Mother Love

The last song Freddie Mercury recorded, "Mother Love" is part of Queen's last album, Made In Heaven, which was released four years after his death. The group's guitarist, Brian May, explained in the Days of our Lives documentary: "Freddie would say 'give me words, I will sing' so there I was writing on scraps of paper these lines of 'Mother Love.' I would give him a line, he would sing it, then sing it again, then sing it again - so we only had three takes of everything. After he'd finished the second verse, he said 'Oh I don't feel too well, I'm going to go home and we'll finish it tomorrow'... and he never did. That was the last time I saw Freddie in the studio." The final verse was written and sung by Brian May a couple of years after Mercury died in November 1991.

Roger Taylor is a particular admirer of this song. He notes in the Days of our Lives documentary: "I'm hearing the voice (Freddie's voice) getting... weaker. But I mean he still hits all the notes. There's an absolutely spine-chilling note in the middle of "Mother Love" ("out in the city, in the cold world outside, I don't want pity, just a safe place to hide") which is just a great bit of singing."

The lyrics were co-written by Freddie Mercury and Brian May. It is one of the few times in song that Mercury seems to admit his inner pains and struggles of dealing with AIDS ("I'm a man of the world and they say I am strong, but my heart is heavy and my hope is gone") - the other key one being "The Show Must Go On."