![]() We wanted people to know that we didn’t take ourselves too seriously, that we could still laugh at ourselves. Roger Taylor said, “We had done some really serious, epic videos in the past, and we just thought we’d have some fun. Echoing the song’s lyrics, all of them want to ‘break free’ of their lives. The idea of dressing up in the video was suggested by Roger Taylor,featuring the band dressed up in drag-with Freddie as a housewife, Roger Taylor as a young school girl, Brain May as a housewife, and John Deacon as a grandmother. ![]() Although it was originally intended to be a male perspective of the women’s liberation movement, it was then taken on as somewhat of an anthem for one’s own personal freedom for person who finds his/herself in a situation where they feel repressed and want to ‘break free’ of their circumstances and show the real person that they are. ![]() In fact, it even gets a mention in the recent biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.This song talks about someone who feels trapped in their relationship and wants to ‘break free’ of their lover. Once Freddie had whipped the disguise off, the crowd were pacified and the gig remains one of Queen’s biggest audiences. However, when he pulled this costume change in Rio, the crowd of 350,000 people “began tossing stones, beer cans and other missiles” at the legend.Īs Queen’s interpreter Maria Caetano explained to the group: “The song is sacred in South America because we consider it a political message about the evils of dictatorships.” When I Want To Break Free was performed live, the singer would don the wig and the false breasts in a callback to the video. At least, until the Bohemian Rhapsody scene in Wayne’s World.įreddie Mercury and Queen on stage at the Rock in Rio festival, Brazil, January 1985.īut the controversy with I Want To Break Free didn’t end there.Īccording to a contemporary report in People USA magazine, when Queen played Rio in January 1985, Mercury’s treatment of the song didn’t go down too well. While the video wasn’t banned outright, the cool reception to the clip meant that one of Queen’s best songs was something of a damp squib in America - and May considers that the video damaged the band’s reputation in that country. “I remember being on the promo tour in the Midwest of America and peoples’ faces turning ashen and they would say, ‘No, we can't play this. “All around the world people laughed and they got the joke and they sort of understood it,” May told NPR Radio in 2010. Singer Freddie Mercury performing with Queen at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio de Janerio, 24 January 1985. Across the Atlantic, however, drag was still a very niche activity and not the primetime, mainstream attraction it is today with shows like Drag Race. In the UK, the tradition of drag dates back to Shakespeare’s time and beyond and was carried over into popular TV comedies and even kids' entertainment with the pantomime dame. While Britain rolled its eyes and tittered at such shenanigans, over in America, people were less amused. Dressed in a tight sweater with fake boobs, pvc skirt, stockings and high heels, topped off with a wig and full make-up (while still retaining his trademark moustache), the singer cut a comical figure as he hoovered the carpet and dusted the ornaments in a parody of a “typical” housewife. The get the authentic Coronation Street vibe, the four members of Queen decided to adopt female characters who lived in the same terraced house: guitarist Brian May dressed up in hair curlers and dressing gown, bassist John Deacon was an old lady reading the paper and drummer Roger Taylor looked absolutely delightful as a schoolgirl.įrontman Freddie Mercury, meanwhile, took on the role of “Bet Lynch” - the glamorous barmaid of Coronation Street’s Rover’s Return pub. Some of the cast of the British television soap opera, 'Coronation Street' in the bar of the show's pub, 1978. While the fantasy sequence saw Mercury cavorting athletically with members of the Royal Ballet, the “everyday” scenes that framed the video could only be summed up by one thing - a soap opera! Specifically, ITV’s long-running show Coronation Street.
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