Freddie Mercury is back from the grave with a haunting new single.
Queen’s “Face It Alone” — a lost track from the sessions for 1989’s “The Miracle” — has been unearthed 33 years later and was released Thursday.
The track finds the unmistakable Mercury — who died, at 45, from AIDS-related complications in 1991 — reflecting on his life in typically dramatic fashion.
“Your life is your own/You’re in charge of yourself/Master of your home/In the end, in the end/You have to face it all alone,” he sings in the chorus amidst the eerie atmosphere.
With its mournful piano set against a funereal drum beat, the somber mood can’t help but make you think that Mercury is facing his own death — and facing it alone.
“When something so near and dear to life explodes inside/You feel your soul is set on fire,” Mercury sings at the beginning of the song, as if he himself is being burned alive.
And the tune comes to a bleak ending with the singer repeating the line, “When the moon has lost its glow.”
“We Will Rock You,” this is not.
“We’d kind of forgotten about this track, but there it was, this little gem,” said Queen drummer Roger Taylor in a press release. “It’s wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.”
“I’m happy that our team were able to find this track,” added guitarist Brian May. “After all these years, it’s great to hear all four of us … working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed … until now!”
“Face It Alone” previews the upcoming release of “The Miracle Collector’s Edition,” an eight-disc box set that comes out Nov. 18.
Reflecting on the making of the penultimate album to be released in Mercury’s lifetime, May said, “We were … dealing with Freddie’s deteriorating health and pulling together to support him.”