These Are the Days of Our Lives
"These Are the Days of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Although credited to the whole band, it was largely written by their drummer Roger Taylor, and is the eighth track on the band's 1991 album Innuendo.[1]
"These Are the Days of Our Lives"
"Bohemian Rhapsody" (UK, Ireland, and Germany)
"Bijou" (US)
5 September 1991 (first issue)
9 December 1991 (second issue)
March 1989 – November 1990
- Metropolis (London, England)
- Mountain (Montreux, Switzerland)
4:13
- Parlophone (Europe)
- Hollywood (North America)
- Queen
- David Richards
The song was released as a single in the United States on Freddie Mercury's 45th birthday, 5 September 1991, and as double A-side single in Ireland and the United Kingdom on 9 December, in the wake of Mercury's death, with the Queen track "Bohemian Rhapsody". The double A-side debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart and remained there for five weeks, topped the Irish Singles Chart for six weeks, and reached number 16 in Germany. The song was awarded a Brit Award for British Single of the Year in 1992.[2] In 1999, it was included on Queen's compilation album Greatest Hits III.[3]
Ron Hart of Rolling Stone writes, "the conga-driven synth ballad "These Are the Days of Our Lives" is Innuendo's most significant single, given that it was released on Mercury's 45th birthday, and that its video marked the last time his fans were able to see the singer alive, as it was filmed in May of 1991 during the final stages of his battle with AIDS. A ballad in the vein of "Love of My Life," it was a song that carried a significant amount of weight given the frailty of Mercury's appearance in the black-and-white video, later compounded when unreleased colour footage from the filming emerged in Days of Our Lives."[4]
Live performances and covers[edit]
The song was first played live on 20 April 1992 at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, sung by George Michael and Lisa Stansfield.[13] The live version was included on the 1993 EP Five Live, credited to 'George Michael with Queen & Lisa Stansfield'.[14]
The song was played on the 2005/2006 Queen + Paul Rodgers tours with vocals provided by Roger Taylor. On stage the song was accompanied by a video of the band in their early days in Japan, including many shots focusing on past band members Freddie Mercury and John Deacon.[15]
The song was used on 1 July 2007 at the Concert for Diana held at the redeveloped Wembley Stadium, London in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had died almost 10 years earlier.[16] At the end of the concert, a video montage of Diana as a child was presented while the song was playing in the background.[16] A cover version by Petula Clark is included on her 2008 compilation album Then & Now.
with: