First reactions to the These Are The Days of Our Lives Video?

Hey guys...I'm new here, but I've  been a lurker for quite some time. I do hope I don't offend anyone by asking this, my apologies if I do :)

I've always had this question in my head about  the These Are the Days of Our Lives video...I was a toddler around the time Freddie died and the video was released, and only got to see it much later. Exactly when was the video released...was it before or after Freddie's death? I THINK I remember watching (on Youtube) an August 1991 documentary on Queen titled Days of Our Lives, hosted by Axl Rose, which had the TATDOOL video being shown at the end, so  I always assumed it was out a few months before he died, but I may be wrong.

That being said...for those who had watched the video firsthand, I'd like to know how it affected those who were watching. I remember when I first watched it, many many years later when Youtube became popular  and I became a Queen fan, feeling a HUGE lump  in my throat watching the 'I Still Love You' bit, and for some time afterwards it was hard for me to get that image of Freddie out of my head. I'm guessing that at the time the poignancy must have been even more for those of you who had seen it back when it first came out.

I remember thinking it was a terrible vid for a terrible song (my Queen fandom stock were at an all time low in '91). He'd snuffed it by then and they showed the animated cut on Top Of The Pops. Freddie looked like that in those days so I didn't find it too shocking (since the Scandal video things hadn't looked right). It was maybe 5 years later that I looked at the normal version and was overtaken with the full power of the combination of the music and imagery. The behind the scenes footage (untinted) in the documentry earlier this year absolutely broke my heart and although it has taken time, I now rate it as probably the single most moving moment in rock history. A staggering, and it must be said largely accidental, piece of work.

I saw the video the first time in a BBC documentary one day after Freddie passed away.
It was one of the saddest things i have ever seen. It is still hard to watch, if you ask me.
Great song though.

Yes, it was extremely sad and one could'nt help feeling  a little voyeuristic watching it, but then Freddie being Freddie he just had to say farewell.

.
Master marathon runner

I first saw the Classic Queen cut on, well, the Classic Queen VHS. I thought it was moving and a great video to have been his last. It was very fitting.

Then I saw the Black & White version on the Greatest Hits III VHS and thought, "Oh, no animation? Neat." It was still moving and powerful.

I saw the full, original animated version online years later and was like, "Wow, that's an improvement from the Classic Queen version!" This original cut remains my favourite, with the B&W a close second. I now find the CQ cut choppy, but still not bad.

Ivo-1976 wrote: I saw the video the first time in a BBC documentary one day after Freddie passed away.
It was one of the saddest things i have ever seen. It is still hard to watch, if you ask me.
Great song though. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

What he said.

I remember when the Axl Rose/Queen documentary came out in '91, and yes you're correct, it was in August of that year. I thought how odd Freddie looked.I just remember how gaunt and frail he looked. I liked the song but just couldn't get around his appearance. I still have the original broadcast of that show with all the commercials from that time.

towards the middle of high school, pre high speed internet days (well, it wasn't as easily accessible) i got my knowledge of the band in small increments, cd's books etc... purchased when i got some extra $$... (well earned, and well appreciated)

...when i looked at the back of a Queen VHS (CLASSIC QUEEN in the USA...sort of like QUEEN GH2)

i wondered who the fourth guy was. and i was very confused.

I was also confused by the compilation Queen Rocks, which featured "I can't live without you" in 1998...

until then i had only known a few albums and one of the FIRST rock albums i ever heard (that formed my rock and roll history)... that being LIVE KILLERS.

...so, until a few years later while searching for vids, i bought the "CHAMPIONS" documentary by DoRo and it made sense.
That said... i wound up buying the rest of the albums out of sequence and have a great appreciation for them all... (**cough::: except THE WORKS)....

in 01' It was pretty brutal listening to MIH. Sad stuff indeed.

That said, i loved the music video, and it seemed positive despite the frail nature of the man. The cat vest showed a sense of humor, life and vitality that must have endured the man.

So my reaction was sentimental awe. It was sad as well. keep in mind i was born in the early 80s

I lost touch with Queen sometime in the mid to late eighties, other than my joyful response to their Live Aid appearance. I just didn't listen to much music in those years.

I had mentioned to a friend of mine that I was a huge Queen fan back in the seventies, and she randomly sent me a link to the Days Of Our Lives video.  I was sucked right back in to my love for Queen, and was strangely grief stricken over Freddie's demise, as well as touched at his enthusiam in the video, despite his obvious illness.  And I could hear the illness in his voice...yet it was that same old melodic, clear voice which I remember from sitting in front of my little record player in my barn as a kid.

Love the song, love the video.

The one with the animation in it is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.  To be honest I try and pretend it doesn't exist.

Now, the proper filmclip - I think the first time I remember seeing that was in 2003, as a part of the "Is This The Real Life?" documentary.  Spooky stuff.  A lot of people would chicken out of making a video while they were in that state, and I'm not surprised that Freddie wasn't one of them.

I have no idea of the date but it must have been very shortly after he died, it was fairly late in the evening and advertised as Freddie's last ever video apperance. I think probably BBC, anyway it took my breath away, I was still realling from the news of his death and this was almost as shocking really...

The colour version shown on the recent BBC doc still had the power to shock me years later

It was released in some documentary (it was called  "Queen Phenomenon"  I suppose ) just a few days after Fred's death. This part was at the end of the movie named "unreleased video". I bet that everyone who watch this then was shocked.

i saw the video first time while i watched the tribute concert from tv, when it was broadcast here in finland... not sure was if it live broadcast but anyway it was in 1992
didn't quite understand how ill he was the video cos i was so young at the time.. i was 10 years old..

I saw "The Days of Our Lives" doc hosted by Axl Rose in August 1991.  I had been a fan of Queen since late 1974 and had seen them in concert six times over the years.  I was still a pretty avid fan by 1991 and was concerned about all the rumors of Freddie's ill health.  It was especially concerning after the release of Innuendo in February 1991 and how Freddie was nowhere to be found as Brian and Roger did the publicity rounds and media hype for the new release. 

So I'm watching the documentary in August and I see Freddie for the first time in a long time.  It was like getting punched in the gut.  The first thing I said to myself was "holy shit, the rumors are legit --- he really does have AIDS."  Extremely, extremely depressing to say the least.  I knew it was only a matter of time... and not much of it.

I was more shocked by the headlong video when it was clear that Freddie was struggling physically, I think him trying to ape some of the energetic moves he did on stage in the mid eighties only made him look weak. He was dead by the time I saw these are the days and by then I was ready for it though it was still a shock and I was naturally upset. The "I still love you" at the end was lump in the throat time.