“I’m a Greedy Bitch” — Freddie Mercury’s Hilarious Confession About Writing Lyrics Revealed in 40th Anniversary Mini-Series
Forty years after its original release, Freddie Mercury’s solo masterpiece, Mr. Bad Guy, is getting a fresh spotlight. In celebration of the album’s new 40th-anniversary vinyl reissue, a special three-part YouTube mini-series is revisiting the iconic Queen frontman’s candid 1985 interview with journalist David Wigg. Part two, released today, offers a rare, illuminating look into Mercury’s songwriting process, revealing the deep emotional wellspring that fueled his most personal work.
While Mercury was celebrated for his complex compositions, he revealed that the actual writing was a battle of extremes. Asked about his technique, Freddie confessed that “the actual structure of the melody comes easy to me…it’s the lyrical content I find hard.” In a moment of playful candor, he admitted, “I’m not a poet and I hate writing lyrics anyway. I wish somebody else could do it. I wish I had a Bernie Taupin, but I’m not like that. I like to do it all myself, I’m a greedy bitch.”
Despite his complaints, Mercury delved into the profound source of his lyrical themes: emotion and feeling. “My songs are all under the label emotion,” he stated. Though he wished to write about different topics, he found they consistently ended up “in a very emotional and tragic way.” He mused, “Maybe I’m a very tragic person. I don’t know why, but there’s an element of humour at the end. I’m a very loving person, you know.”
Wigg’s interview confirms that Mr. Bad Guy was a necessary creative outlet for Mercury, filled with songs “he felt wouldn’t have worked with Queen.” The diverse moods on the album, Wigg noted, directly reflected Mercury’s own mercurial nature.
“I’m a man of extremes, you know?” Freddie said. “I change from day to day, like a chameleon. Each day is very different to me. I look forward to that. I don’t want to be the same person every day.” Ultimately, the album became, in Wigg’s view, a “whole spectrum” of Mercury’s life, featuring tracks brimming with both “pain and beauty” like “Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow” and “Made In Heaven.” Fittingly, the episode prominently features footage from the David Mallet-directed video for the latter.
The clip concludes with a classic Mercury quip. When Wigg asks if he plans on getting to heaven, Freddie replies categorically: “No, I don’t want to. Hell is much better. Look at the interesting people that you’re going to meet down there.”
The Mr. Bad Guy 40th anniversary special edition vinyl—available on translucent green vinyl and picture disc LP—is out now, allowing fans to dive back into the deeply personal work of the Queen legend. The third and final part of the mini-series, focusing on the album’s most personal songs, is coming soon.
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