Heaven for Everyone

"Heaven for Everyone" is a song written by Queen drummer Roger Taylor. It originally appeared in his side project The Cross's album Shove It, with Freddie Mercury as a guest vocalist, and it is the album's fourth track. It was reworked with Queen's music and appeared in the 1995 album Made in Heaven where it was the seventh track, and was released as the first single — four years after Mercury’s death. Queen's version reached number two on the UK Singles Chart while peaking at number one in Hungary and becoming a top-ten hit in several other European nations.

"Heaven for Everyone"
Single by The Cross
from the album Shove It
B-side
  • "Love on a Tightrope"
  • "Contact" (12" single only)
Released1988
Format7" single, 12" single, CD single
Recorded1987–1988
GenreRock
Length5:08
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)Roger Taylor
Producer(s)
The Cross singles chronology
"Shove It"
(1988)		 "Heaven for Everyone"
(1988)		 "Manipulator"
(1989)
Music video
"Heaven for Everyone" on YouTube
"Heaven for Everyone"
Single by Queen
from the album Made in Heaven
B-side"It's a Beautiful Day"
Released23 October 1995
Format7" • promo 12" • cassette • CD
Recorded1987, 1993–1995
GenreRock
Length5:36 (album version)
4:37 (single version)
LabelParlophone (Europe)
Hollywood (North America)
Producer(s)Queen
Queen singles chronology
"Delilah"
(1992)		 "Heaven for Everyone"
(1995)		 "A Winter's Tale"
(1995)
Music video
"Heaven for Everyone" on YouTube

Directed by David Mallet, the music video opens with images of graffiti messages in tribute to Mercury outside his home, Garden Lodge, Kensington in London, before showing footage of Georges Méliès seminal 1902 silent film A Trip to the Moon and The Impossible Voyage (1904).[1]

Background and writing

Some reports have Taylor writing the song in 1986 as part of Queen's A Kind of Magic album sessions, after their work on Highlander was complete. If he did, the song was not used, or was incomplete when the album was finished.

When Taylor started working on the album Shove It, he recruited Freddie Mercury to record backing vocals. Two versions were recorded, one with Mercury doing backing to Taylor's lead vocals, and another with Mercury singing lead. The backing track of each was rerecorded as well, instead of the two lead vocals being recorded over the same instrumental backing. The Taylor-vocal version is about twenty seconds longer than the Mercury-vocal version.

The Cross versions also feature a spoken intro by Taylor, as well as a spoken refrain in the middle. The refrain in the Taylor vocal has an extra lyric not sung in the Mercury-vocal version (though it appears in the printed lyrics). Both versions end with Taylor saying "And that. Is the end. Of this section." It's unclear if he means 'section' as that half of the album, or the serious-issues section of the album (this song being the only serious song on the album).

The UK edition of the album Shove It featured Mercury's vocal version, while the UK single featured Taylor's vocal version. In the US, the album featured Taylor's vocal version and neither were released as a single.

The song, Taylor noted, "had some good stuff about love and dignity; the usual antiwar thing."[2]

Music video
This image from the 1904 film The Impossible Voyage appears in Queen’s 1995 music video for the song

Queen’s music video for the song commemorates Mercury. It was directed by David Mallet and released in 1995.[1] The video opens with images of the graffiti covered walls of Mercury’s home, Garden Lodge, Kensington, before showing footage from the films A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune, 1902), The Impossible Voyage (Le Voyage à travers l'impossible, 1904) and The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon (L'éclipse du soleil en pleine lune, 1907) by Georges Méliès.[1]

A second music video for the song, directed by Simon Pummell was included on the Made In Heaven: The Films VHS and features Cypriot-Australian performance artist Stelarc operating a robotic "third hand" to symbolise a new era of man and machine.[3]

The music video for The Cross version involved Taylor singing the song on a beach-like setting, while elderly people walked past the band and climbed up ladders to reach heaven.

