Iconic Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed he was "mortified" by Freddie Mercury's vision for the video of one of their hits, particularly because it was one of the legendary singer's "most beautiful" tracks. Almost 12 years to the day after the frontman's death in November 1991, May shared his thoughts in the notes for 2003’s Greatest Video Hits 2.

Writing about the 1984 song It's a Hard Life, which featured on their album The Works, he said: "To my mind, this is one of the most beautiful songs that Freddie ever wrote. It’s straight from the heart, and he opened up during the creation of it. I sat with him for hours and hours and hours, just pouring out every word and trying to get the most out of it.

"It’s a very revealing thing about how relationships are, and he was talking about his relationship.

"But there’s everybody’s relationship in there, whatever kind of relationship it is. To me, it’s one of his loveliest songs."

However, he admitted he was not as keen on the video that accompanied the track, which was shot in an operatic, period-style with the band wearing elaborate costumes.

The group reportedly found their costumes uncomfortable and hot, and the "eyes" on Mercury's outfit were likened to "a giant prawn" by May and bandmates Roger Taylor and John Deacon.

Taylor openly admits to "loving the record, but really hating the video". In the commentary for the Greatest Hits 2 video collection, he said: "I think we look more stupid in this video than any other artist has looked in a video."

As part of the video, May was also required to "play" a "skull and bones-themed" guitar that reportedly cost more than £1,000, equivalent to £4,172 in 2026.

"On the face of it, I think I was mortified that he wanted to make this kind of video because it’s totally distracting, obviously. But in Freddie’s mind, I’m not gonna say it’s a joke – it’s an ironical take," May said.

Despite the guitarist's reticence about the promotional clip, the song reached number six in the UK singles chart and was Queen's third consecutive Top 10 single from the album.

In November 2014, the track was voted 19th on The Nation's Favourite Queen Song, which was broadcast on ITV.