These Are the Days of Our Lives

"These Are the Days of Our Lives"
Single by Queen
from the album Innuendo
B-side "Bijou"
Released 5 September 1991 (First Issue)
9 December 1991 (Second Issue)
Format
Recorded March 1989 – November 1990 at
Metropolis Studios
(London, United Kingdom)
Mountain Studios
(Montreux, Switzerland)
Length 4:13
Label Parlophone (Europe)
Hollywood (North America)
Songwriter(s) Queen
(Roger Taylor)
Producer(s) Queen and David Richards
Queen singles chronology
"I Can't Live with You"
(1991)		 "These Are the Days of Our Lives"
(1991)		 "The Show Must Go On"
(1991)
"Stone Cold Crazy"
(1991) Stone Cold Crazy1991
"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives"
(1991) Bohemian RhapsodyThese Are the Days of Our Lives1991
"Ride the Wild Wind"
(1992) Ride the Wild Wind1992
Second Issue
Music video
"These Are the Days of Our Lives" on YouTube

"These Are the Days of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Although credited to the whole band, it was largely written by their drummer Roger Taylor, and is the eighth track on the band's 1991 album Innuendo.[1].

It was released as a single in the US on Freddie Mercury's 45th birthday, 5 September 1991, and as double A-side single in the UK on 9 December, in the wake of Mercury's death, with the Queen track "Bohemian Rhapsody". The single debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, and remained at the top for five weeks.[2] The song was awarded a Brit Award for "Best Single" in 1992.[3]

Live performances and covers

The song was first played live on 20 April 1992 at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, sung by George Michael and Lisa Stansfield.[4] This live version was included on the 1993 album Five Live (EP), credited to 'George Michael with Queen & Lisa Stansfield'.

The song was played on the 2005/2006 Queen + Paul Rodgers tours with vocals provided by Roger Taylor. On stage the song was accompanied by a video of the band in their early days in Japan, including many shots focusing on past band members Freddie Mercury and John Deacon.

The song was used on 1 July 2007 at the Concert for Diana held at the new Wembley Stadium, London in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had died almost 10 years earlier.[5] At the end of the concert, a video montage of Diana as a child was presented and this song was playing in the background.[5]

A cover version by Petula Clark is included on her 2008 compilation album Then & Now.

Music video

The accompanying video was the last to feature frontman Freddie Mercury as he was in the final stages of his battle with AIDS. Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher of DoRo Productions filmed the majority of the footage used in the video on 30 May 1991.[6]

For the promotional video, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were present at the shoot, with additional footage of guitarist Brian May filmed some weeks later and edited into the footage, as he was out of the country on a radio promotional tour at the time of the principal film shoot. Following rumours about Mercury's health, which had been at the centre of much public speculation for over a year, the video was released in black and white to hide the full extent of Mercury's faltering condition from AIDS. This followed on from its use in the video for "I'm Going Slightly Mad" earlier in 1991.[6]

Colour footage of the band later emerged, revealing just how frail Mercury appeared, thus justifying the band's decision to film the video in black and white out of respect for him.

In the video, Mercury wears a waistcoat with pictures of cats that was made for him by a close friend, and which he loved. With his knowing farewell look straight at the camera, Mercury whispers "I still love you" as the song ends, which are his last ever words on camera.[7][6][8] Taylor was the primary songwriter, who produced the lyrics from how parenthood had made him reflect on life. However, the song, as sung by Mercury, is also meaningful when referencing reflections at the end of life. The band knew Mercury had little time left before death, though news was not released publicly until near Mercury's death.[9]

The version of the finished video serviced to the U.S. market also featured some animated footage produced by animators for the Walt Disney Studios, as Queen's North American record label, Hollywood Records, is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.[10] The US version also used video editing to add Brian May into several shots, giving the appearance that all four members were side-by-side during filming. In Europe, a different, 'clean' version of the video without the animated sequences was released. Then another video version was released in 1992 to promote the Classic Queen compilation album in the US, combining old footage of the band from 1973 to 1991 plus the performances of the band from the US aired video.[11]

Track listings

First Issue
Cassette
No.TitleLength
1."These Are the Days of Our Lives"4:10
2."Bijou"3:36
US Modern rock promotional single
No.TitleLength
1."These Are the Days of Our Lives"4:18
2."These Are the Days of Our Lives" (Edit)3:54
US Contemporary hit promotional single
No.TitleLength
1."These Are the Days of Our Lives"4:10
Second Issue
CD, CT, 7"
No.TitleLength
1."Bohemian Rhapsody"6:00
2."These Are the Days of Our Lives"4:15

Charts, certifications and accolades

Release history

Country Date Format Label Catalog no.
First Issue
United States August 1991 CD-R (Modern Rock / Alternative radio) Hollywood Records PRCD-10061-2
5 September 1991 7", CT 64868 4 (7")
HR-64868-4 (CT)
1991 CD-R (Contemporary hit radio) PRCD-8390-2
Second Issue
Europe 9 December 1991 7", CD, CT EMI, Parlophone 016 2046497, QUEEN 20 (7")
2046492, CDQUEEN 20 (CD)
300201 4 (CT)
United Kingdom 2046497, QUEEN 20 (7")
2046492, CDQUEEN 20 (CD)
2046494, TCQUEEN 20 (CT)
Australia 1992 CT TC-2046494
Japan 8 July 1992 CD TOCP-7259

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Innuendo - These Are The Days Of Our Lives UltimateQueen. Retrieved 25 June 2011
  2. ↑ Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are The Days Of Our Lives Chartstats. Retrieved 24 June 2011
  3. ↑ The Highs and Lows of the Brit Awards BBC. Retrieved 24 June 2011
  4. ↑ The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: These Are the Days of Our Lives Retrieved 24 June 2011
  5. 1 2 Old and new stars celebrate Diana BBC. Retrieved 16 July 2011
  6. 1 2 3 Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock. p.224. Voyageur Press, 2009
  7. ↑ "Queen's Greatest Videos". Episode 1/1. 1999. 50 minutes in. Channel 4. Missing or empty |series= (help) (Roger Taylor)
  8. ↑ Final Freddie Mercury performance discovered The Independent. Retrieved 24 June 2011
  9. ↑ Brian May 'Queen:Days of Our Lives'
  10. ↑ DVD Docum - These Are The Days Of Our Lives Queen Collection. Retrieved 16 July 2011
  11. ↑ Queen Album: Classic Queen MTV. Retrieved 16 July 2011
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Queen – These Are the Days of Our Lives" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  13. ↑ "Queen: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  14. ↑ "British single certifications – These Are the Days of Our Lives". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type These Are the Days of Our Lives in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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