Brian May: "Forget the video for a moment, just the track to me was very significant because it was Freddie trying to put his feelings quite directly into a song, which is unusual. You look at My Fairy King or Bohemian Rhapsody, or the March of the Black Queen, it’s all quite oblique. It’s not a direct conversation, but Hard Life is, and it looks like quite a light song, but actually there is a lot of pain. And there was a moment when Freddie and I sat down, and we were both in a lot of pain at the time. We were both dealing with relationship problems if you like, and we were writing this song in a way which united the feelings. Now, he had those feelings about a man. I had these feelings about a woman, but it was the same thing. It was the same story we were telling, so in that few moments I felt we communicated a lot about the pain we were dealing with. And to put it in a song is a good thing because it helps you, it liberates people who hear it and feel the song is about them, and it increases the understanding between people, I think."
I've had this pain in relationships, firstly a woman and then with a man. It's exactly the same. It's grief for the relationship but you eventually find the strength to rebuild and move forward. For me, Brian singing 'Leaving Home Ain't Easy' it the beginning of the process whereas this maybe is the end.
@@Gaxinha It's an article interview, I can't link it because yt eats my comment if I do. If you search for the first sentence, you should find it, though.
It is very unusual that Sir Mr Brian and Freddie sat together to write a song, usually, when Freddie present a song he write it by himself, with harmonies, lyrics, and melody. He makes it in piano, but knowing were and how he wants the others to play theirs instruments. Sometimes showing in piano the melody that he wanted Sir Brian May plays in the solo guitar. Fabulous if they did it together.
“In a world that's filled with sorrow there are people searching for love in every way”. What a great line, what a great song. Freddie Mercury was one of a kind
The build up before the guitar solo is one of the finest pieces of music ever written. And the actual guitar solo, another masterpiece. In other words, an epic song.
I'd have to agree... he repeats this in "These are the Days of our lives" I toss up between this and Days of our lives for most beautiful mainstream Bri (Bijou too but thats a deep cut).
Brian May is a big proponent of the philosophy of a solo being there for the song, not the player. He doesn't go mental with his solos to show how great he is as a player, every note he plays means something to the song. I much prefer this type of guitarist.
Amy should watch the music video for this. It’s Freddie in all his theatrical, operatic glory. Often wondered how much persuasion Freddie had to do to Roger and John, especially John. The look on John’s face is priceless.
The musicianship of this band is amazing! What a beautiful piece of music. I have always loved it! Thanks so much for your analysis of this song. As always, you have highlighted elements I had not focused on before. Thanks for the music lesson! Always love your reactions.
Hi Mrs. Amy, you said “I love this part”, I think I cut the record listening and listening to this part. I was obsessed with this kind of “bridge”. Even the “Ridi, pagliaccio 🤡 “ as intro is pure genius. Brian’s sound is velvety and rough at the same time: it has the exact feeling of a bow that starts gripping on a cello strings. I could recognize it among 100 guitars/guitarists. Unbelievable musician. Art is something personal, but when I listen to shitty rap, trap, or something like that, I can’t avoid making comparisons. Anyway, I love them and your analysis
Love this song! Freddie’s lyrics always intrigued me and his voice with the band’s musicianship made it so stunning. Such truth and emotion in this one. The operatic video is wild too. Love Queen.
The lyrics are so heartbreakingly relatable. ("I fell in love/ But now you say it's over/ And I'm falling apart") What's also remarkable is that Freddie never thought much of himself as a wordsmith when it came to his songwriting methods. He once told an interviewer that he wished he had a Bernie Taupin-type lyricist to help complement his melodies.
You just need to imagine the musical writing process: The lyrics are about struggle and a hard tough love life and the music instead of reflecting a depressed state of mind goes the opposite way and blasts us with another flamboyant uplifting mix of piano bass and guitar. The magic of Queen ❤
Another great song from Freddie, and one of my favorites. Their songs are very elaborated and rich, full of emotion and feeling. This is the reason why they're so beautiful.
