The Last Song Freddie Mercury Ever Recorded For Queen Is Deeply Emotional

Freddie Mercury burned dazzlingly bright during his life, gifting the world epic songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You.” His soaring vocals and stage presence made him the consummate frontman, and Queen’s performance at Live Aid in 1985 is widely regarded as one of the greatest in rock history.

But the last song he ever recorded found him longing for a simpler kind of love. That song was called “Mother Love,” and its place in Queen’s catalog is made more tragic by the fact that Mercury wasn’t able to finish recording the vocals before his death.

How “Mother Love” Came to Be

Mercury co-wrote the song with Brian May, Queen’s lead guitarist. Mercury had been officially diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, though he reportedly began seeking help for symptoms in 1982. By 1991, when “Mother Love” was recorded, he was well aware that he did not have much time left.

May reflected on the fractured songwriting process that resulted from Mercury’s illness in an interview with Times of Malta editor Herman Grech. “Freddie was really quite ill and he’d have just moments where he was okay, and he could prop himself up and sing,” May said. “But he was eager to work. He loved to work, as always, you know, and it was the thing that really made him smile.”

The pair wrote and recorded the song in Montreux, Switzerland, where Mercury lived for the last 13 years of his life. “I would demo it for him, and he would sing it, and for each line he did four takes, and then we’d write another verse,” May said, recalling that Mercury downed shots of vodka between recording takes. But “he was completely focused. He knew that he wouldn’t be there that long.”

Solace in Art

Making music provided a refuge for Mercury in his final years. “We all knew there wasn’t much time left,” May said. “Freddie wanted his life to be as normal as possible. He obviously was in a lot of pain and discomfort. For him the studio was an oasis, a place where life was just the same as it always had been. He loved making music, he lived for it.”

May later reflected on the situation in the documentary Champions of the World. “By the time we were recording these other tracks after Innuendo, we had had the discussions and we knew that we were totally on borrowed time because Freddie had been told that he would not make it to that point,” he said. “I think our plan was to go in there whenever Freddie felt well enough, just to make as much use of him as possible, we basically lived in the studio for a while and when he would call and say, 'I can come in for a few hours', our plan was to just make as much use of him as we could, you know he told us, 'Get me to sing anything, write me anything and I will sing it and I will leave you as much as I possibly can.’”

Mercury recorded most of the song on May 13, 1991, but was never able to lay down the final verse. “We got the last verse and he said, ‘I’m not up to this, and I need to go away and have a rest, I’ll come back and finish it off…” May recalled. “And he never came back.”

May wound up recording the last verse himself, using Mercury’s demo vocals as a guide, and Mercury died in London on November 24 of that year. The track was ultimately featured on the album Made in Heaven, released posthumously in 1995. 

The Meaning of "Mother Love"

The song expresses a longing for the safety and security of a motherly kind of love, and is woven through with reflections on mortality, what truly matters in life, and what might come after death.

“We had this discussion. We thought maybe we’re all…that’s what really we’re looking for,” May reflected. “We wanna get back to that place where we were warm and snug and loved and secure. So the song was purely about that, but of course underneath, we’re talking about ‘where’s Freddie going and where are we all going eventually.’”

May also added a montage of older Queen songs and a clip from “Goin’ Back,” which was the very first song Mercury ever recorded, to the very end of the track. “Goin’ Back,” which was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, expresses a similar desire to return to the innocence of childhood, reflecting the themes in “Mother Love.” 

Its place at the end of Mercury’s last song—along with the montage of Queen songs—brings the track full circle. Thanks to Mercury and May's devotion, the song is a reflection on whatever mystery we come from before birth and return to after death, and the magic and meaning that can be created in this short lifetime.

Read More: