Queen, You Take My Breath Away - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Reaction

#queen #rogertaylor #freddiemercury #brianmay #johndeacon
Lusciously expansive, tenderly intimate, this piece ebbs, flows, and shimmers at every turn - an exquisitely beautiful ballad! I wouldn’t have guessed that it was inspired Japanese pentatonic scales but, sure enough, the influence is in there!
Here’s the link to the original song by Queen:
• Queen - You Take My Br...
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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.
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Credits: Music written and performed by Queen
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[@kendallneason3645]

I’ve waited for this one. I knew you’d adore it. It’s so beautiful! I adore watching you point out parts my untrained ears don’t hear. It makes me adore it even more. Brilliant analysis Amy thanks!

[@tomcorey5831]

Great job. I’ve been obsessed with queens since 1975. This song takes my breath away.

[@bouloan7576]

You take me to another world during one hour. Thanks a lot for this video. And love Freddie, love Queen!!

[@wmason1961]

I love singing this to my wife in the car. The fact that she loves it when I sing to her is why I married her.

[@jerkedevries]

That’s nice!

[@MRFThorne]

Lovely!

[@dianecourtney2724]

🌷 I love this… I miss my lovely husband who is now in heaven

[@guidolitjens5796]

The millionaire Waltz u would like as well! Guaranteed! A Waltz in Rock? Yesssss

[@Panda_man..]

Agreed! I know shes going to love this song as well

[@chelz1972]

Fred was a genius.

[@dianecourtney2724]

Yes he was 🥰

[@catsara9114]

I feel like this song has no genre, it is just beautiful music.

[@AliT0555]

I’m so happy you did this reaction. This piece is so beautiful. Roger Taylor said that Freddie was a human metronome. He always knew where he was on the beat. Interesting thing re your comment about Freddie’s vibrato, a group of scientists did a study of Freddie’s voice and found that Freddie indeed had a fast vibrato. Measured at 7.04 Hz, faster even than Pavarotti. Also, Freddie was able to use his ventricular folds, his “false vocal cords” creating unique subharmonics when he sang. I was always amazed at this piece. Especially when you consider this was pre-digital. I’m even more impressed after your analysis. Thank you.

[@EmeraldWings90]

Part of the point was that Pavarotti and opera singers in general tend to have slow vibratos, so, it's not that he's faster even than pavarotti - it's not a speed race. It's that his vibrato is different because it's unusually fast, and fast vibrato is not even a goal generally, but it does sound good. Just different.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

Pavarotti had a pretty normal vibrato so it is not really a good comparison. However, in opera it is often big voiced dramatic tenors that have faster vibratos, not the light lyrical voices which Pavarotti had. So those scientists should rather have made a different comparison, but my guess is that they probably did not know much about opera. Enrique Caruso, Mario Del Monaco and Franco Corelli all had vibratos that was at 7hz and over. They are all tenors with big dramatic voices. The right vibrato adds expression to the voice.

[@letsgomets002]

He's no opera singer please ,don't compare.

[@AliT0555]

Not comparing him to an opera singer. In fact, Freddie himself said he was not an opera singer. Just stating that he did, in fact, have a faster than normal vibrato and that is one of the qualities that made his voice unique.

[@trixlee5102]

@@letsgomets002 Yep, it's very rare to see opera cross over with rock/pop (usually our ears don't like the sound of trained opera singing over rock/pop music), but Freddie was certainly not formally trained. He also likely damaged his vocal cords (he had nodules) like many rock singers trying to sing over the band at rehearsals early on in their career when they didn't have a proper sound system. The nodules would cause him problems from time to time during Queen's career when they were in the middle of a rigorous touring schedule, but he had an amazing ear for dropping notes to thirds or fifths live when he felt he couldn't hit the higher pitches. That said, he also learned how to practice/train his voice better later in his career. At one point in the 80s an interviewer asked him why he didn't take a lead role in a musical and he admitted that he didn't think he could hold up over such a rigorous schedule, but Freddie was always fairly humble talking about himself.

[@davidmacfarlane1763]

The video when Freddie debuted this is even more stunning. Much simpler. Freddie, Piano, emotion....

[@simonheathcote4173]

Yes!

