Comments: 24

• Poopy Head from Ur Mom's BedroomFor all the people saying this song wouldn't help someone, or is upsetting, or whatever else, they probably haven't dealt with these things. As a person who has dealt with sh and suicidal thoughts, this song actually helps, quite a bit. Anytime I get the urge to sh, I can play this song and distract myself for long enough that the urge goes away, and since the song is such an upbeat, happy sounding song, it leaves me feeling quite happy as well.
• Levi from United StatesI love this song. I've dealt with suicidal thoughts and would play this song to stop myself. Plus after I got out of the mental hospital for depression, my dad played this song and we had a good laugh. The upbeat tone mixed with the message was helpful for my recovery and I'm grateful for it
• Stop_being_a_bitch_xoxo_haven from NunyaI really needed this thank you
• Anonymous from Somewherenot the people who dont have suicidal thoughts or depression stating this is an unhelpful song.. as someone who has literally attempted before, this song is actually helpful. singing alot with it has helped me get rid of the urge to sh.
• Alice from MinnesotaAs someone who has tried to kill themselves before, I find literally no offense in this song. It's Freddy Mercury, what do you expect? It's just a lighthearted way to talk about a heavy topic. :)
• Valerie from Ur Mom Lolas a person diagnosed with depression, this song isn't relevant, as we all die in the end. why not have a laugh at a truly ridiculous song from an awesome band before we do?
• Norealattemptsyet from EarthThis song has been a fav of mine for over 30 years as a reminder that when I try, don't fail. RIP Freddie.
• James from WisconsinI don't know if there is a story behind this song, but it SOUNDS like a response to an ex-lover trying to manipulate him by threatening suicide. If that's where it came from, it makes sense. That said, I have to agree with several posters here, that for someone struggling with depression and actually contemplating suicide, this is an incredibly callous and unhelpful song.
• Autumn from MichiganI heard the song for the first time today, I have been struggling with depression for a long time and I am absolutely in love with the song. it is my new favourite song
• 18m4l78f from GeorgiaI am a very long term Queen fan, with every album, but this is the one song that I think is the worst. The one line that kills the song is "nobody cares." Some people (including myself) go through depression with the deep feeling of loneliness that no one cares what they do in life and would not care whether they live or die. Plus, with such a huge human population, what one ordinary person does will not make any difference. So, what is the point of living, when I am nothing but one piece of sand on a huge beach? If you take that one piece of sand away from the beach, there will still be a beach and no one will notice that one piece of sand is missing. The line, "nobody cares" reinforces that thought and makes it more likely to give up on life.
• Robin from San AntonioDavid Minns SAID that this song was written for him but then he said a lot of things. He remained a bitter ex-lover even though he and Freddie became friends again in later years. After Freddie was quite ill with AIDS he visited David daily for hours over several weeks helping console him when a friend and brother died just a week apart. It couldn't have been easy for Freddie given that death would have been a painful subject he would be better off avoiding. From reading David's accounts he sounded like a whiny and manipulative person so if the song was written for him maybe it was meant to be a wake-up call. For example, he said Freddie wouldn't allow him into Queen's dressing room immediately after their shows because he was ashamed of him and their relationship. But both Freddie's roadie and PA said that NOBODY was allowed into those dressing rooms--not even the wives-- until after the band hashed it out over their performance. David HAD to have known that. To me, the song sounds like it's written for teenagers who may think that killing themselves or even faking a suicide attempt will show everyone or finally gain them respect in death.
• Ryan From L.a. from L.a.This is one of the first times Mercury was intimate with his lyrics. He was not particularly preachy and had a characteristically flippant approach to serious topics. He was also very self-destructive and when I first heard it I thought it was autobiographical. to me he's basically saying, "stop pitying yourself and just get some simple attention and affection." To me Queen shifted OUT of Leppelin/Tolkien-esque lyrics in the 1970s and INTO lyrical abstraction in the 1980s.
• Jan from LondonWow, what a buffoon Freddie was. To come up with such idiotic, childish lyrics on this theme and sing them in this cheerful, catchy way is so totally him. Sometimes he was just clueless.
• Ethan from Earth, Milky Waycorrection, it was NEVER performed by the band. great song anyway. gives off a mixed feeling of “oh, they have a point” and “wait what”
• Nichole from CaliforniaI hate to disappoint everyone who's commented about what they "think" this song is about, but Freddie actually wrote it about an ex lover that tried to commit suicide when he called off their relationship. David Minns, the man that Freddie Mercury inevitably left Mary Austin for, had recieved a phone call from John Reid while Queen was supposedly out on tour, stating that David and Freddie's relationship was over, and to basically write out an NDA, sign it, and leave it for Freddie. David was heartbroken and he overdosed. It was years later that this song came out and David would recall that when he needed Freddie the most, he was 5 minutes away getting his hair done, and couldn't even be bothered to breakup with him himself. He said the line, "Don't try suicide. Nobody gives a damn, " showed Freddie's true colors. You can read about this in the biography "Somebody To Love: The Life, Death, and Legacy of Freddie Mercury" by Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne.
