEN 20 (7")
2046492, CDQUEEN 20 (CD) 2046494, TCQUEEN 20 (CT) | |||
| Australia | 1992 | CT | TC-2046494 | |
| Japan | 8 July 1992 | CD | TOCP-7259 | |
Personnel[edit][]
- Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
- Brian May - guitars
- Roger Taylor - drums, percussion, keyboards
- John Deacon - bass guitar
- David Richards - keyboards