| Stelios 09.07.2019 18:30 |
Do you believe Freddie fought with depression in his final years? Some photos indicate sadness but did he actually struggled with depression as his time on earth was coming into full circle ? |
| Metropolis 09.07.2019 19:02 |
Personally, I always thought of Freddie as a very positive person. His bandmates described him as having no fear of dying and wanted to record more music before he died. He definitely regretted not being able to make more music, but depression? I don't think so. |
| dysan 09.07.2019 19:06 |
I think he struggled with depression his whole life. That came out in various forms early on and once he was secure financially (taking a weight off his shoulders) he was able to deal with it in different ways. You've got to have stared into the void yourself to understand it in other people. His final days? I can't comprehend how horrible that could've been for him |
| MisterCosmicc 09.07.2019 19:17 |
I think he was lonely and depressed. I think he became less depressed in the later years. He knew what was coming, and he was so into celebrities, he had his own hero’s, he knew his death would be world changing, that he made legendary status and will live on forever. |
| Stelios 09.07.2019 19:17 |
^agree |
| Stelios 09.07.2019 19:20 |
I meant to post the "agree" comment to dysan's reply |
| mariah carey 09.07.2019 19:50 |
I think he had some emotional issues in the late 60s and early 70s, partly because he was still closeted and self-hating. At least that's how I see him from what's written in the Rosemary Pearson's and David Minns' books. |
| Dougie 4 10.07.2019 04:30 |
I think depressed is too strong a word. He was a strong person with definite emotional struggles, but his positivity and determination to live life regardless just shines through |
| Stelios 10.07.2019 07:01 |
Well i think he was a strong person and the boarding school experience gave him an edge in surving tactics and outlook on life. I do remember Brian saying that Fred had some really dark places and that was pointing prior to the aids diagnosis the way Brian was making that statement. From the way Freddie was perfoming i do get a sence that there was always an inside battle going on. Like acting out his demons. But my initial question was aiming after the 1987 aids diagnosis. I cant comprehend how a man knowing what is about to happen, can keep his spirits up. Was it only for when the camera and tapes were rolling? ( i do get that sence in the Headlong video) or was it an all around attitude that prevented him from having the, clinical lets say, attributes of depression ? |
| MisterCosmicc 10.07.2019 22:08 |
Sad at times after ‘87 probably. Frequently depressed? I don’t think so. He still seemed to enjoy hanging out with friends, going out to eat, doing his opera album, working with Queen, shopping. He loved Jim, and stopped writing sad, depressing love songs. He became more mature, almost like an old fashioned conservative. |
| MisterCosmicc 10.07.2019 22:24 |
I think the AIDS diagnosis made Freddie enjoy life even more, he looked at life differently. Plus he was in a long term relationship. He had people around him, there was always business to attend to. He previously hated being in Switzerland, and then his thought process changed and he enjoyed looking at the snow covered mountains. Freddie a decade earlier would have been looking at a cloud of smoke over a crowd of people in a packed club. The clubbing, frequent heavy drinking, frequent cocaine use were gone. He has Garden Lodge and would go out to the nurseries with Jim for plants and landscape supplies. He’d give tours of his house with such enthusiasm. It was also back to song writing and recording with a lot of devotion. How often did Freddie/Queen make personal fan club songs for fans prior to 1987? I’m sure 1987 was tough after the diagnosis, but he didn’t let that stop him. It made him think about his priorities and the little things that make life worthwhile. Brian himself has said that their times together in the later years were some of Queen’s happiest, despite the grim outlook. |
| Stelios 11.07.2019 07:49 |
^ well said |
| Metropolis 11.07.2019 14:44 |
MisterCosmicc exactly. Freddie's illness made them all realize how much they cared for and needed each other, and they were closer as a group than ever before. Instead, Freddie worked even harder, knowing that he was working with a deadline, and Queen as a whole made a return from the less successful albums of mid 80s. |
| Costa86 11.07.2019 15:41 |
We know he turned completely to his music which is what kept him going. All else is speculation. |
| Stick 11.07.2019 16:16 |
Costa86 wrote: We know he turned completely to his music which is what kept him going. All else is speculation.We know that because of accounts from people around him after the fact. Like we know other things besides this because of accounts from people around him after the fact. Why in your opinion would you single out only this one to be true and the rest be just speculation? Seems like selectively picking what you consider to be true like a religious person. |
| Star* 11.07.2019 16:48 |
No one will ever know how Freddie conducted his life and whether he was depressed or whatever so this is really a useless thread. Too little too late. |
| dysan 11.07.2019 20:28 |
I don't wish to sound rude - but was there an improvement in his writing from, say, the mid 80s until his death? I don't think so. |
| Stelios 13.07.2019 15:47 |
dysan i think there was an improvement. He became more extistential in a way. |