• Baconator from GxThe song was recorded 1980 in the Musicland Studios in Munich. This studio is located in the basement of the Arabella House, a high-rise building with 27 floors. Many people had chosen this building to jump to death.
  Brian May said that the eerie mood and sense of isolation meant he used to hate the place. "People used to commit suicide by jumping off the top of that building quite frequently," he added.
  So, sorry to disappoint, this song's lyrics are pretty straightforward and realistic.
• Mark from Maple Ridge, Bc You have to understand, musicians probably suffer and go through all kinds of mental anguish than any one in any given profession. They are likely the most profound authority on the poetic sense of suicide. I am also an authority on suicide. Being Bipolar myself and have gone into the deepest wells of depression have made more than one attempt and have been brought back from the brink by medical staff in Emergency wards of hospitals. This of course was before I realized I had a problem, and during the time when I was told I had a problem I was in the denial stage. Now, because I have put all of the angst, the biases, and the false belief systems behind me, I know that suicide is a coward's way out. It was a waste of time. I wasted both time and energy of doctors, nurses, and other technical staff who worked hard to save my life. If I had succeeded, who would have benefited? Well, not me to start, but neither would anyone that knew or cared about me. They would only remember me as the person who would not seek professional help to deal with my illness. Being bipolar really is not an illness at all, it is simply a situation where our brains are electronically wired differently. It is a matter of self discipline, therapy and a cocktail of medication to balance out the severity of the mood swings.
  I have no sympathy for people who make speeches about their despair, if they do not have the strength to get help, or ask some one they trust to help them get help, I can't feel anything for them. I and only I pulled myself up. There is no cure, but I can control my thoughts and dismiss the ones that are not practical or have a true sense of reality.
  Don't Try Suicide by Queen is a wake up call. Freddie Mercury would not have written it if he had not been there somewhere.
• Warbi from Grandview, Wa For those of you who have said that suicide is "lame", "a waste of time", etc... you have never felt the deepest, darkest moments of true despair. You have not reached the point when externalizing the pain by cutting and/or burning yourself doesn't work anymore. You have not reached the point where it feels like shards of glass emanate from your chest and cut you more each time you breathe, where getting out of bed can be the hardest thing to do, and everything you do feels as if you are just going through the motions. You have not reached the point where after years of abuse, pain, suffering, and looking in from the outside, you reach what you believe is a safe harbor only to have it taken away from you. These are all psychological reasons, but there are also some psychiatric reasons such as my first wife killing herself. She was bipolar type I. Not only did she leave me and our 9-month old daughter, she did it while we were in the house. Yes, there are some young, impetuous types who might have suffered one setback or endured a few months of what passes for bullying these days, but there are other who have toiled along for years. We all die in the end and sometimes suicide can be a mercy killing.
• Mike from Franklin, OhThis was also the flip side to Another One Bites The Dust 45. Probably giving it life as opposed to being hidden on the album and skipped over for Sail Away Sweet Sister.
• Kerri from Lynbrook, NyI think the "don't do it, don't do it, do it" part was meant as saying "I don't want you to do it, but if you want to be an idiot about it, do it, see where it gets you."
• Charles from Glenside, PaThe line "think you're gonna slash your wrist...this time!" sounds like it is addressing somebody who had been down that path before. That Freddie would take take such a blase attitude toward it tells me that he believed that the individual was more interested in gaining attention, or manipulating somebody, than expressing crippling sorrow. His annoyance is apparently substantial, since he not only acknowledges this person's threats, but also begins to suggest ways that they could actually carry it out. Thankfully though, the chorus comes along, and reminds everybody that no matter what your intention, snuffing yourself out is a pretty lame idea.
• Jfv from Philadelphia, PaWritten by Freddie Mercury, it has always been my belief that this is an "anti-suicide" song namely because the lyrics attempt to characterize the reasons that some people commit suicide as silly and trite, and thus fairly easily rectified. The only line that seems a bit tongue and cheek is "Don't do it, don't do it, don't ... do it", as if to imply that although I'm telling you not to do it, I really wish you would. Despite that possible interpretation, it is more likely that Freddie Mercury was just trying to inject a bit of humor into the serious and troubling topic of suicide that so many rock bands over the years have been accused of encouraging. (4/21/08)
• Suzannah from Williamsport , MdThis is one of my favorite songs because its so true.One o f best friends killed herself so this song is so bitter sweet
• Andrew from Birmingham, United StatesThough I don't condone the misusage of the mentioned word, I must agree that suicide is a waste of time - a waste of one's entire life! It's taking a gamble between two eternities, with the odds stacked against the suicider. It's not worth it. My heart is saddened more and more each time I hear about suicide and suicide attempts. People are feeling as if they exist on accident. People are much more valuable than that!

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