[@richlisola1]

Oh the studio version is much better. I must disagree

[@davidmacfarlane1763]

To each their own. However Freddie feels the live version. Given the story behind the song, that is understandable @@richlisola1

[@chrishainstock330]

Where can I see this video

[@terryhurley1]

My favourite Freddie song

[@DRRwine]

I think I know how you'll think of this in the future. As I do: PERFECTION.

[@johnfallona4348]

Freddy does ALL the voices in this, self multitrack

[@DonnaleaSpencer]

This is such a pretty song. For a stripped down, hauntingly beautiful version, please find and watch Freddie's live premier of this song (before it was even recorded). "You Take My Breath Away - Live at Hyde Park 1976". You'll see Freddie and his piano. That is all he needed to create magic.

[@79BlackRose]

The studio version is infinitely better. The live version was a practice basically.

[@papercup2517]

I absolutely agree, the stripped back version is utterly magical, and I prefer it to the more elaborate studio version. Of course, it's all a matter of individual taste, but sometimes less is more.

[@kendallneason3645]

Now that you’ve heard the recording of this song please check out the live version at Hyde Park of just Freddie and the piano. Also recommend Millionaire Waltz.

[@simonheathcote4173]

The live version makes you weep with its tenderness.

[@MarkGeraghty]

I enjoyed your reaction. This song affects people differently. To me it feels melancholy and sad. A lost life. You might like "Teo Torriate" another Freddie Mercury composition from the same album, sung partly in Japanese with a real Japanese feeling. Just as beautiful as Take my Breath Away, but then he wrote so many beautiful songs.

[@mariasanabria7981]

Teo Torriate was written by Brian May, dedicated to the Japanese public, and masterfully performed by Freddie Mercury.

[@mickgoddard]

Beautiful song, Freddie at his creative best..!

[@andreakormosnekacso4804]

Freddie ensured us a small insight into his soul with one of the most beautiful love songs.

[@Leo93087]

This song is a real masterpiece!

[@deboraclark5791]

Your analysis is always so wonderful. I love Freddie's ballads. Freddie was a man who was filled with so much love and only wanted that love in return. He poured it out in his songs.

[@joanmayfield4791]

These guys were real musicians. Glad you are sharing your discoveries.

[@joeterp5615]

This reaction… takes my breath away! Your joy and appreciation and knowledge and wonderful musicality, communicated not just through your voice and words, but through flowing expressions and body movements and hand movement… take us with you for a wonderful ride through this amazing piece. This seems like what it might have been like to walk through the streets of Paris with Renoir as your guide - adding even more joy and appreciation to that already generated by the senses of the living, breathing, vibrant, flowing scenes of life along the way. You are a marvelous tour guide! ❤️😊 I never thought I could be so enthralled by an hour long video on a single song! Truly wonderful!

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

Great analysis! Apart from Freddie's unique vibrato he also had an amazing tone to his voice, and I say this someone who also follows opera closely. Perhaps even more importantly he had expectational expression. You can have a very beautiful voice, but if you don't know how to express yourself and the emotions of the music then it will not help you that much.

[@davekite5690]

'a little late catching this one - "beautiful".

[@eirintowne]

Every time I hear that meolody, I picture walking around in Gion or somewhere similar, all immersed in this foreign and enchanting world, trying to take in all the impressions from all sensory input. Just when you start to feel the rythm of what is going on around you, when it starts making sense and your body starts to move to this new way of being you, your eye catches some incredibly beautiful person. This glimpse of perfection is so surprising, yet so absolutely perfect to express the aesthetic environment that you were just starting to get, that your whole body stops for a moment. Even your breath stops, and you are left hanging on top of all the gorgeousness ... until someone bumps into you, making you move to find your balance again, and by the time you look up again, all you see is the back of the person walking away from you. Perhaps you have just enough time to notice that the person is actually walking with a loved one, and that seems just as it should be, since you never had time to fall in love, just to get stopped in your tracks by some aspect of the person, and you are generous enough to recognize that it is a good thing for such beauty to be admired by someone else, too. You smile a little to yourself, reorient yourself in time and space, and start adapting your movements to the others around you again. It becomes almost second nature to you, strengthened by a delicious smell, or a flash of colour, and your entire being is thrilled to be part of this broad and deep cultural moment. Your you shifts a little, having grown almost imperceptively, and you feel like you're just about to break into a song like in a musical, so sure that the crowd around you would join in, and then... Another glimpse of that person, under a different light, and they look even more sublime! THIS is why your series is so immensely valuable to me, you take me far away in time and space, I become someone else with so much more knowledge for a while! Thank you, again!

