"These Are the Days of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Although credited to the whole band, it was largely written by their drummer Roger Taylor, and is the eighth track on the band's 1991 album Innuendo.

The song was released as a single in the United States on Freddie Mercury's 45th birthday, 5 September 1991, and as double A-side single in Ireland and the United Kingdom on 9 December, in the wake of Mercury's death, with the Queen track "Bohemian Rhapsody". The double A-side debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart and remained there for five weeks, topped the Irish Singles Chart for six weeks, and reached number 16 in Germany. The song was awarded a Brit Award for British Single of the Year in 1992. In 1999, it was included on Queen's compilation album Greatest Hits III.

Background

Reminiscing on the past, Roger Taylor penned the song as Freddie Mercury's health was deteriorating. As a teenager, Taylor had known Mercury since the late 1960s when they worked together at Kensington Market in London before the two (along with Brian May) founded Queen in 1970. The opening chorus in the song reminisces, with "Those were the days of our lives", while the second chorus refers to the present, "Cause these are the days of our lives".

Music video

The video was the last Queen video to feature Freddie Mercury in person before his death on 24 November 1991. Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher of DoRo Productions filmed the music video at studios in London on 30 May 1991.

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Mercury, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were present at the shoot; Brian May was filmed later in the year and added in digitally, as he was out of the country on a promotional tour at the time of the shoot. Following rumours about Mercury's health, the video was filmed and released in black-and-white to hide the full extent of his illness. Video director Dolezal had been told beforehand to keep things speedy due to Mercury's ailing condition, but before shooting wrapped, Mercury requested one more take for the last lyrics of the song: "Those days are gone now but one thing's still true / When I look and I find I still love you". Jordan Runtagh for People writes, "On the last line, he summons all his strength for a final heroic pose before collapsing into himself with a soft laugh. Staring through the camera, he whispers a final "I still love you" before snapping his fingers, walking out of frame with a flourish". Another video version was released in 1992 to promote the Classic Queen compilation album in the US, combining old footage of the band from 1973 to 1991 plus the performances of the band from the US aired video.

Live performances and covers

The song was first played live on 20 April 1992 at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, sung by George Michael and Lisa Stansfield. The live version was included on the 1993 EP Five Live, credited to 'George Michael with Queen & Lisa Stansfield'.

The song was played on the 2005/2006 Queen + Paul Rodgers tours with vocals provided by Roger Taylor. On stage the song was accompanied by a video of the band in their early days in Japan, including many shots focusing on past band members Freddie Mercury and John Deacon.

The song was used on 1 July 2007 at the Concert for Diana held at the redeveloped Wembley Stadium, London in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had died almost 10 years earlier. At the end of the concert, a video montage of Diana as a child was presented while the song was playing in the background.

Track listings

First Issue

Second Issue

Personnel

;Queen

  • Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals, keyboards
  • Brian May – guitars, backing vocals
  • Roger Taylor – drums, keyboards, backing vocals
  • John Deacon – bass guitar

with:

  • David Richards – keyboards, programming

Accolades

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

!Year

!Ceremony

!Award

!Result

|-

|rowspan="1"|1992

!scope=row|Brit Awards

|British Single of the Year

|

|}

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1991–1992)

!Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)<br><small>with "Bohemian Rhapsody"</small><br/>

| 1

|-

|-

!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)

| 21

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (2021)

!Peak<br />position

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1991)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

| 2

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1992)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

| 15

|}

Certifications

Release history

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col"| Country

! scope="col"| Date

! scope="col"| Format

! scope="col"| Label

! scope="col"| Catalog no.

|-

! colspan="5"| First Issue

|-

| rowspan="3"| United States

| August 1991

| Promo CD-R <small>(Modern Rock / Alternative radio)</small>

| rowspan="3"| Hollywood Records

| PRCD-10061-2

|-

| 5 September 1991

| 7-inch, CS

| 64868 4 (7-inch)<br />HR-64868-4 (CT)

|-

| 1991

| Promo CD-R <small>(Contemporary hit radio)</small>

| PRCD-8390-2

|-

! colspan="5"| Second Issue

|-

| Europe

| rowspan="2"| 9 December 1991

| rowspan="2"| 7-inch, CD, Cassette

| rowspan="4"| EMI, Parlophone

| 016 2046497, QUEEN 20 (7-inch)<br />2046492, CDQUEEN 20 (CD)<br />300201 4 (CS)

|-

| United Kingdom

| 2046497, QUEEN 20 (7-inch)<br />2046492, CDQUEEN 20 (CD)<br />2046494, TCQUEEN 20 (CT)

|-

| Australia

| 1992

| CT

| TC-2046494

|-

| Japan

| 8 July 1992

| CD

| TOCP-7259

|}

References

  • Official YouTube videos: Queen + Paul Rodgers (live), at Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (with George Michael and Lisa Stansfield)
  • Lyrics at Queen official website