Who Wants To Live Forever?

A Queen tune off the soundtrack for the movie Highlander (& the Queen album Some Kind Of Magic). Here's the vid.

It's one of the most beautiful, sad & poignant pieces of music in film that I've ever heard. It plays during the scene in the movie where the Highlander is watching his wife grow old & die. the Highlander, being an immortal is kinda messed up by this turn of events & the music playing in the background adds to the emotions conveyed in the scene.

There are a few tunes I can think of that are sadder, but not many.

"There's no time for us
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away from us?
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?"

The orchestration is very simple. Almost but not quite understated. An organ with scattering of faintly heard strings through the verse. Then the chorus ("who wants to live forever?") is damn near exquisitely done. A simple ascending melody divided by syllables of the lyrics (a 3 note rise in other words - "who wants" on C then up a step to D for "to live" then up a step to E for "forever") with the strings just a bit louder touching on a descending harmony then providing a consequent motif as the vocals fade just a bit. Then the words repeat but the melody picks up where it left off instead of repeating. In other words the melody is a third higher on the reprise. The strings repeat their descending accompaniment but additional vocals provide texture to the melody as it starts on E then rises another step to F.. then another half step to G.

"There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?"

The strings come in a bit more on the second verse, giving a nice flavor to the melody without detracting from it too much. They do a very nice job of emoting the anxiety & tension consistent with the text then resolving it prior to the second chorus.

But the second chorus; the strings come in a more noticeable role giving a harmony as well as the counterpoint from the first chorus. The second half of the chorus has them coming up to a nice crescendo (along with the vocal harmonies - Mercury was always too damn good at that) that leads to the strings taking the melody over for the first half of what would be the next repeat of the chorus. The second half has a build up that's a continuation of what the strings did just prior but with Mercury adding a new line of text:

"Who dares to love forever?"

Which climaxes in a suspended chord as he moans & the guitar comes in to heighten the tension. Then it resolves to the minor root of the song as Mercury adds:

"When love must die"

But that's not enough. An instrumental section with May picking out a simple & tasteful melody leads to a heavier more anxious part:

"But touch my tears with your lips
Touch my world with your fingertips"

The strings are providing an almost staccato rhythm as the drums come in playing half time behind the lyrics.

Then they kick it in. The drums come in full & the strings are supplemented by very heavy chords from the guitar. It's the same chord progression & melody as the chorus just heightened in flavor & intensity. The lyrics are:

"And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today"

But that's not enough either. Mercury decides to show off. There are few better at stacking harmonies than the late Freddie Mercury & the next chorus is a perfect example of this. I'm counting 4 part harmonies not including octaves covered by at least 6 voices & I know I'm not counting it all.

"Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today"

Then it calms down a bit. The high-hat keeps an 8th note count while the strings fade & Mercury asks

"Who waits forever anyway?"

Strings take us out with a momentary build up that leads you to believe it's going to go on for a bit. Horns come in here & there & there's some nice minimalist guitar work. Then the organ suspends a chord & the strings resolve it, fading out on tonic chord. 9e-minor in this case).

But it's dry as hell to describe a song. Kinda like telling someone who's never had it how fried black sea bass tastes.

The feeling though - every song either inspires us to feel or think something or it doesn't. & what that feeling or thought is will vary with each person. There's no way to predict it (though usually you can have a general idea of the direction it may take in someone else) but it's hard to fathom that a song that causes strong feelings or thoughts in you wouldn't have the same effect on someone else. Still I'm left with talking about my impression. Your mileage may vary.

Again the first time I heard the song was in that scene from Highlander & it was damn near poetic in context. Still the song by itself is not to be discounted.

The saddest songs I know of aren't totally pessimistic. There's a good deal of pessimism involved but that'd just make them depressing momentarily & you'd soon just get on with things.

What makes a really great sad song is having a glimmer of hope - just a glimmer. Unrequited love is sad, but not as sad as when someone thinks there's still some sort of chance.

In real life we usually take unhappy endings as they come & when they're finally we move on. Not that it's easy or quick but most of us know the process & muddle through somehow. When a loved one dies it sucks but there's nothing to be done or hoped for in this world so you deal with it. But when there's a glimmer of hope - just the tiniest sliver of a chance that things may turn out happy that can mess you up worse than anything.

So it is in art & music. The tone of the song is mostly despondent. Mercury is talking himself into giving up hope cause he sees none - but he doesn't convince himself of that completely. He's preparing himself for a heartbreaking event that he desperately hopes (or wants to hope) will not happen.

The first part of the song he's convincing himself to just accept the inevitable, then the second half he's trying to talk himself (& presumably his lover) into the idea that maybe they can "have forever" even though it seems impossible. Or perhaps he's accepting that the inevitable will come but wishes to try to savor every moment until then? Either way what makes the tune so sad in content is the slight hope that is projected by the second half of the song. What makes the song great in general is the craftsmanship with which it was put together.

So listen to it sometime. Or better yet watch Highlander. Just don't think it'll leave you feeling ire. It's sad as hell (to me at least) but some of the greatest pieces of music in this world are, as some of the most memorable moments in our lives are regrettably sad ones.