Ffloramint - Chopaeng

Brian in studio 😔✨

Freddie Mercury gives a radio interview after their show in Detroit, January* Boston, February 1977.

It's so lovely oh my god 🥰 He's so toughtful and soft-spoken, chuckling to himself saying "oh dear, oh dear"! Also, the mic must be so close to him! I listened to it with headphones and it was like he was speaking directly into my ear.

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Some interesting bits (time stamps approximate):

6:10 - talking about being business savy and learning from Smile's experience getting ripped off

14:40 - Freddie got the idea of playing the entirety of BoRhap live while rehearsing for the tour in Boston

18:30 - Roger has books about the Marx brothers and Freddie sees some parallels between their and Queen's approach to their art (meticulous)

23:15 - "That's the whole fucking point of doing it!"

23:50 - they weren't confident initially to play the lighter stuff (Freddie at the piano etc.) on stage when they were just starting out, focusing on the hard rock aspect instead

24:45 - Freddie is being served tea

26:30 - They want to do Long Away live and have rehearsed it, but don't feel it's quite right yet [spoiler: they're never going to play it live *cries* I wonder who'd have sung it, Freddie or Brian...]

27:40 - Somebody to Love is 'nerve-wrecking' and 'a killer': "The first time we ever did it we did it so fast - we just wanted to get it over with."

27:36 - "You want some tea?"

29:10 - Freddie munching on a biscuit?

36:30 - How to keep an accurate picture of yourself with all the things written in the press. Lovely bit.

40 - How they write their songs and approach album recording.

43:15 - They are quite rudely cut off because Roger and John are sitting outside waiting for their turn (Brian already had his turn)

Also, this is the interview where Freddie forgets the name of Brian's 'vaudeville' contribution to ANATO (Good Company) and tries to remember it for a whole blessed minute (forgot to note the time stamp).

(Yes, the others' interviews are also on Youtube, and I'll spend the rest of my day listening to them 😊)

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*It seems the date and place on the vid is wrong, since Brian implies in his interview that they're in Boston.

Interview with Brian

Interview with Roger

Interview with John

*whole, not home

*plenty, not little

...HE SAID IT HIMSELF.

And I knew it. We knew it. Something in him tend to be off but I couldn't tell what for so long. And I saw some people noticing that too. (Alain's quote below) How sad is that. In fact, there was no time. No 30 years more. What was stopping him from being happy back then? More wins? More titles? We all know that for these champions there is never 'enough'. So what was it? Prime example of why we can't wait for happiness and say that 'one day, if things will happen I will be happy'. I just wish he knew that too. :(

AND THIS SENTENCE IS SENDING ME TO HELL EVERYTIME I READ IT. Like Alain, elaborate what did you mean by that?? Explain how did you want to protect and help him???

(x)

brian may talking about freddie mercury during the early days of queen ❣️

Brian May in the 70s: Tender. Sad. Doesn’t button shirts, ever. Clogs. Aesthetic: slutty glam space angel. Hair a magical cloud. Vocals must be Gentle and Softe, always. No sleep, ever. Can I fuck it? I think I’m gonna fuck it….extensive guitar solo. Butts are very important, also death is imminent. “Freddie bullied me into learning the harp and now I’m crying”. Country boy I love yoUuUu…

Brian May in the 80s: Very Sad but also Angery. Fucks. Still doesn’t know how buttons work. T-shirts always too short. CLoGs. Hair slightly restrained, but magical also there are Highlights now. Aesthetic: thot but make it Dad. Vocals still gentle but with an edge. No guitar solo? Tantrum. Guitar solo. Disco stinky. Hard Rock rights. Just… a litle creacher. Thatse It. He Canot change this.

Brian May in the 90s: Ultimate Sad. Less button problems, because tank tops?? Also, skinny jeans. Hair now impossibly big and full of secrets, also ponytails are sometimes a thing. Bolo ties 4 lyf. Aesthetic: grungy teenager but make it Dad. Vocals: “Y’all mind if I fucking  S C R E A M?” Depressy to successy. Yeehaw-rights. Is it really cheating if Sad?

Brian May in the 00s – present: Everything is Queen and he’s happy. Embrace the grey. So. Many. Clogs. Aesthetic: sometimes glam but make it Grandad. BADGERS BADGERS BADGERS BADGERS! God. If it’s not on Instagram, did it really happen?  Soft hours, always.

Let's talk about this more obscure interview from '92:

1. Brian basically admitted that Freddie is in every song in Back to the Light in some way, but he hesitates and says, "I don't like to talk--sometimes it's hard to talk about it because it gets too specific, you know?" So he was (and still is, I suppose, since he didn't mention this during the rerelease) reluctant to talk about every little way Freddie was in the music for BTTL.

2. He says the most direct connection to Freddie is "Nothin' But Blue", unsurprisingly, but he also says that as he was writing this, "I'm thinking about his life, and I'm thinking about how I feel losing him, I'm thinking about what my life means." Brian wondering what his life meant after losing Freddie is something he talked about before, with his quotes that he thought his life was over :(

3. Next is where it gets pretty interesting, imo. He says the previous point relates to the theme of the album, along with the question of how Freddie felt about all this and his way out of dark spots in his life. Brian mentions how he wrote "Resurrection" when Freddie was declining rapidly, but his spirit was getting stronger and stronger. This is the first time I've heard Brian imply he partly took inspiration for the fighting spirit of "Resurrection" from Freddie.

4. He seems to almost choke up at the end of the video. He's asked about the future of Queen, and responds by saying he doesn't see a future for the band without Freddie. He says, "That's how....[pauses, sniffs] that's how I feel about it" while looking like this

So. Ouch.