[@nstrug]

There's great use of the 'Deacy Amp' in this - the cello-like sounds are Brian playing guitar through a little amplifier made for him by John Deacon out of parts found in a dumpster - the amp has a unique strings-like distortion/fuzz.

[@simonk7937]

Can't wait for this one ❤ This is definitely one of those tracks that you should react to both the studio and live version of ..

[@pedroascensao1554]

Congratulations and Thank´s for the share. This is a Masterpiece . I suggest " My melancolyc Blues" from de 2News of the world album, from 1977.

[@TheKeefed]

A wonderful piece of music. So glad I grew up in that period.

[@santiagolopez953]

Freddie ❤

[@Liz.Green789]

Freddie was such a wonderful pianist. I love how crisp and clear each note is. This is one I often think of when I think about his playing. It truly is a gorgeous song.

[@LeeKennison]

Such a beautiful song and reaction/analysis by you Amy. Really happy you enjoyed it so much and that it made your playlist.

[@marciebulsaraorcutt]

It is so fantastic that you’re methodically reacting to/analyzing these lesser-known Queen songs… This one is a masterpiece!

[@VOID-bw5jc]

What a wonderful and beautiful musical analysis. I love your reaction of QUEEN. You are an amazing person.

[@tonytjandra4798]

My melancholy blues by Queen. Just info. Thank you.

[@jerkedevries]

Great track indeed

[@BarleyC]

Oh yes!!! I’ve been hoping for and looking forward to a reaction to this one for so long!!! 👑

[@BarleyC]

Just watched - wonderful!

[@theLukedishwasher]

This was way before auto-tune entered the recording studios. What you hear is a multi-tracked pitch-perfect Freddie sounding other worldly au naturel. That’s because he was other worldly. No boundaries, no limits. I keep expecting him to come back and defy his own mortality. I wouldn’t put it past him.

[@dianecourtney2724]

My fave comment on Freddie ever 😂

[@georgeshinas8375]

Please check on the Hyde Park live performance of this song. Mercury's performance is out of this world.

[@BigSky1]

I was there.

[@rodneygriffin7666]

Love is wanting to be loved It's extremely hard to find this in a lifetime.. Be blessed and fortunate for those who have found love. Most people may never find that kind of experience. Pray for those who have open hearts who have little love left to sustain themselves. Those who deserve no pity, but deserve true love. Like every good human being deserves, and to who has none. None.

[@jerkedevries]

Thanks!

[@dianecourtney2724]

I love this song and have since the first time I heard it. I always feel as if I’m invading Freddie’s privacy … that somehow this song is only for him and one other person. Everything you showed me about this song made me see what I’ve always heard. Now I understand why the tiny time in between Freddie singing these lines make me almost uncomfortable as if I’m eavesdropping . When Freddie sings I I will find you… I always have goosebumps … even tho I know that line is coming. You said this song sounds other-worldly and that is exactly how I think of it every time I listen to it. So grateful for you Amy🌷 You are gifted and for me nothing is more wonderful than listening to a true musician explain music . You would really enjoy Freddie singing in Hyde Park 1976 in front of 200 hundred thousand people. When I watch it I feel it really does take my breath away because I think I don’t breath through the entire song. The audience is completely quiet also… have neither seen anything like it. ( the strange power of Freddie Mercury 🥰😂 )

[@bukeksiansu2112]

I have never and will never get tired of listening to this beautiful song since I was a teen in 1982.

[@Leo93087]

Amy, you should listen to "The Millionaire Waltz" of Queen as well (studio version). This song is a brilliant combination of classic music, operetta and rock. The song has abrupt rhythmic, melodic and arrangement changes. Except Freddy Mercury's incredible vocal and his amazing piano skills, you'll hear Brian May's excellent guitar arrangement/orchestration and John Deacon's beautiful bass line. I'm sure, as a classical musician, you will like this song ♥

[@neilloughran4437]

My favourite Queen song. I learned piano 30 years ago by working out songs like this. Like you I never felt the strictly Japanese pentatonic as such... a lot of European classical elements with Chopin coming to the fore for me at least. I notice Freddie always had a penchant for F#dim7 as it appears on many of his songs... Also some more modern chords like Abmaj over Bb bass for example... such a classic! Thanks for making this song more known in the public consciousness as it is a bit of a hidden gem in the Queen catalogue.

