The song meaning is obvious, but this is just on of those songs that transcends the meaning of the words. Listening to to Freddie Mercury sing this one is beyond any other Queen song; he lifts it up from sappy to spiritual.
It carries the weight of Mozart's Requiem. Many writers sing about dying, but very few (Roy Orbison comes to mind) have a chance to write about it when they know it's coming. Mercury conquers death with this song ("Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die/I can fly my friend" "I'll face it with a grin/I'm never giving in"). The song was beautiful when I first heard it as a child; when I found out the circumstances it was truly haunting.
The song meaning is obvious, but this is just on of those songs that transcends the meaning of the words. Listening to to Freddie Mercury sing this one is beyond any other Queen song; he lifts it up from sappy to spiritual.
It carries the weight of Mozart's Requiem. Many writers sing about dying, but very few (Roy Orbison comes to mind) have a chance to write about it when they know it's coming. Mercury conquers death with this song ("Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die/I can fly my friend" "I'll face it with a grin/I'm never giving in"). The song was beautiful when I first heard it as a child; when I found out the circumstances it was truly haunting.