Queen Members Felt “More Stupid Than Any Other Artist” While Filming This Ironic Music Video From 1984

For all the glitz and glamour that goes into making a rock ‘n’ roll music video—especially one from the 1980s—the production process doesn’t always feel as prestigious for those in front of the camera. In fact, British rock ‘n’ rollers Queen struggled to get through the 1984 music video for “It’s A Hard Life” specifically because of how they felt in their “decadent” costumes and over-the-top scenery.

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The surviving band members offered their commentary for the video on the Greatest Video Hits 2 compilation. And their recollections of those shoots were anything but glitzy. “I think we look more stupid in this video than any other artist has ever looked in a video,” drummer Roger Taylor admitted. “I don’t know what we were thinking. And I don’t know if the director Tim Pope was taking the p*** out of us, actually.”

To Taylor’s credit, the band does sport quite the aesthetic throughout the video. Their costumes are flamboyant, ruffly, and dramatic. Brian May plays a skull guitar ominously. And all of this takes place in an ornate castle hall complete with a grand staircase, marble statues, and a chorus of tutu- and feather-clad partygoers. The video centers on vocalist Freddie Mercury, who laments over how hard life and love can be while surrounded by opulence—an ironic take that guitarist Brian May praised in the Greatest Video Hits collection.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly From Queen’s “It’s a Hard Life” Music Video

Both Roger Taylor and Brian May audibly groaned in the Greatest Video Hits 2 collection when “It’s A Hard Life” began to play. Taylor called Freddie Mercury’s outfit a “giant Mediterranean prawn” outfit. He then pointed out that bassist John Deacon was “dressed as a horse. That’s a great idea, isn’t it? Fabulous idea! [mimicking Mercury’s voice] ‘I know what, you dress as a horse, horse’s arse!’ I seem to be being strangled by my collar. I think it was meant to be decadent.”

May offered a more positive perspective. He pointed out that the elaborate set and costume design gave the video its ironic edge. “This is, to my mind, one of the most beautiful songs that Freddie ever wrote,” he said. “It’s straight from the heart, and he really opened up during the creation of it. I sat with him for hours and hours just poring over every word and trying to get the most out of it. It’s a very revealing feeling thing about how relationships are, and he was talking about his relationship, you know. But there’s everybody’s relationship in there—whatever kind of relationship it is. So, to me, it’s one of his loveliest songs.”

The guitarist did admit that he was “mortified” to hear Mercury’s idea for the music video. But May later realized that the outlandish costumes and sets weren’t distractions, they were purposefully ironic elements that made the entire thing tongue-in-cheek. “It’s a joke within a joke, you know, and I think if you view it in this context, then it all starts to make sense,” May said.

“This is a Freddie indulgence,” the guitarist added. “We indulged him.”

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