[@miroslavbraculj4325]

Dugo sam bio usamljen u mom doživljaju muzike Queen-a,ali ova dama je osetila najvrednije elemente te muzike koji je izdižu visoko od buntovnog i sirotinjskog roken rola.Drago mi je da prepoznaje najprefinjenije pesme koje su uglavnom i manje popularne.

[@jerkedevries]

Yes it is really great to hear these serious and fun reactions to Queen.; we are not alone

[@Kobayashhi]

What a wonderful piece. Freddy's genius at his peak. Loving your passion !

[@bassvibasics479]

I look forward to your reaction to both The Millionaire's Waltz and White Man. Two very different pieces, both brilliant.

[@jimkaser7368]

One of Queens prettiest, and Freddies most vulnerable vocals

[@coreywilliams923]

Thanks for for this one guys. It's my favourite ballard of all time and means so much to me. Brian has said that when recording the harmonies, Freddie's voice was so perfect, it would phase with what he had already recorded. At some points he had to deliberately sing slightly off to get the full sound.

[@tonytjandra4798]

"My Melancholy Blues" was composed by Freddie Mercury. There are no backing vocals or guitar. Despite the title, the track is more related to jazz. Amy, wanna try a jazz song ? Thank's.

[@neilloughran4437]

next album.

[@nyobunknown6983]

As mentioned the live version is great as well.

[@splitimage137.]

This song is one of my all time favorites. It's a must for my Love Songs Mixtape.

[@bighenry6633]

Freddie seems to bare his soul, let down his defences completely for his muse in this song, until he realises how vulnerable he has let himself become and pulls them back up right at the end, in a way that he doesn't in Love Of My Life.

[@foxdenham]

Yup. Beautiful indeed Amy ❤

[@carlbaker7242]

Your the first that I know to react to this song and oh how I appreciate it. You know I truly love this group so far back but I was worried about with my friends and family opinions would be because of me being African American . So I would listen with headphones only. As time past I said we are all different. Love me or hate this is my music and this is who i am!!! Thank you. Also I thought only Angles played the Harp.😇

[@79BlackRose]

This is my favourite Queen ballad (from my favourite Queen album). It sounds exquisitely personal and intimate because he wrote it for his lover David Minns. This is the ultimate version where Freddie perfected what he previously demoed live.

[@babyfacemichael1]

The choral parts of this song are spectacular. Some songs you fall in love with, from the beginning, this is one of them. There are some stunning diamonds on `A Day at the Races` I don`t know which the Cullinan is ? You have other joys to come , knowing that is just delicious for us, your audience. I think that`s why reaction videos are so great, it takes us back to our first time , and just what a wonderful, beautiful moment that was.

[@michaelt.b264]

The order is simple: Take My Breath Away, pre-coitus. Love of my life, post-coitus

[@JK-ld8cd]

one of my favorites from Queen, from my all time favorite Album- A Day at the Races

[@DenyakotMoscow14]

after your analysis I hear the song differently and it gives incredible pleasure. You are excellent!

[@fretlessfender]

One of Queens finest, trademark sound, choirs, dynamics it is all there! Your going to love this one Im sure!

[@GuimaraesDreamers]

Essa composição é tão linda, a performasse de Freddie no Hyde Park sempre me quebra

[@LarsPallesen]

I think you have analyzed Queen's compositional skills deeper than anybody else has ever done before. You really provide a different perspective on Queen's music.

[@lanehewitt7685]

You're gonna love Teo Torriate.

[@9ofdiamonds350]

The flowing of elements, I knew you would get this song. Beautiful stuff!

