Released 6 November 1995 Length 4:49 | Genre Rock | |
Recorded October 1991, 18 October 1993 – early 1995 at Mountain Studios, Cosford Mill and Metropolis Studios Label Parlophone (Europe)
Hollywood (North America) Writer(s) Freddie Mercury
Brian May | ||
"Mother Love" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven, released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991. It was written by Mercury and Brian May. The song features the last ever vocals sung by Mercury in May 1991, 6 months before his death.
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"Mother Love" was the final song co-written by Mercury and May, and was also Mercury's last ever vocal performance. Mercury's vocals were recorded between 13-16 May 1991 after the Innuendo sessions.
On his website, May discussed the writing process he and Mercury had (writing both separately and together, and conscious of the nature of the song and the lyrics). Upon reaching the final verse, Freddie told May that he had to go and "have a rest", but that he would return later and finish it. After that, Freddie never made it back to the studio, and May sang the last verse on the track.
At the end of the song it features a sample from a live sing along session recorded at Queen's famous 1986 concert at Wembley Stadium, and a sample from the intro of the studio version of "One Vision" and "Tie Your Mother Down".
Also, close to the end of the track features a few seconds of every Queen song ever recorded, put together and then rapidly sped through a tape machine.
It also features a sample from a cover of "Goin' Back", a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, for which Mercury had provided lead vocals in 1972. The cover was released as a b-side to "I Can Hear Music", a Ronettes cover, by Larry Lurex, not long before the release of Queen's debut album. At the end there is a baby heard crying.