"There Must Be More to Life Than This" is a song by British rock band Queen released on November 10, 2014 as the third track to the band's compilation album, Queen Forever. It features posthumous vocals provided by British singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury and American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson.
Background[]
"There Must Be More to Life Than This" was written solely by Mercury and first recorded by Queen in 1982 for their album Hot Space, although it didn't make the final cut. Two years prior, Michael and Freddie first met at backstage Queen's The Game Tour. They'd stay in contact since then. The two started recording songs together in 1983, one of which was a re-record of "There Must Be More To Life Than This". Unfortunately, due to complications, all the collaborations eventually got scrapped and the song landed on Mercury's 1985 solo, debut album Mr. Bad Guy without Jackson featured.
After Jackson's passing in 2009, Freddie's bandmates; Brian May and Roger Taylor began looking forward to releasing all the collaborations, as the interest in Jackson's unreleased material began to rise. After troubling negotiations with the Michael Jackson Estate, they ultimately got to only release "There Must Be More to Life Than This".[1]
In 2012, another version, often referred to as "Golden Duet", found its way onto the internet after being featured in a Mercury-based documentary; The Great Pretender. This sparked speculations online, that the band was in contact with the Estate to perhaps release the song.[1]
Queen has mentioned they made their mix, but that it was rejected in favor of one made by a British record producer William Orbit, which the members described as "very much sounding like the band". It is unknown if their version was the one featured in The Great Pretender.[1]
Upon its release, Orbit's version received mixed reviews from fans of both Queen and the King of Pop with most complaints regarding the mixing itself.
Audio[]
On July 7, 2002, a one-take recording of Michael singing the song over piano (played by Mercury) was leaked online. Freddie can also be heard directing Michael to ad-lib.
Lyrics[]
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
How do we cope in a world without love
Mending all those broken hearts
And tending to those crying faces
There must be more to life than this
There must be more than meets the eye
Why should it be just a case of black or white
There must be more to life than this
[Verse 1]
Why is this world so full of hate
People dying everywhere
And we destroy what we create
People dying for their human rights
But we just go on saying c'est la vie
So this is life?
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than killing
A better way for us to survive
I live in hope for a world filled with love
And we can all just live in peace
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
A living hope for a world filled with love
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life, much more to life
There must be more to life, more to life than this
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
How do we cope in a world without love
Mending all those broken hearts
And tending to those crying faces
There must be more to life than living
A better way for us to survive
[?]
In a world without children
There must be more to life than this
[Verse 1]
Why is this world so full of hate
People dying everywhere
And we destroy what we create
People fighting for their human rights
But we just go on saying c'est la vie
So this is life
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than living
There must be more than meets the eye
I live in hope for a world filled with love
And we can all just live in peace
[Chorus]
There must be more to life, much more to life
There must be more to life, more to life than this
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
How do we cope in a world without love
Mending all those broken hearts
And tending to those crying faces
There must be more to life than living
There must be more than meets the eye
Why should it be just a case of black or white
There must be more to life than this
[Verse]
Why is this world so full of hate
People dying everywhere
And we destroy what we create
People fighting for their human rights
But we just go on saying c'est la vie
So this is life
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than killing
A better way for us to survive
What good is life, if in the end we all must die
There must be more to life than this
[Instrumental Section]
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
I live and hope for a world filled with love
Then we can all just live in peace
There must be more to life, much more to life
There must be more to life, more to life than this
[Instrumental Outro]
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life than this
How do we cope
In a world without love?
Mending all those broken hearts, attending to those crying faces
There must be more to life than killing
A better way for us to survive
Ooh, I live in hope, for a world filled with joy
There must be more to life than this
[Verse]
Why is this world so full of hate?
People dying everywhere
And we destroy what we create
People fighting for their human rights
But we just go and say c'est la vie
So this is life
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than living
There must be more to life than this
I live in hope, for a world filled with love
Then we can all just live in peace
[Instrumental Section]
[Chorus]
There must be more to life than this
There must be more than meets the eye
I only hope, for a world filled with love
There must be more to life than this
There must be more to life, much more to life
There must be more to life
More to life than this
Trivia[]
- The song was planned for inclusion on the final track listing for The Works, but was replaced by "Is This The World We Created...?"