Four years after Freddie Mercury died in 1991, Queen released their final album Made in Heaven. And a couple of weeks later they scored another Top Ten hit with his composition A Winter’s Tale. Now the Queen official Twitter account has shared a touching memory of Brian May about Freddie’s writing of the song.
Speaking with Mojo, the Queen drummer said: “Freddie wrote the song in Montreux, in a little house on the lake that we called The Duck House.
“The extraordinary thing is he’s talking about life and its beauty at a time when he knows he hasn’t got very long to go. Yet there’s no wallowing in emotion, it’s just absolutely purely observed. So that’s the way I wanted my solo to be.”
May added: “It was one of those things where I could hear it in my head, long before I actually got to play it.
“And when I recorded it, at my home studio, in my head I was there with Freddie in Montreux in those moments, even though this was happening long after he was gone.”
READ MORE: Freddie Mercury: Queen legend’s relationship with boyfriend Jim Hutton
Taylor said: “Ironically, Christmas tends to be such a stressful time for so many of us.
“So many emotions, joyful memories of past Christmas’ as delighted children and responsible adults/parents. It’s just a great relief when it finally happens.”
While May explained the inclusion of animals in the video.
The Queen guitarist said: “The video goes a little further by including a subtle reminder that we as humans now need to feel a responsibility for the welfare of ALL creatures on Earth – not just for our own benefit, and that of our grandchildren, but out of respect for the rights of the animals themselves.”
The video’s description included the history of the track, revealing: “Thank God It’s Christmas was a rare songwriting collaboration between Roger and Brian.
“The song spent six weeks in the UK charts over the Christmas/New Year period 1984/1985.
“It enjoyed a second lease of life Christmas 1995 coupled with the hit single A Winter’s Tale from the Made In Heaven album.
“Here the track receives a fully animated treatment.”
