There is no need to retell the plot of the fantastic film “Highlander” to the readers of Blimey. Perhaps someone has not watched all of its sequels, but everyone is probably familiar with the first part.
Since the blog format involves stories about song stories, we are interested in the soundtrack to this picture, or rather, the composition Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen.
The story of the creation of the song Who Wants to Live Forever
When the film was made, director Russell Mulcahy asked the musicians from Queen to write music for it. Later, he said that he always dreamed of working with them and had no idea who else could cope with such a task.
Before starting work, the group watched a 45-minute version of Highlander. Brian May was inspired by the scene in which the immortal Connor MacLeod picks up his dying wife.
On the way home, he made the first sketches of the future hit. It is worth noting that it sounds in the same episode of the picture (later the song was included in some parts of the television series “Highlander”).
The meaning of Who Wants to Live Forever
Brian took the name of the song from the movie Flash Gordon, for which Queen composed the entire soundtrack. The song was recorded with the participation of a symphony orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen, who also worked on the music for “Highlander”. In the film, Freddie Mercury sings the entire song, but May sings the first verse and a few more lines on the record.
When Freddie died, Who Wants to Live Forever took on a special meaning for his fans. Rumors immediately spread that it was originally dedicated to Mercury, that he sang it, anticipating his imminent death, and so on. True, researchers of the work of the Queen group claim that the musician did not yet know about the terrible illness when he recorded the song. Therefore, he could hardly seriously think about death, even if he felt bad.
Release and achievements
Who Wants to Live Forever was included on the album A Kind of Magic (1986) and was released as a single with the song Killer Queen on the back. It peaked at number twenty-four in the UK charts.
Later, the composition became one of the tracks on the second collection of the best songs of Queen – Greatest Hits II.
Video of Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen
The video was filmed in a warehouse in London’s East End. The National Philharmonic Orchestra and forty choristers were involved in the filming, and hundreds of candles were burning in the room.
Also popular is the video clip of Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen with footage from the movie Highlander.
Interesting Facts
- The song, among other things, is interesting because the members of the group play instruments that are unusual for themselves: organ (Brian May), symphonic drums (Roger Taylor) and double bass (John Deacon).
- An instrumental version of Who Wants to Live Forever, called Forever, was added to the album as a bonus track.
- The official soundtrack for “Highlander” was not released as a separate disc.
- Roger Taylor claimed he was drunk on the set of the video for Who Wants to Live Forever.
Who Wants to Live Forever Lyrics by Queen
There’s no time for us
There’s no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
There’s no chance for us
It’s all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us
Who wants to live forever
Who dares to love forever
When love must die?
But touch my tears with your lips,
touch my world with your fingertips,
And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today,
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today
Who waits forever anyway?
Lyrics Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen Alternate
There is no time for us
There is no place for us
What we dream about that eludes us
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
We have nothing to hope for
Everything is decided for us
This world was the only sweet moment given to us
Who wants to live forever
Who dares to live forever
When does love have to die?
But touch my tears with your lips
Touch my world with your fingertips
And we can have eternity
And we can have eternity
Eternity is our today
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
Eternity is our today
Who waits forever anyway?
Song quote
When I made this film, I could only imagine one band that could score it, and that was Queen.
Russell Mulcahy
