‘Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words’ Is The Closest We’ll Ever Get To A Freddie Autobiography
Samantha Colleran, July 2020
Freddie Mercury is one of my favorite people to have ever existed. Not only is he one of the most talented vocalists, lyricists, and musicians of our lifetime, he’s one of rock and roll’s most interesting stars. Freddie was a campy man with a bright and alluring stage presence, but if you pay attention to the way he speaks in interviews and read the anecdotes from those who were closest to him, you’ll quickly realize that Freddie is a rather reserved and private person when the harlequin suit comes off. This book highlights just that.
“People are apprehensive when they meet me. They think I’m going to eat them. But underneath it all I’m quite shy. Very few people know what I’m really like.”
Freddie Mercury, pg 123 ‘A Life, In His Own Words‘
With quotes edited and pieced together by some of Queen’s longest working archivists Greg Brooks and Simon Lupton, A Life, In His Own Words documents quotes from numerous interviews, both well known and newly discovered. Each chapter covers a broad topic and includes quotes from interviews that directly relate to said topic. Examples of these chapters include “I Had This Perfect Dream: Pursuing a dream and never losing sight of it”, “One Man, One Goal, One Vision: Live Aid”, “In The Lap Of The Gods: Looking back and having no regrets”, and more. The book also includes a foreword written by Freddie’s late mother, Jer Bulsara.
Some of the quotes may seem a bit repetitive, or can completely contradict previous ones, but it shows how Freddie grew as a performer and as a person apart from the stage persona. He talks about the conflicting personalities within Queen, spending money like it’s nobody’s business, the fact that he never wanted to live to old age, writing music and how he doesn’t like to publicly attach meanings to his lyrics, and how he isn’t just Stage Freddie Mercury but is rather a more complex human looking for the same things we all are; love and happiness. He presents all of this information in a classic Freddie Mercury style which includes a bit of wit and the overuse of the words ‘darling’ and ‘old tart’ (which is something I love so dearly). When I was reading I could hear everything in his voice.
“My lyrics are basically up for people’s interpretations. I don’t like to pull a song apart because I don’t even analyse them myself– I just sing them. I write them and record them, and it’s up to the buyer to take it the way that he or she feels, “Does it mean this, does it mean that?” is all anybody ever wants to know. F-ck them, darlings! I will say no more than what any decent poet would tell you if you dared ask him to analyse his work.”
Freddie Mercury, pg 172 ‘A Life, In His Own Words’
I’m a person who loves to know what my favorite artists are thinking, I try to see where they’re coming from and how their thoughts play into the music they’re creating. This book totally made me geek out when reading it for that exact reason, I felt like I was in Freddie’s head and could gain a better understanding of what his thoughts were surrounding different aspects of life. I didn’t grow up during a time where Freddie Mercury was alive, so having the chance to read books like this one makes it easier to feel connected to Freddie and his legacy and further my love and respect for the legend he was and will continue to be. If you’ve read this book please let me know in the comments, or if this inspired you to read it come back when you’re done reading it and let me know your thoughts!
“Thank you, God bless, and sweet dreams… you load of tarts!”
Freddie Mercury, pg 183 ‘A Life, In His Own Words‘
I apparently have a lot of reading to do this summer!