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Aug 3rd 2014!⃝We Are The Champions is an anthem. It exudes victory and triumph and acknowledges the struggle that comes with achieving glory. Queen were always underrated, counted out, or outright looked down upon by the media and the press (especially during the 1970's) and to have taken the world by storm with the success of Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and A Night At The Opera (1975) must have meant the world to the members of Queen, ESPECIALLY Freddie.
I always felt like Freddie had a bit of a chip on his shoulder during the early years, as it seems for most of his career the odds were stacked against the success of Mercury and Queen as a whole. The band formed very, very early in the 1970's and despite getting into the studio by the end of 1972 and working their butts off they had to wait until mid-73 to get Queen I onto the shelves. Queen II was finished almost immediately after and the band was handed yet ANOTHER DELAY. Queen's approach to this was to literally take several of the songs from the delayed album and add them to their shows.
On Sheer Heart Attack and Opera, songs like Flick Of The Wrist and Death On Two legs give you a sense of the attitude Mercury had towards Queen's management and maybe the industry as a whole to that point. In hindsight, it's ridiculous seeing a band producing music that dynamic with an insanely talented and vibrant live presence being pushed aside as much as Queen was. By the time of We Are The Champions' release in late 1977, Queen had done everything possible to silence their critics. They had attained a near perpetual spot atop the charts from 1975 to 1978, and were back on top in 1980 with the singles from The Game.
We Are The Champions was written by Mercury in '75. I suppose it was likely written after A Night At The Opera was recorded and perhaps was deemed too arrogant (which is how he would later describe the song) for inclusion on A Day At The Races in 1976. This time period would have been when Queen really did overcome all the odds and became a permenant staple in rock (and really, all) music. Queen was ready to disband if A Night At The Opera flopped, and instead it was rightly recognized as one of the greatest albums of all time. Champions would be a rightful bit of indulgence in all the hard work those guys put in from 72 to 75 paying off.
The song had to wait two years before it got its own spot soaring near the top of the charts, but I'm sure everyone who heard it at the time knew exactly how appropriate it was.
As for the people saying it's about AIDS or coming out, I'd have to firstly point to the timing to shoot those down. In 1975, Mercury was still going quite strong with Mary Austin (his relationship with her ended when he came out as bisexual to her sometime in 1977, I believe). From what I can remember, Freddie had proposed to Mary as late as 1976. I am quite sure he did not contract the HIV virus until the start of the next decade, when he was at the top of his invincible streak of doing whatever it was he wanted.
The song can and should be used for any struggle which somebody fights to the bitter end and beyond for. I think that's what it's about. Freddie, John, Brian and Roger fought HARD for YEARS before being rewarded properly (even still, it would be like 20 more years before Queen was given its proper recognition by the press). The success of their albums and singles and the growth of their fanbase around 1975, to me seem to be the most direct source for the triumphant backbone of this song.
The rest would be a bit of anthemic flair (News Of The World contained a few notable Queen anthems) and the classic Freddie touch he put in all their songs.