Freddie was always looking for a long lasting relationship, but was hurt over and over. This song was during a time when Freddie thought he finally found that person, but that person decided to end it. Great reaction
The opening lyric and melody of "It's a Hard Life" is based on the line "Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto!" And the guitar work is phenomenal as always❤
As you are into classic and Queen: "The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra" made some epic interpretaions of Queen songs! Even several times - and from other bands and songs, too, of course. But: Do yourself a favour and check out the reordings they did with the conductor Louis Clark!!! Give the "Killer Queen" version a listen! You don't have react to it, but for yourself! Easy, but outstading! :)
I've always thought this was one of Freddie's more under appreciated and fully realised compositions, both musically and lyrically. It's a logical extension of Play the Game, and genuinely gorgeous and affecting piece of work.
The song is amazing but it's also so sad ... Inspite of all success and welth Freddie was a lot of times really lonely and searching for a real love ... 😢 I just can't get of my head a 8 years old boy Faroukh sent alone on a weeks long boat ride from Zanzibar to a boarding scholl in India... 😢 Yes, it wasn't s bed of roses for Freddie, a lot of time it was a hard life ...
I'm really enjoying becoming a Queen fan along with you. I have no idea how I missed Queen through the '80s and '90s. I really should have grown up loving this band. Oh well, no time like the present
Freddie loved alot of classic music and opera. I've loved this song for 30 years. The piano and guitar marriage. Rogers cymbal work. Johns musical bass and the beautiful harmonies. There is a 12" version with an even higher note by Freddie. If you fellow Queen fans haven't heard it I reccomend looking it up. 12" collection. Came with the box set in the 90s. Also the mix of this song is superb. What a great song. Really lovely.
I love this journey, it almost takes me back to the nineties when I was a teenager buying all the Queen albums one by one... I'm looking forward to Innuendo... Greetings from the Czech Republic
Amy, do you mean the song "Somewhere" also from Barbara Streisand? It's from Westside Story, Tony and Maria's song Great reaction! ❤ "Freddie just hits us opera right in the face...." so true.
Also Amy…… Queen made a costume video of It’s a Hard Life and I laugh at it along with many Queenies out here and if you ever decide to watch it you will see the hate on the guys faces 😂but who was going to say NO to Freddie when he was on a roll LOL
It's a very good song, but with the quality of Queen, years ago, it was almost just another Queen song. If it was their first release, it would seem more brilliant. Hearing it with analysis makes it obvious how great it really is. If something as varied and clever as this came on to the charts today, it would be a miracle. How spoilt and complacent of quality we once were...
Such important Queen song for me. I played it on piano on my channel there's a video. The part that maybe the chorus reminds you of can be another song from Queen - "Play the game" that you also made reaction recently, there's parts that are so similar to chorus in "It's a hard life". Thank you for your analysis once again, I like them so much!
Excellent reaction, analysis and observations. I especially love the classical/operatic connections. Dr. Sir Brian never disappoints with his otherworldly guitar work. The music video is incredible: vibrant, dramatic (almost operatic) sets and costumes, which Dr. Sir Brian, Roger and John simply hated. Roger and Dr. Sir Brian did a funny, but insightful commentary on this song and music video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AfdSrAWIVyk.html. For future reference, I hope you decide to continue beyond just 50 and revisit and react to more songs from previous Queen albums (especially their earlier ones). Songs such as "my fairy King", "white queen as it began", "ogre battle" (both live at the odeon Hammersmith '75), "fairy feller's masterstroke", "march of the black queen," "nevermore", "lap of the gods", "lap of the gods revisited" and "39" (among so many others) are highly recommended.
I never would've came up with the West Side Story connection. This could be used in a pet food commercial with a dog running in slow-motion towards it's owner. ( I'm being silly ) I agree the bass ( and Roger's bass drum ) underpins nearly the entire tune. Amazing what only four musicians can create.
