Freddie Mercury- "Living on my own"

Freddie Mercury, lead singer of British rock band, Queen, had a very short lived...but I would argue a vulnerable solo career. In this video you have Freddie donning the "Castro Clone" look which at the time was all the rage among gay men- especially in San Francisco's Castro district (the gay neighborhood there). Similar to yesterday's post with Rupaul's "Free to be" video, you have an emergence of queer imagery, individuals, and spirit. Mind you this was recorded several years before Ru's video was released. 

The video is also signficant in that it was recorded in Munich, Germany during Mercury's 39th birthday celebration. In the video you'll see several queer subgroups represented: leather, drag queens and kings, gender non-confirming individuals, furries, etc. Again, looking at the context and time- in the midst of the world-wide gay movement, Mercury while never being a typical advocate for queer rights, did his part in bringing visibility to several groups. It's worthwhile noting that HIV/AIDS was wrecking many queer lives at the time which was made worse by the lack of urgency of world governments, including the U.S. This is especially significant as Mercury would succomb to AIDS several years later.  

While the song is set to a dance oriented rhythm, you'll see the lyrics connect back to what can be the harsh realities of living a queer or LGBTQIA+ life. This is especially true if individuals have not shared this part of themselves to those around them. Note Mercury's line "Got to be some some good times ahead"...despite the emphasis on being on thier own there is optimism for what will come along. The lyrics when fused with the imagery of the video paint a picture of the good that can occur when accepting or living openly about one's liberation. 

Selected lyrics:

"Sometimes I feel I'm gonna break down and cry (so lonely)
Nowhere to go, nothing to do with my time
I get lonely, so lonely, living on my own
Sometimes I feel I'm always walking too fast (so lonely)
And everything is coming down on me, down on me
I go crazy, oh so crazy, living on my own (living on my own)
Dee do de de, dee do de de
I don't have no time for no monkey business
Dee do de de, dee do de de
I get so lonely lonely lonely lonely yeah Got to be some good times ahead"