This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Tim Rice: Hello, this is Tim Rice.

[0:01] Tim Rice: Welcome to my podcast, Get Onto My Cloud, and this is episode 20.

[0:16] Tim Rice: I've had the honour, at least it was an honour in most cases, of writing with some very distinguished composers over the years that I've been in the entertainment world.

[0:25] Tim Rice: I date my entry into that world from March 1965, when I met Andrew Lloyd Webber, and since that auspicious meeting, I've worked with a pretty top-draw selection of musicians, not always with success, but more often than not, I've come away from a project or song, even the failures, with a feeling that I'm glad I did that.

[0:46] Tim Rice: Each one is a stitch on the tapestry of life, or perhaps a track on the cassette of life, where the fast forward or replay is the preferred button.

[0:56] Tim Rice: Without a doubt, one of the most fascinating artists I've ever written a song with is the inimitable Freddie Mercury.

[1:03] Tim Rice: In 1987, I suggested to Elaine Paige that a suitable theme for her next album could be songs from the marvellous and varied Queen catalogue.

[1:13] Tim Rice: The songs written by all four writers in the band were melodic and dramatic, thus, right up her alley, whether rockers, semi-operatic, or gentle ballads.

[1:23] Tim Rice: Elaine agreed.

[1:25] Tim Rice: Freddie in particular took a great interest in the album, and the band themselves posed for a shot with Elaine for the cover.

[1:32] Tim Rice: I'd met the members of Queen on a few brief occasions, but I first got to know Freddie properly as a result of Elaine's album.

[1:39] Tim Rice: Freddie was at the time involved with an ambitious non-Queen project with the celebrated opera diva Montserrat Caballé, a combination that kicked off with the wonderful hit Barcelona, Montserrat's hometown, and the venue for the forthcoming 1992 Olympic Games.

[1:56] Tim Rice: The success of Barcelona led to an album of duets between the superstar and the illustrious operatic soprano.

[2:04] Tim Rice: Freddie and Mike Moran wrote the bulk of the album's material, but to my surprise and delight, Freddie invited me to contribute lyrics to two of the operatic pieces.

[2:12] Tim Rice: I had a free reign with the storylines and was not required to venture into my extremely limited Spanish.

[2:18] Tim Rice: The tracks Freddie gave me, arranged by him and Mike Moran, were five to six minutes long and with complex melody lines and structure, but I was made aware which bits were Freddie's and which Montserrat's.

[4:02] ♪ Musical number ♪

[7:33] Tim Rice: It could be the heart. Yesterday, the seating, a changing all the bed. The worse it made the happy ones away.

[8:15] Tim Rice: Freddie and Montserrat giving their all with unbounded passion.

[8:19] Tim Rice: As is traditional with opera, the words are not always crystal clear to the untrained ear.

[8:24] Tim Rice: That's fine by me.

[8:25] Tim Rice: I hadn't studied my own words on this album for a while.

[8:29] Tim Rice: And when at last they fell apart, she wished that she could be the hardened heart of yesterday, as cynical as he.

[8:45] Tim Rice: As a curse.

[8:46] Tim Rice: Hmm.

[8:47] Tim Rice: Not exactly Hakuna Matata.

[8:49] Tim Rice: By the way, that was the slightly edited version of The Golden Boy, a minute or so shorter than the cut on the original 1988 Barcelona album.

[8:58] Tim Rice: I got to know Freddie reasonably well in the last few years of his life.

[9:01] Tim Rice: Apart from the great loss suffered by his partner, his closest friends and musical colleagues, his unscheduled departure was not only a tragedy for rock and contemporary music, but also, I believe, for musical theatre, maybe even opera.

[9:14] Tim Rice: Freddie, like Elton, was a magnetic performer who had theatricality in his bones, and I'm certain he would have written full-scale musicals or operas, as Elton has done so successfully, without in any way compromising his musical roots and influences.

[9:29] Tim Rice: Elton has had four shows on Broadway, and three, The Lion King, Billy Elliott, and Aida, were big hits.