| Agr123456 13.07.2019 18:48 |
Keep Passing The Open Windows...Pain Is So Close To Pleasure...I'm Going Slightly Mad...Delilah...Improvement...? Really? |
| Metropolis 13.07.2019 21:03 |
Not necessarily improved, but the style definately changed to become more sentimental. Whether you like that is up to you |
| Galileo1564 23.07.2019 03:03 |
@Stelios— If you’re interested in this subject in general, how AIDS patients reacted emotionally to the diagnosis in the mid 80s, you could watch this: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-28X8eK5ABg At the end of the day Freddie was a person like anyone else and I think he would have reacted as people generally did. Plus the stigma was almost worse than the disease. Those years were the worst of AIDS hysteria with many wanting to quarantine everyone who was HIV positive and people afraid of casual transmission. These topics were in the papers and on the news a lot. This was a training film for counselors. I imagine it’s on youtube because the guy in the purple cardigan is Roger McFarlane who was the first person, in the US anyway, to start an AIDS help telephone line. Anyway, that’s how I found it, looking for footage of him. The other interesting thing about this film is that being made in 1987 it reveals the state of knowledge or maybe lack of knowledge of HIV disease at the time. If you listen carefully it talks about how even after receiving a positive test and being diagnosed with ARC, an AIDS diagnosis was still a big shock. People on this board often seem to think that if Freddie was feeling poorly, let’s say on the Magic Tour, or if he tested positive, that he would have known what was coming was inevitable. Not so in 1985-87. The AIDS diagnosis would still have been a big shock. I think he worked his way through that shock and any depression and made the most of the time he had left. It could have been an emotional roller coaster though if he had a lot of hope in AZT and later in didanosine as so many did only to see those hopes evaporate. I’ve convinced myself that “How Can I Go On” is all about how he felt. You’re Greek right? Beautiful country which I visited decades ago and would love to visit again some day. I still have my photos. |
| Stelios 23.07.2019 08:59 |
@Galileo1564 Thanx for the elaborate responce. I will watch this video. And yes indeed, especially the first lines of How Can I Go On , "When all the salt is taken from the sea I stand dethroned, I'm naked and I bleed" ... the way he sings them, gave me also that impression too. |
| Mark_Glasgow 29.07.2019 20:38 |
Theres no evidence of him being depressed. You can try and guess that after he found out he had AIDS he may have been, but depression is a chemical imbalance and not a feeling sadness. It would have been no different if he had found out he had terminal cancer or any other life ending illness. Its more often the people who receive the diagnosiss of a life ending illness who cope much better than those around them. So I don’t believe he was depressed as no one has ever mentioned it. Just more speculation that can never be proven. |
| dysan 30.07.2019 06:45 |
Stelios wrote: dysan i think there was an improvement. He became more extistential in a way.Come now - more existential than Nevermore, Lily Of The Valley, Liar etc? He was straight off the blocks with lyrics that questioned his happiness and rejection of the world. |
| Star* 31.07.2019 11:30 |
Listen to "Mother Love" "A Winters Tale" and tell me then Freddie is not depressed! He would be shitting himself with fear. |
| thomasquinn 32989 31.07.2019 11:35 |
"Mother Love", perhaps. But "A Winter's Tale" is about as antithetical to depression as you can get! Both the lyrics and delivery convey an appreciation of simple beauty, summed up with the final "it's bliss". If anything, "A Winter's Tale" implies being at peace with the world. |
| Star* 31.07.2019 11:55 |
For me "A Winters Tale" is Freddie looking across the lake in Montreux reflecting that he will be gone soon and just enjoying the time he has left, |
| thomasquinn 32989 31.07.2019 12:00 |
That may be what you choose to see, but there is nothing in the lyrics that, upon a critical reading, suggests depression or sadness. Pretty much all words occurring in "A Winter's Tale" that are commonly associated with positive or negative emotions fall clearly on the positive side of that divide. Some clear examples: Quiet, cozy, gentle, tranquil, "What a super feeling" "Tranquil and blissful" "What a truly magnificent view" "It's all so beautiful" "Oooh, it's bliss" I think you're allowing your knowledge about Freddie's physical condition at the time to influence your interpretation of the lyrics. |
| bucsateflon 31.07.2019 12:55 |
thomasquinn 32989 wrote: Quiet, cozy, gentle, tranquil, "What a super feeling" "Tranquil and blissful" "What a truly magnificent view" "It's all so beautiful" "Oooh, it's bliss"Hey cholera boy/girl you should apply these words to yourself, now! Cause I think you are steaming, you are ready to burst, no shit crazy. |
| ernie85017 24.08.2019 23:50 |
Mark Glascow: Your intimate knowledge of depression (not) shows. Depression is not strictly a chemical imbalance. Medications can correct the imbalance, but the depression often remains. In these cases, the depression is a result of life experiences/traumas. It never ends. Other times it is a part of a personality type. If you don't understand, you could ask Brian May. Please don't make blanket statements about things you do not understand. That goes for all of you. |