It's a hard life - Queen

'It's a hard life' was written by Queen's frontman Freddie Mercury. A track on their 1984 album 'The works', it was released as the third single from that album. It reached number 6 in the UK singles chart.

The song is a continuation of the theme presented in earlier single 'Play the game': Mercury writes from the same lover's perspective at a later stage in their search for true love. The opening lyric of 'It's a hard life' is based on the line 'Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto!' ('Laugh, Pagliaccio, at your broken love!') from 'Vesti la giubba', an aria from Ruggiero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci.

My collection: 7" single no. 585
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, February 6, 1988
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'It's a hard life' / 'Is this the world we created?'