Just thought I’d add this to my blog. This is the lengthiest post I’ve ever written and will ever write so do read it.
One Vision. It is the song’s documentary I watched on Queen’s Greatest Video Hits Volume 3 DVD. Freddie Mercury was of course the front-man, the mastermind behind many of Queen’s greatest songs. All four members were there in the studio recording this song. Later, an extended video for this song was played…
Actually, I didn’t know much about Queen until years ago when I heard Wang Lee Hom sang a cover of Queen’s We Are The Champion for this Chinese program for a Cancer patient who was a fan of his. I was really a big fan of Lee Hom and I got interested the instant I heard him sang that song over a guitar. Immediately, I went out to buy Queen’s album: Greatest Hits Volume II if I’m not mistaken. Going through the songs from the album, I found out one thing about the band: they have a unique blend of pop rock and operatic music. It’s different from other rock bands of the 70s. And I thought Bohemian Rhapsody was the weirdest. If you’ve heard it you’ll probably know what I mean. Nevertheless, I came to like that particular song and was able to sing along to it, tone deaf.
I once came across the story of how Freddie died in 1991. As you may know, he died of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia at the age of 45. But what I didn’t know was that he was gay, pardon me. I read an article from findadeath.com which was part of a book by Jim Hutton, his then partner. It is a touching story about Jim taking care of Freddie and how he survived each day. Towards the end I felt so close to that moment that I can actually see Freddie in his final condition. I’ve watched videos of AIDS patients before, how they slowly ‘rot’ and can’t move their bodies and how they can’t even blink their eyes. Just laying there waiting for death to arrive. It’s sad and lonely and most of all, scary. Those images I saw never got out of my mind. That was what came through my mind as I read the story. I think Freddie was a brave man, never showing his weakness despite his deteriorating health.
So Freddie was there, a beer in one hand, discussing about what to include in the lyrics and what not to. Brian May was testing his guitar while Roger Taylor walked over to his drums. The lyrics were built piece by piece as the song progressed. It was Freddie’s style of making a new song. He then added his own vocals overlapping his pre-recorded vocals as background. The song was finally done and the final music video was shown.
I watched the video with interest. I observed Freddie, and I imagined his illness, how much happier he looked in this video comparing to the true sad story told by Jim. He had lived his life the best he possibly could. And he had succeeded way beyond most people despite his terminal illness. Life may not always be as we expected it to be. Everyday, we may encounter bad situations. We can choose to go through the day and think positively or we can choose to whine and complain. Life is all about making decisions. Freddie had made the wrong choice once and he knew there was no turning back. Therefore, he chose to live everyday not thinking about the fate that awaited him. He had one vision: be positive.
(The image above consists of screenshots from One Vision Documentary, edited by yours truly)
Actually, I didn’t know much about Queen until years ago when I heard Wang Lee Hom sang a cover of Queen’s We Are The Champion for this Chinese program for a Cancer patient who was a fan of his. I was really a big fan of Lee Hom and I got interested the instant I heard him sang that song over a guitar. Immediately, I went out to buy Queen’s album: Greatest Hits Volume II if I’m not mistaken. Going through the songs from the album, I found out one thing about the band: they have a unique blend of pop rock and operatic music. It’s different from other rock bands of the 70s. And I thought Bohemian Rhapsody was the weirdest. If you’ve heard it you’ll probably know what I mean. Nevertheless, I came to like that particular song and was able to sing along to it, tone deaf.
I once came across the story of how Freddie died in 1991. As you may know, he died of AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia at the age of 45. But what I didn’t know was that he was gay, pardon me. I read an article from findadeath.com which was part of a book by Jim Hutton, his then partner. It is a touching story about Jim taking care of Freddie and how he survived each day. Towards the end I felt so close to that moment that I can actually see Freddie in his final condition. I’ve watched videos of AIDS patients before, how they slowly ‘rot’ and can’t move their bodies and how they can’t even blink their eyes. Just laying there waiting for death to arrive. It’s sad and lonely and most of all, scary. Those images I saw never got out of my mind. That was what came through my mind as I read the story. I think Freddie was a brave man, never showing his weakness despite his deteriorating health.
So Freddie was there, a beer in one hand, discussing about what to include in the lyrics and what not to. Brian May was testing his guitar while Roger Taylor walked over to his drums. The lyrics were built piece by piece as the song progressed. It was Freddie’s style of making a new song. He then added his own vocals overlapping his pre-recorded vocals as background. The song was finally done and the final music video was shown.
I watched the video with interest. I observed Freddie, and I imagined his illness, how much happier he looked in this video comparing to the true sad story told by Jim. He had lived his life the best he possibly could. And he had succeeded way beyond most people despite his terminal illness. Life may not always be as we expected it to be. Everyday, we may encounter bad situations. We can choose to go through the day and think positively or we can choose to whine and complain. Life is all about making decisions. Freddie had made the wrong choice once and he knew there was no turning back. Therefore, he chose to live everyday not thinking about the fate that awaited him. He had one vision: be positive.
(The image above consists of screenshots from One Vision Documentary, edited by yours truly)
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