The Impact of These Are The Days of our Lives

Having watched the News reports of Freddie's death linked in another thread on here, they mention how his most recent song was poignantly 'The Show Must Go On'...little did they know how poignant TATDOOL was, especially the video that accompanied it.

So I want to ask what was the reaction like from the public and yourselves when Freddie almost re-appeared from the dead, and sang not just any song, but a song talking about his life and also whispering I Still Love You?

As tragic as it was...it's amazing that he was able to say goodbye in such a way. And i want to the know what the response was from the time.

There was absolute massive public reaction to this . Queen fans were one thing, but the general public embraced the emotion and impact and it kept Freddie in the public conscience.
Hell, I still overhear people talking about it now, on the odd occasion.
Crikey, what a solemn Christmas that was. Still get shivers my spine when I think of it.

Had a conversation about it just 2 days ago as, once I was "outed" as a Queen fan :-) , the other guy wanted to talk specifically about the song. He didn't, as a casual observer, know it was Roger's song. But he did appreciate the point about much of Innuendo being "nods and winks", even on the songs Freddie didn't write. (Not that there are songs Freddie didn't have a hand in.)

Here in the UK the video got it's first airing in a tribute programme shown on the night (I think) of Freddie's death, to see Freddie so ravaged by Aids was quite shocking and absolutely heartbreaking at the time. I remember it reduced my entire family to tears, to see such an enigmatic, strong and beautiful man reduced to skin and bones was dreadful, although saying that what an unbelievable performance, Freddie some how still looked wonderful, a star, a shining light. The ending of the video is still a touch of genius, whether it was mean't I don't know but it felt like our dear Fred was saying goodbye to all those people, us, the fans and his friends with a smile and a glint in his eye.....perfect :-)

/ \.
Yeah it was the next night, introduced by Elton. Still got it on vhs

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[b]master marathon runner wrote: [/b] / \.
Yeah it was the next night, introduced by Elton. Still got it on vhs[/QUOTE]

If possible, would you mind transferring that tape and sharing it here?
Not to sound morbid, but it would be interesting for history's sake.

/ \.
Wouldn't know where to start mate, I'm of the old school, beermats and the back of fag packets.
Best I could do is to transfer it to DVD and post it to you, if you're region 2

^ That would be nice :)

[b]"Yeah it was the next night, introduced by Elton. Still got it on vhs"[/b]

I remember that.  Elton nearly broke down at the end when introducing the footage of Freddie.  It was very touching.

And I had heard and read that they held back the release of These Are The Days Of Our Lives prior to Freddie's death simply because he looked so poorly in the footage.

And, if I'm recalling correctly, they even put the title of the song up on the screen incorrectly ("Those Were The Days Of Our Lives") when it first aired that night.

I remember being so surprised at the time as I had no idea this had been filmed. I thought it was clever of them to have filmed it so far in advance, almost like it was planned as a farewell. They had gone to such lengths to hide Freddie's illness in his last few videos (animation, the beard, dressing him up in a big wig and deliberately pallid make up). Yet now here he was for the whole world to see with nothing but monochrome to hide behind. This is Freddie saying I'm facing my condition with bravery and saying good bye to you, my fans, as myself without any mask, camera trickery or pretence. A very touching gesture. I still love you indeed.

Freddie is the only "ultra megastar", I think, to have been able to say goodbye like that to his fans.

John Lennon was gunned down, Elvis died suddenly, MJ died unexpectedly...

The video was actually already aired when Freddie was still alive. It was shown as a "sneak preview" on a promotional show called "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" created by DoRo and licensed to Buena Vista Television, i.e Disney Television for the U.S. market. It was hosted by Axl Rose and apparently nobody thought much about Freddie's appearance.

Here you can see the end of the programme with Axl expressing his hopes for a Queen world tour right before he announced the new video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STfX-d6o-FY

Couldn't listen to it for 5/6 years after it was released. Had to leave the room if it came on the radio at work. Not just a moment in time but a beautiful piece of music.

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[b]mooghead wrote: [/b] Couldn't listen to it for 5/6 years after it was released. Had to leave the room if it came on the radio at work. Not just a moment in time but a beautiful piece of music.[/QUOTE]

Shocked to get a non-sarcastic/cynical post from you moog, please keep it up.

The beauty of the internet. Moorhead has posted some amazing things, and at time comes off like a royal twat. He's human like all of us but our snap judgements stick with us and we see his abrasive side while he's contributed greatly to this site.