[@natmanprime4295]

im so glad your doing it this way with the uninterrupted listen first time round great analysis

[@markoeastwood7208]

This music by queen, brings me back to my youth, when i had a more romantic idea of the world. More clasical, more love for good music with a soul. Thats what i hear from this song, so full of emotions, with clasic influence and a little opera. Amy i love youre love for music and harp is for me something mystical, romantic, breathtaking. Brian may played his guitar like a clasical instrument, and Freddie like a opera singer, all so delicate, i would that this world today was more delicate and more vibrant and vivid and foremost more peacefull. With this song, i feel peace, sadnnes, hapiness, and with youre harp and study on another queen song it makes me smile..again;)

[@stvsmith1791]

First time I ever heard this track was probably 10 yrs old and was even then struck with how special this song is. Fun fact - the Japanese word for diarrhea is "KAKAZUME". you're welcome

[@dianecourtney2724]

😂

[@jerkedevries]

Right 😅

[@incamoran9532]

I've often thought of Freddie as someone born out of his time and who would have been at home in the courts of European nobility or royalty 200-300 years ago. He strikes me as someone who would fight a duel to preserve the honour of a lady even though ladies were not his personal preference. That just adds to the sadness of him being cut down by something so contemporary.

[@GinMae]

Thanks V-Rock! This is such a masterpiece... I'm glad you listened to the album version... the dynamics are fantastic... as well as harmonies and instrumentation! really appreciate your reaction! (p.s. I always notice that you can hear him taking his breaths! He didn't need to feature that.. I feel as though it was quite deliberate)

[@LaserRockShow]

aww ami this was so ❤❤❤ again! and you should listen to the hyde park version too, its amazing and i really like the piano ending here more than the studio version. you are right with his signature vocal fingerprint vibrato which frequency was higher than usual.

[@DropAnchor1978]

Just wanted to add a thank you for letting the song play through before you dove in with analysis and stops for discussion. It allows viewers to witness your immediate reaction on an emotional level, much like we all did when we first heard it. It lets us vicariously enjoy it that way again.

[@bluebell3720]

If you only listen for yourself MUST ! watch his live just him and the piano so beautiful and emotional Which I find this looses a bit

[@FredrikSandstrom797]

A Day at the Races is, in my opinion, Queen's last truly excellent album. Now, there are great songs on all their albums, so you'll enjoy the rest of this journey for sure, but I think the first five really stand out. You need to revisit them at some point, especially Queen II, which is arguably their most interesting album.

[@Frank-pb2rh]

Wow Freddie's harmonies are otherworldly in tone,only he could harmonize off himself but him ,he was the Greatest ever !!!a true vocal master !!!!

[@andymccabe6712]

.... ANYONE can harmonise off themselves.....you're just singing one part against another ... D'oh...!!

[@jerkedevries]

@@andymccabe6712yea…. but queen made efforts to perfect this

[@davidvitale9338]

I was hoping you'd do a review on this one. The song is the most beautiful love song I've ever heard.

[@stevehooley1951]

Thanks for the breakdown of this song Amy. Glad you enjoyed it. Another example of how great a musician Freddie was. Incredible how he could multi harmonize his voice to create a choir effect. Also the instrumental break by Brian may on the guitar creating orchestral string effects.. a lovely song and a lovely review. Thank you 😅

[@normalasamsudin1891]

So happy you decided to do this song. It is beautiful isn't it? Now, i shall wait for... my melancholy blues. 😊

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

This and "Love of my life" form a pair in my mind. Both the most insanely beautiful lovesongs one can imagine. Worthy in comparism to the great love songs of the 19th Century, like the ones by Schumann or Tchaikovsky.

[@merqury5]

This was some brilliant analysis.

[@alejandropalmapastrana8527]

And then😂😂😂😂😂.........I felt in Love ❤❤❤❤❤❤ again with Music🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@papercup2517]

Like many other people, I actually prefer the stripped back version of this song, with just Freddie at the piano, at a concert in Hyde Park, London, in 1976. It's so magical in its simplicity one almost holds one's breath for fear of missing a word. A rowdy crowd were silenced, spellbound after Freddie raised one thin finger, and told them "You've got to listen to this one." On this occasion, less was noticeably more. Please don't miss this stunning solo performance and seeing what it is we're all talking about! Having said that, I' m looking forward to hearing your analysis now of the studio version - perhaps you'll be able to change my mind and make me fall in love with it!

[@OptimistinCA]

Fascinating analysis of the wonderful song. Im learning so much from you.😊

[@karentargaryen7959]

Great breakdown of this song. I love that I can listen to it with you and enjoy your reaction, but then also go back with you and have you teach me about the song but so much more too.

