On his 70th birth anniversary, Freddie Mercury is still a champion
The song was an excellent song when I used to hear it at home on my music system. But in 1992, it was radically transformed in my estimation.
The occasion was the Cricket World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The World Cup was unique in many ways - the first to feature coloured player clothing, white cricket balls and black sightscreens with a number of matches being played under floodlights.
The South Africans were playing for the first time after the end of apartheid. But for me the most dramatic moment was the prize distribution ceremony in Melbourne when the entire stadium was awash in the rousing strident strains of
We are the champions - my friends And we'll keep on fighting Till the end
The song’s true habitat was the big public arena. The champions were of course transported to an orgasmic exhilaration but the effect on the losing team and the spectators was no less. The song was a unifying song.
I am talking about Queen’s We are the Champions. Freddie Mercury’s operatic virtuosity at the high scales, and Brian May’s astounding guitar work have made this song into an anthem - rock music’s most recognisable one at that. It is a staple at sports events.
The 1994 Soccer World Cup used it as the official theme song. It was even used in July this year to introduce Donald Trump to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland (The band was not amused and claimed that the use of the song was unauthorised).
I was first exposed to Queen and the magic of Freddie in the mid-70s when a friend’s father bought 2 LPs during an overseas trip. A Day at the Races and A Night at the Opera were both inspired by the movies of the same title by Marx Brothers.
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| The author with Brian May – Queen guitarist and Freddie’s fellow band member. |
"No synthesisers were used on this album" was written on the sleeve note. And there was a good reason for it. Aided by the uniqueness of his guitar – the Red Special – May was able to create unusual sound effects and the band had no use for the synthesiser.
And then I heard Bohemian Rhapsody. It blew my mind away, as it did with listeners the world over. This mock opera, with a gentle, introspective beginning and gradual climb to a raging metal jam and back again, was not your normal rock song.
It contained a cappella introduction, a piano ballad, followed by a guitar solo leading to an operatic interlude; a hard rock part followed and concluded with a coda.
Freddie’s powerfully agile vocals were the highlight of this baroque splendour. His dexterity in handling the voice range from low to high, while retaining the crystalline purity, was in full play and was pure joy to listen.
The song contained veiled references to Freddie's personal traumas. May recalls that Freddie was a very complex person: flippant and funny on the surface, but he concealed insecurities and problems in squaring up his life with his childhood.
Indian music lovers are aware of Freddie’s Indian connection. Born Farrokh Bulsara, he was born to Parsi parents who had emigrated from India to Zanzibar, where his father worked as a clerk for the British government.
As a child, Bulsara was sent to a boarding school in Panchgani, Maharashtra. Artistically inclined from an early age, he formed a band there in which he played the piano. When Zanzibar became part of the independent country of Tanzania in 1964, Bulsara moved with his family to England.
In the West, however, not many, including those linked to the music trade, are in the know of Freddie’s past. Roger Taylor, Queen’s drummer, has said: “(Freddie) did play it down a bit (being Indian). I think it was because he felt people wouldn’t equate being Indian with rock and roll.”
I saw the musical We Will Rock You based on Queen’s songs - the title derived from Queen’s yet another stadium anthem (due to its catchy rhythm based on clapping and stomping) in London. By then Freddie had died of AIDS. I had the good fortune of meeting Brian May (who was attending the show) after it ended.
While waiting for Brian to emerge from the green room where he had gone to meet the cast, I struck up a conversation with his long serving chauffeur and found him to be an encyclopedia on Queen. But I was surprised to know that he had no clue about Freddie’s antecedents. Freddie’s transformation – in looks, language, demeanour and attitude -had been so complete that the Indian ancestry was neither evident nor known to him.
When the most charismatic frontman of all times moves on (Freddie died on November 24, 1991), the band, even with the most skilled musicians, doesn’t remain the same anymore. Singer Paul Rodgers (formerly of Bad Company) and Queen collaborated for five years. After 2011, Queen and American Idol Adam Lambert have been collaborating off and on. But the magic of old is missing!
Freddie resides in Madame Tussaud’s in many parts of the world. He resides in his bronze statue on the Montreux waterfront. But above all, Freddie resides in the hearts of all music lovers.
Queen released These Are the Days of Our Lives in 1991, a few months before Freddie died.
Sometimes I get to feelin', I was back in the old days, long ago, When we were kids, when we were young, Things seemed so perfect, you know? The days were endless, we were crazy, we were young, The sun was always shinin', we just lived for fun, Sometimes it seems like lately, I just don't know, The rest of my life's been, just a show...
The song was written by Taylor, but it could well be about Freddie. On his 70th birth anniversary today, Freddie is still the champion!