[9:37] Tim Rice: And a 75% strike record is one most full-time theatre writers would be more than happy to settle for.

[9:44] Tim Rice: Of course, Queen's material has already been a huge hit in the West End.

[9:48] Tim Rice: We Will Rock You, technically a so-called jukebox musical, Queen's Hits Strung Together in a Futuristic Plot by Ben Elton, ran for ten years in the West End and has played in many other cities around the globe.

[10:01] Tim Rice: But I think Freddie would have topped even that achievement had he lived to work in other fields of music, by which he was clearly fascinated and influenced.

[10:09] Tim Rice: Many of Queen's greatest works are mini musicals in their own right.

[10:14] Tim Rice: None more so, of course, than Bohemian Rhapsody, which tells an enigmatic tale of a young man coming to terms with his sexuality, his background, and his life.

[10:24] Tim Rice: At least that's my interpretation.

[10:27] Tim Rice: And it's told with melody, humour, and humanity.

[10:30] Tim Rice: Here is a great musical theatre performer, Elaine Paige, and her recording of this timeless classic, a song now almost half a century old.

[11:06] ♪ Musical number: "Bohemian Rhapsody" — performed by Elaine Paige ♪

[12:11] Tim Rice: If I'm not back again this time tomorrow, carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters.

[12:11] ♪ Musical number: "Bohemian Rhapsody" — performed by Elaine Paige ♪

[14:09] ♪ Musical number ♪

[16:30] Tim Rice: Now that is a match for great theatre moments in musicals, with the impact, drama, and sophistication of Bernstein, Sondheim, Lloyd Webber, Rogers, Lesser, you name them, and pretty good lyrics too.

[16:43] Tim Rice: The other lyric I provided for Freddie's Barcelona album was entitled The Fallen Priest. Once again, the track I was handed on which to fashion a drama for the two dynamic vocalists was not the easiest demo to follow and/or convert, and there were no lyrical suggestions, requests, or plot guidelines.

[17:01] Tim Rice: Freedom to choose, yes, but sometimes not having a subject or scene to write about can be a disadvantage when starting. I've never found it easy to write lyrics for one-off songs, which, in one sense, being standalone compositions, do not need to be written. If they're part of a show or a movie, then one's task is clearer, and it's easier to dive in.

[17:24] Tim Rice: Apparently, what became The Fallen Priest was originally a virtuoso piano piece by Mike Moran, nicknamed Rachmaninoff's Revenge by Freddie and Mike. I didn't want to write a conventional love song, and in any event, the music did not inspire such thoughts. It conveyed a rather fatalistic mood and desperate pleading. Hence the tale of a priest breaking his vows to consummate his relationship with a woman.

[17:50] Tim Rice: Montserrat sings, "free me, free yourself, come a little closer to the fire to love and live that one desire." Denial of that love is treason. Freddie replies, "we are mortal in the hands of God who rolls the dice. Why do I believe in you? You're destroying my world. Hold nothing back. Give me all there is. I want it all."

[18:13] Tim Rice: In 2012, a new special edition of the entire Barcelona album was released with a full symphonic orchestra taking the place of the original 1988 instrumentation, much of which had been synthesized or sampled. This is the new orchestral recording of The Fallen Priest.

[20:26] Tim Rice: I am full. But I promise I will tie it to gravity and save.

[21:39] Tim Rice: I shall not be the cross of the fall that on this tree the love of women in the hands of God such for me so hard to find.

[23:43] Tim Rice: Give me all the rings I want it all on a full This is where we stand up.

[24:13] Tim Rice: The second of the only two songs I wrote with the late Freddie Mercury, What a Talent, What a Loss. Had he lived, I might never have worked with him again, but I know for certain that he would have triumphed in new arenas, no matter who his accomplices were. At least he left behind magnificent music and wise witty words, both with and without Queen. And thankfully, they continue to bring his and their brilliance to stages that Freddie would have, should have, conquered, time and time again.

[24:56] Tim Rice: That was episode 20 of my podcast, Get Onto My Cloud. Written and presented by me, Tim Rice, and produced by Peter Hobbes.