"These Are the Days of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. Although credited to the whole band, it was largely written by their drummer Roger Taylor, and is the eighth track on the band's 1991 album ''

Innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

''. The song was released as a single in the United States on

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

's 45th birthday, 5 September 1991, and as

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single in Ireland and the United Kingdom on 9 December, in the wake of Mercury's death, with the Queen track "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...

". The double A-side debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and remained there for five weeks, topped the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

for six weeks, and reached number 16 in Germany. The song was awarded a Brit Award for British Single of the Year in 1992. In 1999 it was included in Queen's compilation album '' Greatest Hits III''. Ron Hart of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' writes, "the conga-driven synth ballad "These Are the Days of Our Lives" is ''Innuendo'' most significant single, given that it was released on Mercury's 45th birthday, and that its video marked the last time his fans were able to see the singer alive, as it was filmed in May of 1991 during the final stages of his battle with AIDS. A ballad in the vein of " Love of My Life," it was a song that carried a significant amount of weight given the frailty of Mercury's appearance in the black-and-white video, later compounded when unreleased colour footage from the filming emerged in ''Days of Our Lives''."

Background

Reminiscing on the past, Roger Taylor penned the song as

's health was deteriorating. As a teenager Taylor had known Mercury since the late 1960s when they worked together at

Kensington Market Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Ca ...

in London before the two (along with

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

) founded Queen in 1970. The opening chorus in the song reminisces, with "Those were the days of our lives", while the second chorus refers to the present, "Cause these are the days of our lives".

Music video

The video was the last Queen video to feature Freddie Mercury in person before his death on 24 November 1991. Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher of DoRo Productions filmed the music video at studios in London on 30 May 1991. Mercury, Roger Taylor and

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bit ...

were present at the shoot; Brian May was filmed later in the year and added in digitally, as he was out of the country on a promotional tour at the time of the shoot. Following rumours about Mercury's health, the video was filmed and released in black-and-white to hide the full extent of his illness. In the video, Mercury wears a waistcoat with pictures of cats that was made for him by Queen costume designer Diana Moseley. With his farewell look straight at the camera as the song ends, Mercury whispers "I still love you", directed to his fans, which are his last words on camera.Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock. p.224. Voyageur Press, 2009"Queen's Greatest Videos".

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. 1999. Episode 1/1. 50 minutes in. (Roger Taylor) Video director Dolezal had been told beforehand to keep things speedy due to Mercury's ailing condition, but before shooting wrapped, Mercury requested one more take for the last lyrics of the song: "Those days are gone now but one thing's still true / When I look and I find I still love you". Jordan Runtagh for ''People'' writes, "On the last line, he summons all his strength for a final heroic pose before collapsing into himself with a soft laugh. Staring through the camera, he whispers a final "I still love you" before snapping his fingers, walking out of frame with a flourish". Dolezal comments, "In these last few seconds of that song, he gives us a résumé of his whole life: 'I was a big superstar, but don't take it too seriously.' And then, 'I still love you,' which is to the fans. Then he walks out of life. Even in his last moments, he planned his exit artistically. That's how he wanted it to be." The US version of the video features animation produced by Walt Disney Studios, as Queen's North American record label,

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records ...

, is a subsidiary of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

. Another video version was released in 1992 to promote the '' Classic Queen'' compilation 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.

Live performances and covers

The song was first played live on 20 April 1992 at the

Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis, ...

, sung by

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling music ...

and Lisa Stansfield. The live version was included on the 1993 EP '' Five Live'', credited to 'George Michael with Queen & Lisa Stansfield'. The song was played on the 2005/2006

Queen + Paul Rodgers Queen + Paul Rodgers (sometimes referred to as Q+PR or QPR) was a collaboration between Queen ( Brian May and Roger Taylor) and Paul Rodgers; formerly of Bad Company, Free, The Firm and The Law. Guitarist May had previously performed with ...

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 past band members Freddie Mercury and John Deacon. The song was used on 1 July 2007 at the

Concert for Diana Concert for Diana was a benefit concert held at the newly built Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 1 July 2007, which would have been her 46th birthday. 31 August that year brought the 10th anni ...

held at the redeveloped

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, London in honour of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, who had died almost 10 years earlier."Old and new stars celebrate Diana"
BBC. Retrieved 16 July 2011 At the end of the concert, a video montage of Diana as a child was presented while the song was playing in the background. A

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

is included on her 2008

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

'' Then & Now''.

Track listings

First Issue Second Issue

Personnel

;Queen *

– vocals, keyboards *

– electric guitar, backing vocals * Roger Taylor – drums, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals *

– bass guitar with: * David Richards – keyboards, programming

Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* Official YouTube videos
Queen + Paul Rodgers (live)at Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
(with

and Lisa Stansfield)
Lyrics at Queen official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:These Are The Days Of Our Lives 1991 singles Black-and-white music videos Brit Award for British Single Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom Hollywood Records singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Parlophone singles Queen (band) songs Songs written by Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) UK Singles Chart number-one singles