英語エッセイ №5「My Favourite Person」

みなさん、こんにちは。

今日も英語の勉強お疲れさまです☆彡

イギリス英語を話せるようになりたいあなたへ。

当ブログでは英語圏に約26年在住している著者が、これまでにしてきた英語学習をもとに、みなさまの英語学習に役立つようなリアルな情報をお届けしています。

英語学習に役立つ情報や、私がイギリスでよく耳にする日常英会話のフレーズ集の他に、不定期に英語エッセイも掲載しています。

*

今日9月5日は、私が愛してやまないフレディ・マーキュリーの誕生日。

生誕からちょうど80年目を迎えました。

「My Favourite Person」

My favourite person is Freddie Mercury. Do you know who he is? He was the main singer in a band called Queen. Queen is one of the most important rock groups to come from England. I came across them when I was a first-year high school student. At first, I made fun of him because I heard that he wore a leotard on stage and had buckteeth. However, one day, one song changed my life; it was called “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.

One day, my mother borrowed a CD compilation of 70’s rock music. Whilst reading the list of musicians, I noticed a couple of Queen’s songs were included. Honestly, I was not interested in hearing anything from Queen, but one of my classmates told me that they were a really great band and recommended me to listen to their songs. One night, I decided to listen to them. As soon as the music started playing, I got goosebumps. I thought to myself, ‘What a great song… Is this opera rock?’ and listened to it over and over again. I had never heard such a strange song. The other song I listened to that night was “Killer Queen”. I was impressed by their songs.

The next day, I borrowed their best album from my classmate. Since then, I have been crazy about Queen and began to collect their albums. Their songs are varied, as Freddie said, ‘The term rock’n’roll is just a label one starts off with. I should like to think of it as a vast open door…’ All of them can write lyrics and music, and this is just one of the charms of Queen. However, I think the best charm lies in Freddie Mercury.

Freddie Mercury’s real birth name was Farookh Bulsara, and he was born in Zanzibar on the 5^th of September, 1946. He was raised in a very rich family by his mother, Jer, and his father, Bomi, who worked as an accountant for the British Government at the House of Wonders. Zanzibar is a small island off the coast of East Africa. When he was 8, he was sent to a boarding school near Bombay, India. He was outstanding in sports and piano and was always an outstanding figure. It was at that time when he came across classical music and rock’n’roll music. He really enjoyed his life in Zanzibar and India. However, his world changed very much after his parents decided to move to England. A revolution in Zanzibar in 1964 forced them to flee the country. His new life in England was very different from what it used to be. At school, he was teased because of his looks and peculiar colonial accent. When he turned 19, he entered the Ealing College of Art, for he thought if he went to an art school, he could recapture the time when he had a happy childhood. He also felt attracted to the possibility of playing pop music.

Three years later, he was qualified as an illustrator and graphic designer and graduated from college.

In April 1970, he joined a group with his friends guitarist, Brian May and drummer, Roger Taylor. In February 1971, a bassist John Deacon joined their group, and Queen was born. The moment they formed the group, Freddie designed Queen’s crest. They made their debut in 1973 and achieved great success. Their first successful song was called Killer Queen. They explored the entirety of rock music over a twenty-year career. Twenty of the albums that Queen released made it to the top ten chart except for the first album. Freddie was very interested in opera and classical music, so he expressed this on his solo albums. On his second solo album, he sang with Montserrat Caballé, a famous opera singer from Spain. Their song “Barcelona” was used as a theme song for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

By the way, why am I so interested in Freddie, a man who would be older than my parents? It’s because he is a man who lived his life thoroughly. He had a definite vision for his music, believed that he would succeed, hated unfinished work, and he did everything with all of his strength. He was also a warm-hearted person. When somebody was in trouble, he couldn’t help but to help them.

However, in 1991, Freddie Mercury died of AIDS. He was 45 years old. After knowing that he had contracted HIV, he tackled a new recording enthusiastically. He was very brave and determined not to become a burden to anybody and was independent until the end. He had a strong will, struggled with the terrible disease and never gave up hope. It was wonderful that he continued to work until six months before his death. He tried to carry on doing his work until the very end. He left behind many great works.

My first impression of him was not that good, but the more I listened to his music, read books about him, realised his character and his view of life, the more I became attracted to him. I learnt lots of things from him. Thanks to him, I can listen to many types of music, and he has changed my view of life. I’m really glad to have come across him. When I listen to his strong voice, power begins to stir in my mind. He is by my side whenever I’m depressed or unhappy.

I’m going to continue listening to Freddie’s and Queen’s music. I would like to live my life as strongly as Freddie did.

(Written in 1996)

＊

あの当時書いたものをそのまま載せましたが、久しぶりに読んで「あれ？」と思うところがありました。

フレディがロンドンに移住してきてから学校でいじめられたというのは、事実ではないと思います。

今回紹介したエッセイを書いた1996年はインターネットもなかったし、情報も限られていたので（クイーン関連の本は2冊ほどしか持っていなかった）その本の情報を鵜吞みにして書きました。

もしかして他にも間違っている情報があるかもしれませんが、大目に見ていただけたらと思います。