[@cosmos586]

Hi, I love your reaction to this special song. Freddy's voice is so sweet. I suggest you analyse "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" from the same album 😉. .

[@edelcorrallira]

"To tell you when I found you... I love you" I know :P Really what a wonderful piece, not the kind of piece Id have on rotation from them (more into the rock aspect of them) but its wonderful really. Many great points to take into consideration when composing and arranging our own music

[@hanscafmeyer6292]

sometimes i can even hear your voice resonate in the soundboard of your harp!

[@davidmaholchic6146]

Your channel is just heaven especially today love it love you

[@ICRA95]

they were not just a regular rock band for sure

[@diegoobrunisandman8143]

Very good insight of this incredible song I suggest you listen to the live version at Hyde park 1976 I hope next song will be the millionaire’s waltz

[@きくりんきょーこ]

We can listen beautiful “silence” in this song.

[@fretlessfender]

Third time listening through your experience Amy... I came to this: Your Harp in the Wind Brian's Red Special guitar Freddies creativity. Brian and Freddie had a competitive competitive relationship in the band. 2 creative geniuses will clash somtimes no? But they both had an enormous respect towards each other. Prove of that musically is that last piece... Allthough written by Freddie, it is what the guitar of Brian can do, when left alone in a confined space, with a amplifier cranked up. The Red Special is a very responsive instrument, built by Brian and his dad and is ment to do that. Freddie picked up on that, and wrote that last piece, that is not on your score. The Red Special can do that on it's own... That is how deep this goes....

[@JohnHazelwood58]

Ok, I confirm and will be true: I can't play the harp and never will! :( But I - me 13 back then - quoted part of the lyrics once to a girl I met at an youth event ... That's when I got my first kiss! *yeah ♥music-quotes are working! :) *LUV No joke! Imagine you at that young age and a boy takes you outside to talk with you and starts with: "look into my eyes and you'll see i am the only one..." . To defend myself: I was young! And I am german! It was my first event in the UK ever and I only had some english lessons at school! I wouldn't have come up with that by myself! But thanks I knew Queen already - she didn't knew them! *haha

[@dottore3870]

Thank you both for the selection and analysis. It struck me as a bit odd that you paired this song in your liking to Love of My Life. Nothing wrong with that per se. It's just that I was under the impression that you liked Lily of The Valley even more than LOML . Still way more songs to react to and discover from Queen and so many other bands and musicians. Have a great Sunday.

[@clintonsmith5163]

I think it's because Love of My Life and You Take My Breath Away are both explicitly about one person's love for another, whereas Lily of The Valley is non-literal, kind of allegorical. It can be taken, more generally, as being about searching for something, longing for something, but not being able to find it, or have it.

[@kendallneason3645]

Love of my life was her first Queen reaction and made her interested in hearing more. That may be a factor too.

[@neilloughran4437]

I think Love of My Life is the sister piece to this. Lily of the Valley is more like a short piano piece.. a Vignette if you will..

[@sitnhere]

Amy is in her element here to the nth degree......she is literally on display in her essence. Her breath is NOT taken away by this composition, but ADDED to......with verve. Amy has put us all in discovery mode for music.

[@patrickwhite4151]

Brian May said that Freddie didn't rate himself as a pianist

[@Sarvasaha]

If you listen carefully there is a subtle sustaining overdriven guitar that plays the top note in some parts of the "acapella" section. Especially noticeable on the last line of the vocal intro. A very Queen thing.

[@muratomar6502]

The next song is great!

[@hdebard]

in that era artists experimented a lot, this song reminds me of Kate Bushes work. I like the live version in Hyde Park much more btw, without all the doings to it.

[@jerkedevries]

Yes I love both Queen and Kate Bush very much. Much care in every they do

[@clarenceflam]

This song was likely written by Freddie for his first boyfriend (David Minns) after breaking up with Mary (Love of my life) all occurring around the time of creating A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races.

[@davepault]

You are correct in fact he played it to David Who was amazed Freddie would write a song like that for him

[@Inverse_to_Chaos]

@@davepaultI wonder if Jim Hutton ever got to hear this song on record or from Mercury at home. The latter stopped performing this song live back in 1977, long before they met. (May both rest in peace.)

[@kobayashiMaroo]

listening to this makes me want to hear what you would have to say of the song "Forbidden Colours" by Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian from the film "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence".