Released 11 December 1995 Recorded 1991-1995 | Format CD single, 7" single Length 3:49 | |
B-side "Thank God It's Christmas"
"Rock in Rio Blues" Label Parlophone (Europe)
Hollywood (North America) | ||
"A Winter's Tale" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven, released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991. It was written after the Innuendo sessions, inspired as Mercury was staring out the windows of his hospital, at Lake Geneva. The song has a psychedelic, dreamy feel, and describes what Mercury saw outside the windows.
Contents
Freddie wrote, composed, and did the vocals and keyboards for it (but the track is credited to Queen). In the documentary "Queen - Champions of the World", it was stated that this was, if not the first, then an extremely rare style of recording for Freddie, as it was all performed in one take live in the studio. It was stated in the film that Freddie had always insisted upon music being completed prior to the vocal arrangement beginning, but acknowledged that he had little time left and there was not enough time to work on it differently.
The song was released as the second single from the album. In the UK the single was also available in a special limited edition green paper CD case which resembled Christmas wrapping.
Personnel
Music video
The music video, produced after his death, was an epitaph, as Mercury's actual written song notes were displayed alongside imagery and clips of Mercury's past performances.