Launched last week to mark the 40th anniversary of its original 1985 album release and a new 2025 anniversary vinyl release, this special three -part Freddie Mercury Mr Bad Guy YouTube mini-series returns for part two to the classic interview the iconic Queen frontman gave to journalist David Wigg in 1985 in support of the album’s initial release.
This second episode explores Freddie’s approach to songwriting, and from where he drew his inspiration. Revisiting the candid interview conducted by Wigg at the time, we witness one of the rare occasions where Freddie revealed the differences between the public and private faces of the legendary Freddie Mercury.
The clip opens with footage from the lavish, Stravinsky and Dante-inspired, David Mallet-directed video for Mr. Bad Guy’s second single, “Made In Heaven”, which is referred to later in the conversation. However, to start the ball rolling, Wigg asks Freddie about his songwriting technique and whether it comes easily to him or not.
Giving the question due consideration, Freddie reveals that “the actual structure of the melody comes easy to me…it’s the lyrical content I find hard.”
“I like to write a nice little tune, but the lyrical content is difficult, I have to work on that part of it”, he furthers, before candidly admitting “I’m not a poet and I hate writing lyrics anyway. I wish somebody else could do it.”
Mischievously, he adds, “I wish I had a Bernie Taupin, but I’m not like that. I like to do it all myself, I’m a greedy bitch”.
However, while Freddie is clearly enjoying himself, he delves deep into himself to elaborate further on the same subject.
“My songs are all under the label emotion…emotion and feeling”, he says. “Even though a lot of people have fallen in love and a lot more have fallen out of love, people are still doing it. So I’m still writing songs about that in different atmospheres. I think mostly because I feel I have gone through all those.”
He adds: “I’d love to write songs about something totally different, but they all seem to end up in a very emotional and tragic way. Maybe I’m a very tragic person. I don’t know why, but there’s an element of humour at the end. I’m a very loving person, you know”, he finishes, again smiling broadly.
Freddie also takes the time to consider Wigg’s question about whether the songs on Mr. Bad Guy reflect his life and if that’s the reason it contains such a diverse selection of moods.
He supplies a revealing answer. “I’m a man of extremes, you know?” he says. “I change from day to day, like a chameleon. Each day is very different to me. I look forward to that. I don’t want to be the same person every day.”
Looking back, Wigg concurs with Freddie’s admission that Mr. Bad Guy represents “a whole spectrum of what my life is.”
“He was very keen to make Mr. Bad Guy because he had a selection of songs he felt wouldn’t have worked with Queen”, the journalist stresses today. “But he worked just as hard on them as anything he did with the band. He wrote some wonderful songs that were full of both pain and beauty for that album, songs like “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” and “Made In Heaven.””
Indeed, it’s fitting that this second episode should so prominently feature the visuals from the “Made In Heaven” promo, for Freddie obliquely refers to it in relation to himself as the episode concludes with David Wigg asking him if he’s “going to get to heaven?”
“No, I don’t want to” Freddie says categorically, quipping “Hell is much better. Look at the interesting people that you’re going to meet down there.”
In the upcoming third and final episode in the Mr. Bad Guy YouTube mini-series, Freddie Mercury talks about the record’s songs that are especially personal to him.
Mr. Bad Guy new 40th anniversary special edition vinyl reissue – available on translucent green vinyl and picture disc LP – is out now.
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