This song is ever in my top 10 from Queen. All their capacities are here mature: Freddie's voice is fantastic, chorus are out of this world, the solo is epic... that under guitar after the solo sounding in a violoncello way... Ever reminded me some movies from my childhood, like "the princess bride", "lady hawk"...those movies of magic, fairytales, love... And not casually the video is in the same way too. A real masterpiece.
That's the thing, now isn't it? EVERY TIME You listen to a Queen song, you hear new things that you didn't hear before!... LITERALLY EVERY TIME!!!!!!!!!!! And, I just realized that some of the melody is actually QUITE REMINISCENT of Play the game!!!
When you already mention and notice during the listening, you can also take a listen Tom Waits singing "Somewhere" (From 'West Side Story') from his album 'Blue Valentine' it would be wonderful part of your famous covers list. This song by Queen was very personnel to Freddy, and it is one of his little masterpieces, great ballad, with great bas line, guitar solo, everything just seat right where it suppose to be, with little pieces and influence from all sides, but making it one of the greatest songs of 80's. Keep on good work Amy, you have become rock expert, not even noticing that lol kiss the kidd'o and greetings to Vlad
My piano teacher told me he liked to compose in B flat because it's on the lower limit so it gives you more amplitude. Freddie loved flat tones: Bohemian Rhapsody -> Bb, We Are The Champions -> Eb, Somebody To Love Ab. This song plays between Bb and Eb a lot so you have that constant up and down with beautiful arrangements and scale modulations.
Great review again Amy loved it. Can you please review soon a solo tune by Freddie called " Time waits for no one ". The key changes and simplicity of it is amazing ❤❤❤❤. Thank you 👍
Naaah, they went Back to their Boots in the last two albums and the posthumous "Made in heaven". Innuendo is March of the Black Queen and BoRhap's baby- sister.
It’s nice to see a reaction to this one sans video. I like and understand the video but as a first listen it overshadows the message of the song. Same with I Want To Break Free. “I heard it my radio!” best describes how songs should first be introduced to the ear.
When I listened to "Prisoners in Paradise" from "Europe"... I felt that apart from the influence of rock ballads + a dose of "Let it Be" and as for the guitars there is something from "It's a Hard Life" there. ...and when I've heard "It's a Hard Life" I feel like there's an "All the Young Dudes" rise from "Mott the Hoople"
The line, "It's a hard life..." is also reminiscent of the line, "It's your life..." from Queen's earlier song, Play The Game. I was wondering if that was one of the familiar things that you were trying to identify while listening to this song.
I Would ask for you to do a react for the epic “ Pavana” from the obscure progressive italian band Latte e Miele. It’s one of the things in rock closer to as orchestra. Marvelous!
About the lyrics of this song: I hear the heart (feelings) and the brain (reason) talking about the recent sentimental breakup. What do you think about it?
Have you reacted to any of Rick Wakeman's solo works? Perhaps start with his "Criminal Record", with tracks such as "Statue of Justice" and "Judas Iscariot"?
