Two white blood cells fall in love in the surreal, animated video for Freddie Mercury’s “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow,” a single from the late singer’s 1985 solo debut Mr. Bad Guy. The clip was released on Thursday to honor what would have been the late singer’s 73rd birthday.
The two cells serenade each other under a disco ball, only to have heartbreak ensue when one of them gets diagnosed with AIDS. The clip was directed by Esteban Bravo and Beth David, the duo behind the Oscar-winning short film In a Heartbeat. It pays tribute to The Mercury Phoenix Trust, a charity founded after Mercury’s death by Queen members Brian May, Roger Taylor and manager Jim Beach.
“We wanted to tell a story that was relevant to Freddie’s life, but not explicitly about him,” the directors said in a statement. “The AIDS crisis of the 1980s is a huge part of LGBT history, and it’s something that we knew needed to be handled with care.”
“It is a love story between two white blood cells, one of which has become infected by the virus,” the directors added. “This perspective gave us a more direct visual representation of our conflict, which allowed us to explore the more nuanced struggles the characters face in their relationship with each other, their perceptions of themselves, and society’s perception, bias, and neglect of them.”
“Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” will be included on Never Boring, a new box set comprised of Mercury’s solo career. “I had a lot of ideas bursting to get out,” Mercury once said of his solo career, “And there were a lot of musical territories I wanted to explore which I really couldn’t do within Queen.”
The Never Boring box set includes a compilation of the same name, as well as the solo LPs Mr. Bad Guy and Barcelona. Overall, it contains 32 tracks and was produced by Queen’s longtime sound team Justin Shirley-Smith, Kris Fredriksson and Joshua J Macrae who also co-produced the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack.
Also included is a book of unpublished photos with an introduction from Rami Malek — who won a Best Oscar Oscar portraying Mercury in Rhapsody — and a DVD featuring 13 videos and a Mercury interview. Never Boring will be released on October 11th and is available for pre-order.
Never Boring Tracklist
1. “The Great Pretender”
2. “I Was Born To Love You”
3. “Barcelona”
4. “In My Defence”
5. “Love Kills”
6. “How Can I Go On” (Single Version)
7. “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow”
8. “Living On My Own” (Radio Mix)
9. “The Golden Boy” (Single Edit)
10. “Time Waits For No One”
11. “She Blows Hot and Cold”
12. “Made In Heaven”