Who Wants to Live Forever

Who Wants to Live Forever is a power ballad by English rock band Queen. The song was written by guitarist Brian May for the soundtrack of the film Highlander - There Can Be Only One and released in a different version on the album A Kind of Magic on 2 June 1986. The single reached number 24 in the UK charts. Since then, a number of cover versions have been created.

Style

Brian May sings the first verse and is then replaced by Freddie Mercury, who - apart from the line "but touch my tears with your lips" and the last words "who waits forever anyway" - sings the rest of the song. Instrumental accompaniment includes the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen. In live performances, however, Freddie Mercury sang all the lyrics.

Background

In Highlander, Who Wants to Live Forever punctuates a scene showing Connor MacLeod's wife Heather aging alongside him over the years and eventually dying, while he remains forever young as an immortal (that is, as long as he is not violently killed by decapitation). In the movie version, Mercury also sings the first verse. The song can also be heard in some episodes of the later TV series Highlander.

An instrumental version entitled Forever is included as a bonus track on the CD edition of the album A Kind of Magic. Here Brian May plays piano with some keyboard accompaniment during the chorus phases.

The compilations Greatest Hits II (1991) and Absolute Greatest (2009) include a slightly abridged version of Who Wants to Live Forever.

A live interpretation of Queen, featuring May on keyboards as well as guitar, was released on the album Live at Wembley '86 in 1992 and on DVD in 2003 respectively.