However, the fact that you have grasped the art of his unconscious mood is already an essential step for your future adventure in judging this life master called Freddie 'Lord of the Message' Mercury
Starting from this album, it will be increasingly evident in Freddie's songs, the internal struggle between his emotional part that dictated the path of an unruly and sexually very perverse and promiscuous life, and his logical part that warns him of the existence of new disease, AIDS, what in 1984 was called 'the gay disease' (and in addition to being gay he had never used a condom according to his own words, in any of his thousands of occasional relationships). This anecdote will always remain 'unconscious and reserved' but, at the level of musical expression, it emerges precisely in this album, making his music dark and 'concerned'. If we compare this album with the previous one, which dates back to 1982, we can notice a huge difference in expression and colours. While the last album was based a lot on Funk-Disco (expression of happiness and harmony with oneself), this album is dark and very Rock. Typical expression of internal discomfort, protesting desire for revenge.We are in the period August 1983-January 1984 when this album was recorded, and at the time, all the 'old' Rock bands like Deep Purple or Led Zeppeling had either disappeared, or had 'softened'. Queen, on the other hand, had a clear break between their tendency to soften which was noticeable in 1982 and their clear return to pure rock just 2 years later. This is due to two factors. The first was dictated by Brian May, who after the flop of the previous album had given an out to Freddie himself with respect to a return to musicality more suited to his role and his artistic-creative caliber (obviously accepted by Freddie) , the second due to Roger's total unwillingness to contribute to the recording of this album which, according to him, was an album totally foreign to him and we can see his very little contribution to the making of the album. Factor number 3 (because they are 3 and not 2 =)! ) is the aforementioned one dictated to Freddie's concerns. These factors contributed to making the album in its TOTALITY a true milestone in the Rock artistic panorama of the 80s... Queen's new momentum will start from this album and will culminate with the album Innuendo, but I don't think 16 songs will be enough for you to understand, because in theory, 6 of those 16 should end up on this album.😘
Everyone has their own point of view and their own personal reading of things. Personally, in this song, I see Freddie's need to apologize to all the people he may have infected with his lifestyle. In the sense that he didn't know he was HIV positive at the time, but obviously he had a real fear of it because with all the casual and unprotected relationships he had had in those years, it would have been a miracle if he had been 'clean'. The last part of the song made me think of this, where he says "I did it for love". This statement makes me think of an apology. As if to say: 'I've had a lot of sex with a lot of people and probably because of this I've condemned you. But I didn't do it for fun, but for love.' Obviously this is the personal opinion of a person who has loved Queen since 1989. He was still alive when I started following them and when he died, even though I was a kid, I remember being a little shocked by the news. Later, in 2018, when I went to live in Munich, Germany, I discovered that Freddie Mercury was loved by the people of Munich, but deeply hated by 60-70 year olds. Many people of that age blamed Freddie for the AIDS epidemic that broke out in Munich in the early 1990s. And, unfortunately, I think they were right.
@@SCHHHa I don't understand how you have interoperated this song he's talking of a broken heart a brake up from someone at this time he had broken up with Winnie from Munich but he had met Jim who he then spent the rest of his life with
I think the start of your comment is really horrible it's because of people like you who think gay people are perverse that so many died there was very little clear information given a big reason why aa lot of men werent in relationships is because again because of hateful homophobics it was difficult to have a normal relationship or live together there wasnt any urgency to look into AIDS until it effected non gay people
@@bluebell3720 about the First answer, It's not a problem. Regard his relationship with the German man Winny Kirchenberg, he broke with him in early '85 while this Song has been recorded in late '83
i told you my dear.. this is the reason why you got stuck... now you will have to analyze this whole album carefully... on the other hand, you should only have 3 of the next one... Friends will be friends, who want to live for ever and pain is so close to pleasure...😘
My beloved, you grasp the musicality, but you don't grasp the soul. You can not. You can't because you analyze the music but you don't know the point. You will laugh, but in Freddie Mercury's existence, the difference between 1982 and 1984 are geological eras, not years. You don't realize the historical period related parsimoniously to what would happen to him just two years later and, not, unconsciously. His art in these 4 minutes of music is based on this little anecdote. And it is from this that the art that will 'external' in the years to come will emerge. This is the artist Freddie Mercury. Not a singer, not a frontman. An artist.
I'm telling you and I don't compromise on answers. This song is not dedicated to a finished relationship. This song is dedicated to thousands of lives broken for money and fun.
at a certain point you said 'the piano and the guitar are working together'... it's not the instruments that work together, but the instrumentalists. Mercury and May were a kind of Molotov-Ribbentropp... they hated each other because they were both profoundly artists, but for the same reason they loved each other...
