In My Defence

"In My Defence"
Single by Freddie Mercury
from the album Time, The Great Pretender and The Freddie Mercury Album
Released 1986 (Original)
1992 (remix)
Recorded October 1985
Genre Rock
Length 3:48 (original)
3:52 (remix)
Label EMI
Writer(s) Dave Clark

"In My Defence" is a ballad performed by Queen lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury.

Background

The song was written by Dave Clark, David Soames and Jeff Daniels for the musical Time. During the musical, Mercury performed the song as a duet with Cliff Richard; this was last time Freddie sang live in concert; his last performance would be Barcelona in 1988 with Montserrat Caballé, but this performance was lip-synced. Recorded as a solo project, it was recorded at Abbey Road in October 1985, about six months after Mr. Bad Guy was released. The producers expected that if Mercury was not satisfied with the final song, they would let him record with the rest of Queen, but Mercury found the final version satisfactory. "In My Defence" was first released on the "Time" LP in 1986. Other versions include '(Ron Nevison Mix)' - released on "The Freddie Mercury Album" and instrumental version (with vocals for the last line) released also on The Solo Collection. The Ron Nevison mix is very similar to the original, but has different bass and drums, while some string parts were added and others were removed. The 2000 Remix is a remastered version of the Ron Nevison mix and has the same instrumentation mixed differently. .

Music video

The music video, made after Mercury's death, was directed by Rudi Dolezal and was a montage featuring outtakes of past music videos, numerous private shots, as well as highlights of Freddie's career. Dolezal wanted the video that showed Mercury being happy and having a good time; much of the footage is the same as the previous The Show Must Go On montage also compiled by DoRo Productions consisting of Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher. It also features several quotations from interviews with Mercury, and ends with the line "I still love you" from These Are the Days of Our Lives.

Tracklisting

UK 7"/Cassette

UK CD1

  1. In My Defence
  2. Love Kills (Wolf Euro Mix)
  3. She Blows Hot And Cold (Single Version)
  4. In My Defence (Original Version)

UK CD2

  1. In My Defence
  2. Love Kills (Original Wolf mix)
  3. Mr. Bad Guy
  4. Living On My Own (Underground Solutions Mix)

Musicians