No one will ever know how Freddie conducted his life and whether he was depressed or whatever so this is really a useless thread.
Too little too late.
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Posts in chronological order
I don't wish to sound rude - but was there an improvement in his writing from, say, the mid 80s until his death? I don't think so.
dysan i think there was an improvement. He became more extistential in a way.
Keep Passing The Open Windows...Pain Is So Close To Pleasure...I´m Going Slightly Mad...Delilah...Improvement...?
Really?
Really?
Not necessarily improved, but the style definately changed to become more sentimental.
Whether you like that is up to you
Whether you like that is up to you
@Stelios—
If you’re interested in this subject in general, how AIDS patients reacted emotionally to the diagnosis in the mid 80s, you could watch this:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-28X8eK5ABg
At the end of the day Freddie was a person like anyone else and I think he would have reacted as people generally did. Plus the stigma was almost worse than the disease. Those years were the worst of AIDS hysteria with many wanting to quarantine everyone who was HIV positive and people afraid of casual transmission. These topics were in the papers and on the news a lot.
This was a training film for counselors. I imagine it’s on youtube because the guy in the purple cardigan is Roger McFarlane who was the first person, in the US anyway, to start an AIDS help telephone line. Anyway, that’s how I found it, looking for footage of him.
The other interesting thing about this film is that being made in 1987 it reveals the state of knowledge or maybe lack of knowledge of HIV disease at the time. If you listen carefully it talks about how even after receiving a positive test and being diagnosed with ARC, an AIDS diagnosis was still a big shock.
People on this board often seem to think that if Freddie was feeling poorly, let’s say on the Magic Tour, or if he tested positive, that he would have known what was coming was inevitable. Not so in 1985-87. The AIDS diagnosis would still have been a big shock.
I think he worked his way through that shock and any depression and made the most of the time he had left. It could have been an emotional roller coaster though if he had a lot of hope in AZT and later in didanosine as so many did only to see those hopes evaporate.
I’ve convinced myself that “How Can I Go On” is all about how he felt.
You’re Greek right? Beautiful country which I visited decades ago and would love to visit again some day. I still have my photos.
If you’re interested in this subject in general, how AIDS patients reacted emotionally to the diagnosis in the mid 80s, you could watch this:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-28X8eK5ABg
At the end of the day Freddie was a person like anyone else and I think he would have reacted as people generally did. Plus the stigma was almost worse than the disease. Those years were the worst of AIDS hysteria with many wanting to quarantine everyone who was HIV positive and people afraid of casual transmission. These topics were in the papers and on the news a lot.
This was a training film for counselors. I imagine it’s on youtube because the guy in the purple cardigan is Roger McFarlane who was the first person, in the US anyway, to start an AIDS help telephone line. Anyway, that’s how I found it, looking for footage of him.
The other interesting thing about this film is that being made in 1987 it reveals the state of knowledge or maybe lack of knowledge of HIV disease at the time. If you listen carefully it talks about how even after receiving a positive test and being diagnosed with ARC, an AIDS diagnosis was still a big shock.
People on this board often seem to think that if Freddie was feeling poorly, let’s say on the Magic Tour, or if he tested positive, that he would have known what was coming was inevitable. Not so in 1985-87. The AIDS diagnosis would still have been a big shock.
I think he worked his way through that shock and any depression and made the most of the time he had left. It could have been an emotional roller coaster though if he had a lot of hope in AZT and later in didanosine as so many did only to see those hopes evaporate.
I’ve convinced myself that “How Can I Go On” is all about how he felt.
You’re Greek right? Beautiful country which I visited decades ago and would love to visit again some day. I still have my photos.
@Galileo1564
Thanx for the elaborate responce. I will watch this video. And yes indeed, especially the first lines of How Can I Go On , "When all the salt is taken from the sea I stand dethroned, I'm naked and I bleed" ... the way he sings them, gave me also that impression too.
Thanx for the elaborate responce. I will watch this video. And yes indeed, especially the first lines of How Can I Go On , "When all the salt is taken from the sea I stand dethroned, I'm naked and I bleed" ... the way he sings them, gave me also that impression too.
Theres no evidence of him being depressed. You can try and guess that after he found out he had AIDS he may have been, but depression is a chemical imbalance and not a feeling sadness. It would have been no different if he had found out he had terminal cancer or any other life ending illness. Its more often the people who receive the diagnosiss of a life ending illness who cope much better than those around them. So I don’t believe he was depressed as no one has ever mentioned it. Just more speculation that can never be proven.
Stelios wrote:
dysan i think there was an improvement. He became more extistential in a way.
Come now - more existential than Nevermore, Lily Of The Valley, Liar etc? He was straight off the blocks with lyrics that questioned his happiness and rejection of the world.
Listen to "Mother Love" "A Winters Tale" and tell me then Freddie is not depressed!
He would be shitting himself with fear.
He would be shitting himself with fear.
"Mother Love", perhaps. But "A Winter's Tale" is about as antithetical to depression as you can get! Both the lyrics and delivery convey an appreciation of simple beauty, summed up with the final "it's bliss".
If anything, "A Winter's Tale" implies being at peace with the world.
If anything, "A Winter's Tale" implies being at peace with the world.
For me "A Winters Tale" is Freddie looking across the lake in Montreux reflecting that he will be gone soon and just enjoying the time he has left,
That may be what you choose to see, but there is nothing in the lyrics that, upon a critical reading, suggests depression or sadness. Pretty much all words occurring in "A Winter's Tale" that are commonly associated with positive or negative emotions fall clearly on the positive side of that divide. Some clear examples:
Quiet, cozy, gentle, tranquil,
"What a super feeling"
"Tranquil and blissful"
"What a truly magnificent view"
"It's all so beautiful"
"Oooh, it's bliss"
I think you're allowing your knowledge about Freddie's physical condition at the time to influence your interpretation of the lyrics.
Quiet, cozy, gentle, tranquil,
"What a super feeling"
"Tranquil and blissful"
"What a truly magnificent view"
"It's all so beautiful"
"Oooh, it's bliss"
I think you're allowing your knowledge about Freddie's physical condition at the time to influence your interpretation of the lyrics.
thomasquinn 32989 wrote:
Quiet, cozy, gentle, tranquil,
"What a super feeling"
"Tranquil and blissful"
"What a truly magnificent view"
"It's all so beautiful"
"Oooh, it's bliss"
Hey cholera boy/girl you should apply these words to yourself, now!
Cause I think you are steaming, you are ready to burst, no shit crazy.
Mark Glascow: Your intimate knowledge of depression (not) shows. Depression is not strictly a chemical imbalance. Medications can correct the imbalance, but the depression often remains. In these cases, the depression is a result
of life experiences/traumas. It never ends. Other times it is a part of a personality type. If you don't understand, you could ask Brian May.
Please don't make blanket statements about things you do not understand. That goes for all of you.
of life experiences/traumas. It never ends. Other times it is a part of a personality type. If you don't understand, you could ask Brian May.
Please don't make blanket statements about things you do not understand. That goes for all of you.