"they hated each other" They never hated each other! There were always a lot of arguments between the band members, musically related. But, according to interviews, they saw/see themselves as family members.
@@AlbertoJorgeSoares not at all. In a lot of interwiew Freddie saied that the band afther the flop of HS was about to disband itself and this feeling went on till the live aid 1985. This is not an invention. One more, Brian May in an interwiew of 1982 saied that Freddie was not the same person he known before, but he basically turned in a depraved man addicted to sex. And this is also not an invention. Anyway, the point is that all they did in this album turn around the fact that Freddie unconsciuosly knew he could have problem in his near future and this is on the words of Jhon Reid, not mine. In an interwiew Jhon Reid saied that in 1982 he saied Freddie he should stop with his promiscuous life and the answer has been : Dear, i do the fuck i want with all the fuck i want. This was Freddie Mercury in real life. Anyway, you can try to say anything but it's a nonsense because History is History and have not feelings and no politic-correct ;) enjoy your weekend
You don't know what you're talking about. Who are you to judge others like that? Does she have to pronounce all other languages from all other erudite composers, exactly like the respective natives?! She sounded pretty good to me.
It is certainly interesting, Vesti La Giubba is one of the most well known arias in existence. But my guess is she is into lieder and chamber music not grand opera. Classical has many different genres.
I've been thinking that from the beginning, when they announced only 50, i knew there would be a LOT of deserving tracks that will just be skipped over, was hoping for Queen 100 or 150 honestly. Its a lot, but its worth it because they never repeat themseleves, and only keep creating new, interesting, and unique music in each and every song
My Fairy King, Liar, Great King Rat, White Queen, March Of The Black Queen, The Fairy Fellers Master Stroke, In The lap of the Gods ( both of them) , Bring Back That Leroy Brown, '39 , Good Company, The Prophets Song,,,,I could go on,, but that's just the overlooked stuff from their first 4 albums.
Your love for music, especially your love and appreciation of Queen, is simply infectious! Hearing Freddie's voice thru your ears gives me such a greater understanding and respect for their music, THANK YOU!!!
Amy said that the song is theatrical and flamboyant, I think is more than that, Freddie was just putting a piece of his heart and soul in the lyrics, expressing his sadness and struggles with deep emotions. It’s like a cry letting out what he felt in that moment. It’s like he was looking for acceptance telling that it would happen to anyone, that he was human and vulnerable too. I think he used the music as a way for him to express himself, and as a therapy. He was a lonely person and didn’t want to talk about his feelings to anyone, but in this song he’s talking to himself and to the world about his own emotions in a direct and sincere way.❤❤
Ridi pagliaccio 🤡 Del tuo amore infranto 💔 Ridi del duol 🤕 Che t'avvelena il cor 💚 As an Italian, and opera lover, I’ve always admired when Freddie Mercury incorporated opera references into his work.
Imagine yourself back in 84 when hearing your favourite band was pretty much only an auditory experience. You don't have the following 40 years of music, RU-vid, Spotify, MTV or anything else grabbing your attention. This track comes out and it fully captures your senses and your musical soul. What I wouldn't give to be back in that moment.
Back then it actually required some effort to aquire music that wasn't on the radio at that moment. You couldn't just turn on a device and download it. Music was more scarce and therefore, on a personal level at least, more valuable.
It is such a joy to see a song of this quality appreciated like this and all the subtle nuances noticed. I really like Brian's understated clean guitar during the verses. They were just pure quality. Thanks Amy. I appreciate this song even more now.
What I love about Brian May's playing is that he may have a guitar solo but it is not to impress anyone with his virtuosity (which he had) but rather a part of the melody. He incorporated the music that leads up to the solo into his playing. You can almost sing along with it.
I love that too. Brian said that when he was making his Red Special 🎸 with his dad as a teenager he really wanted a guitar being able to sing. And that he is doing with his 🎸... it is like fifth voice in Queen.
