This song is about as cathartic as it gets.
This is the last song on the last album Queen released before Freddie Mercury died. And they knew what was going on when they were working on the album. Bryan May and Freddie talked about it, and Bryan put this song together for Freddie.
To hear his voice soar and nail those notes as brilliantly as he did, when he was so weak that he could sing only for a short while each day. To hear him sing these lines, while literally coming face to face with the end of his life.
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on
It’s so heroic, I can’t help but tear up when I think about it. What an amazing, inspiring song.