Track listings

1988 The Cross single releases

UK 7" single

  1. "Heaven for Everyone" (Roger Taylor vocals)
  2. "Love on a Tightrope"

UK 12" single

  1. "Heaven for Everyone" (Roger Taylor vocals)
  2. "Love on a Tightrope"
  3. "Contact"

After Freddie Mercury's death, as Queen prepared to complete their posthumous album, Made in Heaven, this song was selected to be re-done by the band as a Queen song. The lead vocal Mercury recorded in 1987 was given a new backing track and new backing vocals. A significant difference between The Cross versions and the Queen version is that there's no spoken introduction, refrain or "end" as done by Taylor on the original. Queen has offered no explanation as to why these elements were dropped.

It was the first UK single (Cat. # QUEEN21) off the new album on 23 October 1995, two weeks before the album's release. A planned two-part single, the same song with different B-side tracks was issued 30 October 1995, one week before the album's release. For the single releases, a single version was prepared, editing some instrumental portions of the song (almost a full minute's worth).

1995 Queen single releases

UK CD1

  1. "Heaven for Everyone" (Single Version)
  2. "It's a Beautiful Day"
  3. "Heaven for Everyone" (Album Version)

UK CD2

  1. "Heaven for Everyone" (Single Version)
  2. "Keep Yourself Alive"
  3. "Seven Seas of Rhye"
  4. "Killer Queen"

UK cassette

  1. "Heaven for Everyone" (Single Version)
  2. "It's a Beautiful Day" (Single Version)

US CD single

  1. "Heaven for Everyone" (Single Version)
  2. "Soul Brother" (recorded in 1981)

UK Promo CD / 12"

  1. "Heaven for Everyone" (Single Version)

UK 7"

  • A. "Heaven for Everyone" (Single Version)
  • B. "Heaven for Everyone" (Album Version)

Personnel

The Cross version

Queen version[4]

Charts and sales

References
  1. Queen Promo Videos: Heaven For Everyone Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 14 November 2011
  2. Elliot, Paul (September 2013). "The show must go on". Classic Rock. No. 188. p. 35.
  3. "UK: British rock band, Queen, produce a series of short films". Thomson Reuters. 31 October 1995. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  4. "Heaven for Everyone". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  5. "Australian-charts.com – Queen – Heaven for Everyone". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  6. "Austriancharts.at – Queen – Heaven for Everyone" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  7. "Ultratop.be – Queen – Heaven for Everyone" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Queen – Heaven for Everyone" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  9. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 46. 18 November 1995. p. 27. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  10. "Queen: Heaven for Everyone" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  11. "Lescharts.com – Queen – Heaven for Everyone" (in French). Les classement single.
  12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen – Heaven for Everyone". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  13. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 46. 18 November 1995. p. 29. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  14. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (28.10. '95 – 3.11. '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 28 October 1995. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Heaven for Everyone". Irish Singles Chart.
  16. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 46. 18 November 1995. p. 29. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  17. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 45, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen – Heaven for Everyone" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  19. "Charts.nz – Queen – Heaven for Everyone". Top 40 Singles.
  20. "Norwegiancharts.com – Queen – Heaven for Everyone". VG-lista.
  21. "Notowanie nr721" (in Polish). LP3. 24 November 1995. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  22. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  23. "Swedishcharts.com – Queen – Heaven for Everyone". Singles Top 100.
  24. "Swisscharts.com – Queen – Heaven for Everyone". Swiss Singles Chart.
  25. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  26. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1995". ARIA. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  27. "1995 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  28. "1995 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  29. "Music & Media 1995 in Review – Year End Sales Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 51/52. 23 December 1995. p. 14. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  30. 1995 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com Archived 14 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved 30 January 2009)
  31. "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1996. p. 16. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  32. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1995" (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  33. "Top 100 Singles 1995". Music Week. 13 January 1996. p. 9.
  34. "French single certifications – Queen – Heaven for Everyone" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  35. "British single certifications – Queen – Heaven for Everyone". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 November 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Heaven for Everyone in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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