"In My Defence" is a song performed by

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 ...

lead vocalist

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 th ...

. It was from the 1986 musical ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' by Dave Clark and featured on the ''

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

. The song was not a hit during Mercury's lifetime but was released posthumously in November 1992, reaching number eight 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 ...

Background

The song was written by Dave Clark, David Soames and Jeff Daniels for the musical ''

''. During the musical, Mercury performed the song as a duet with

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

; this was the last time Mercury sang live in concert; his last performance would be Barcelona in 1988 with

Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé i Folch or Folc (full name: María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch (, , ; (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Catalan Spanish operatic soprano. She sang a wide v ...

, but that performance was lip-synced. Recorded as a solo project, it was recorded at

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...

in October 1985, about six months after ''

Mr. Bad Guy ''Mr. Bad Guy'' is the only solo studio album by British musician Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. Released in 1985, during a period in which Queen were on hiatus from recording, it contains eleven songs, all written by Mercury himself. ...

'' was released. The producers expected that if Mercury was not satisfied with the final song, they would let him record with the rest of Queen, but Mercury found the final version satisfactory. "In My Defence" was first released on the ''Time'' LP in 1986. Other versions include '(Ron Nevison Mix)' - released on '' The Freddie Mercury Album'' and instrumental version (with vocals for the last line) released also on The Solo Collection. The Ron Nevison mix is very similar to the original, but has different bass and drums, while some string parts were added and others were removed. The 2000 Remix is a remastered version of the Ron Nevison mix and has the same instrumentation mixed differently.

Music video

The music video, made after Mercury's death in 1991, was directed by

Rudi Dolezal Rudi Dolezal ( sl, Doležal, born 5 February 1958) is an Austrian film producer and film director best known for his music videos. He has directed and produced videos for artists such as Tom Waits, the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, M ...

and was a montage featuring outtakes of past music videos, numerous private shots, as well as highlights of Mercury's career. Dolezal wanted the video that showed Mercury being happy and having a good time; much of the footage is the same as the previous "

The Show Must Go On "The show must go on" is a phrase in show business, meaning that regardless of what happens, whatever show has been planned still has to be staged for the waiting patrons. There is no evidence to suggest that it is the abbreviation of a longer phra ...

" montage also compiled by

DoRo Productions DoRo Produktion Ges.mbH DoRo Productions is a film company based in Vienna, Austria. DoRo was named after the surnames of founders Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher. History Dolezal and Rossacher, also known as the "Torpedo Twins", first started ...

consisting of Dolezal and

Hannes Rossacher Hannes Rossacher (born 16 October 1952, Steyr) is an Austrian film director and film producer. Rossacher has worked with Rudi Dolezal since 1976 in their production company DoRo Productions. His contributions to the ORF youth program " Ohne Maul ...

. It also features several quotations from interviews with Mercury, and ends with the line "I still love you" from "

These Are the Days of Our Lives "These Are the Days of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band Queen. 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''. The song was ...

Track listings

UK 7-inch and cassette *A. In My Defence *B. Love Kills (Wolf Euro mix) UK CD1 # In My Defence # Love Kills (Wolf Euro mix) # She Blows Hot and Cold (single version) # In My Defence (original version) UK CD2 # In My Defence # Love Kills (Original Wolf mix) # Mr. Bad Guy # Living On My Own (Underground Solutions mix)

Personnel

* Freddie Mercury – lead vocals * Michael Moran – piano * Paul Vincent – guitars * Graham Jarvis – drums *

Andy Pask Andrew Howard Pask (born 30 August 1955) is an English musician who was a member of the band Landscape. He wrote the theme to the TV show ''The Bill''. Early years Andy Pask was a pupil at Haileybury College where he played cello in school orc ...

– bass * Peter Banks – synthesizers * John Christie – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1985 songs 1992 singles EMI Records singles Freddie Mercury songs Queen (band) Songs from musicals Songs written by Dave Clark (musician)