Queen is A Kind Of Magic!! So cliche but true! Written by Roger Taylor for the 1986 Highlander film soundtrack! Each member of Queen wrote a song for the movie - PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE (Freddie) ONE YEAR OF LOVE (John) GIMME THE PRIZE & WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER (Brian) DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD (Roger). The Highlander movie is worth a watch! 🛡⚔️ 🗡
Roger Taylor wrote this great song for the Queen Soundtrack for the movie Highlander. I really love this song, great beat, bass is killer and Brian's guitar is perfection. Freddie has so much emotion in his voice that it makes you believe every word of the song.
Taylor is credited with the song -- and his version was in Highlander -- but for the album (aka this version that enjoyed a lot of commercial success), "Freddie Mercury wrote a new bass line, added some instrumental spacers, changed the order and produced a new mix with David Richards ... Mercury had almost completely re-written the song ..." This was while Taylor was out of town.
Definitely one of my favourite Queen songs - and I loved the music they created for the movie Highlander - which this song really does sum up. RIP Freddie, keep heaven rocking.
“A Kind of Magic” was written by the band’s drummer, Roger Taylor, for the film Highlander. The phrase “a kind of magic” is used in Highlander by Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) as a description of his immortality. Roger liked the phrase so much that he used it as inspiration for the song. There are references to the film in the lyrics: “one prize, one goal”; “no mortal man”; and “there can be only one”. The single’s cover art features an image of Clancy Brown in character as the film’s villain, The Kurgan. Roger wrote the melody and chords for the version that appeared in the film, which Brian described as “quite lugubrious and heavy”. But Freddie had a different take on the song. So Freddie composed a new bass line, added instrumental breaks, and changed the song’s order to make it more chart-friendly. The song was still credited only to Taylor. Whilst Roger’s version is at the end of the film, Freddie’s version appears on the album, in the video, and during live performances. Rogerr’s version of A Kind of Magic did not see official release until it was included on the extra EP for the 2011 special edition of the album. Notable is that Brian May did not use his famous Red Special guitar in the music video, but instead a 1984 copy. The music video was filmed in the disused Playhouse Theatre in London’s Northumberland Avenue at Charing Cross, the video was Queen’s first to include animation since Save Me, with computer graphics bringing the characters from the cover of the new album to dazzling life as, among other things, the band’s backing singers. The theatre was once used by the BBC to record programming for radio, and this was the inspiration for the video itself - Freddie is the magician who returns to the abandoned theatre where he was once a star and turns three down-and-out squatters (Brian, Roger, and John) into his band. The shoot itself was somewhat less magical - the theatre lacked central heating and was very cold, much to the discomfort of the band and the crew.
Eu amava tanto esse vídeo e musica quando era criança sem saber quem era Queen. Adorei a reação, por favor continue com o Queen, abraços do Brasil 🇧🇷❤️❤️
I've looked at the comments so far, and I need to address what's missing: no props to Mr. John Deacon. That bass playing was awesome and basically the best of this song. He carried it on his shoulders. Give the guy some love.
Totally agree with you. John rarely gets any love for his bass playing, and he certainly shines in this song ❤. I miss John and pray he’s enjoying a very happy life with his family.
The live version of this is so much better than the video, IMO. I think the performance at Wembley in 1986 is their best performance of this song. So if you get a chance might want to check it out. I really think you will appreciate "March of the Black Queen" lyric video. The song was to complex to do live except in a melody and you never get the full version. Thank you for all your reactions, they are very much appreciated.
Thanks, JM! when the album came out, I was not all that impressed with this song (but I hadn't seen the "official video"), then when I saw it live, I was blown away.... (this was written for the "Highlander" movie)... I always enjoy your reactions and look forward to more... Brian May was incredible on this one...
A Kind of Magic is part of the Highlander trilogy along with who Wants to Live Forever and a hidden gem, One Year of Love. Listen to One Year of Love, it’s haunting.
A Kind of Magic was criminally underrated in the states,and huge everywhere else.A lot of my American friends thought they had split up as there was no tour and no internet for news back then.Highlander sadly also came out about the time of Top Gun and fell under the radar.Thank you for appreciating this and there are some great tracks on the album..try Gimmie The Prize turned up Brian May is on fire.
JM... A Must Do Request... Robbie Robertson, Lead Guitarist/vocals for "The Band"... has died today at 80 years old. the band was the back up for Bob Dylan and were called the band so the name stuck had several albums of their own... PLEASE do The Band - "The Weight"
Pain is so close to pleasure is a great track, obviously all of them are but Freddie sings basically the whole song in falsetto. Also from the A Kind of Magic album.
I've seen almost all of your reactions. You're all right, you're a good guy. I haven't even started the video yet, but I love ya for doing it. Cheers from the canadian Queen nut.
You should watch a live version from Queen + Adam Lambert 2022 tour. The tech department came up with a gizmo for Brian's red special where he could shoot pyrotechnics from his guitar. It's pretty cool.