1993 Freddie Mercury: Living On My Own

It's a common enough scenario; an individual commits suicide and former friends/colleagues rally round to express their shock and surprise in a 'we never had any idea' kind of way. Every action or utterance of the deceased is then recalled and analysed for clues as to why they did what they did in a self flagellating search for a covert or coded cry for help that was missed. Of course, Freddy Mercury didn't commit suicide, but the aftermath of his death produced a similar reaction amongst fans and non fans alike and Queen's latter day output was re-cast in the new light shone by the knowledge that Mercury knew he was dying when he recorded them.

So taken on one level then it's easy to read a degree of poignancy into 'Living On My Own' by ignoring the layer of camp to reveal the man beneath pretending everything is ok when it wasn't. It's not quite as simple as that though - originally released in 1985 on Mercury's Mr Bad Guy' solo album, 'Living On My Own' isn't particularly 'latter day' product and it pre-dates Mercury's HIV diagnosis by two years. Even so, the "Sometimes I feel I'm gonna break down and cry, so lonely" doesn't suggest a man at ease with himself either, though the sadness is masked by the tinny eighties disco bounce of the original that lets him sashay all over the top of it with a pantomime drama in typical Mercury style that, with the recurring "Dee do de de, dee do de de - I don't have no time for no monkey business" nobody could ever take too seriously. Certainly not as a cry for help.*

This 1993 model comes spruced up courtesy of a No More Brothers mix that bolsters its flimsiness with a chunky 'Radio Ga Ga' shimmer and backbone that's the equal of Mercury's vocal. It gives it something to bounce off in any case, making it sound like a genuine new Queen single instead of the re-jigging of an eight year old song. And of course, Mercury's death the previous year gives it a context as fresh as the remix which, I must confess, the cynic in me regards as the result of EMI's marketing department scenting financial blood bleeding from an opportune moment. The non cynic however can recognise that the remix is a strong one, and with Mercury on such fine theatrical form then it seems churlish to snipe at what is in fact fitting closure to mark the end of a remarkable career. There would be no more releases in his name.


* You can also read it as Mercury's personal re-write of 'The Great Pretender', a song he covered in 1987 and which itself was re-released in 1993. And taken along with 'Living On My Own', it does in hindsight more than suggest he was trying to tell us something after all.....