Brian May fell in love with a song and its singer. It may him yearn to find someone of equal measure in his own personal life. He never expected that the one who would fulfil his expectations was another man. And it is a secret he hopes to keep...
This started out as a one shot about Brian and Roger in 1968. Brian May has said that Doris Day was his favorite female singer. His favorite song? Secret Love. After considering this fact, this story just wrote itself. A link to a video of this song is provided above. Please listen to this wonderful performance before you read this story. I hope you enjoy.
Once I had a secret love
That lived within the heart of me All too soon my secret love Became impatient to be free
So I told a friendly star
The way that dreamers often do Just how wonderful you are And why I am so in love with you
Now I shout it from the highest hills
Even told the golden daffodils
At last my heart's an open door
And my secret love's no secret anymore
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"Your dinners getting cold..." Ruth May told her son as she yelled up the stairs to his bedroom.
"I'll be there in a minute...." Brian responded with his own raised voice. He heard his mother make a disparaging sound as he turned back around to look at the cover of the album he was listening to. He just wanted to finish listening to his favorite song. One more time. As he heard Doris sing every line his stomach fluttered. Not only was it the sound of her lush voice but it was the words that she said to him in song. The secret desire she held and the longing for it to come to fruition. Brian knew what she meant. The intention. It was something unspoken that you dreamed of only in the innermost part of yourself. A thing you didn't tell your best friend or your mother. A love that dare not speak its name.
The song finished and Brian immediately picked up the arm and moved it back to repeat the same number. Brian smiled as the beginning notes came through his speaker and he rolled over and laid out flat on the floor of his bedroom. He ignored the hard wood surface beneath him and the chill from the poorly insulated house as he let the dulcet tones of that woman's lovely voice keep him warm. Brian thought about the first time he heard the song. His father had bought the record and his parents played it one night after dinner. He recalled being instantly captured by the beauty of her voice and her ability to convey so much feeling as she sang. He also noted how dreamy the vocalist was on the cover photo of the album. Her soft golden hair and stunning blue eyes. Her perfect button nose and a smile that made your own heart bend.
She had made him feel something he had never felt before. Love. He fell in love with Doris Day that night. He listened to the entire album and realized he had found a voice that moved him and made him want to have romance and everything that came with it. It was a coming of age moment for him. His parents had been surprised at his interest in the singer. She was from their era, not his own. Why wasn't he swooning over Petula Clark or Marianne Faithful? They were lovely singers but there was just something about Doris. A softness. An almost ethereal quality. He was hooked.
