Mike Magee
John Steinbeck famously wrote, “People don’t take trips, trips take people.”
I was reminded of that on a recent trip, as we passed the bronze Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux, Switzerland. It sits on the Place du Marche’ lakeside promenade of Lake Geneva. Larger than life, it well-represents the size of this creative force’s personality and appeal.
The strike posed commemorates his historic concert on July 13, 1985 in Wembley Stadium, microphone in one hand, fist raised in triumph. “Live Aid” was a two-venue, benefit concert designed to raise funds for relief for Ethiopians in the wake of a disastrous famine from 1983-1985.
“Freddie” the statue has an amazing view of Lake Geneva and the Alps, and he has stood at this location since 1996, when Queen guitarist Brian May formally unveiled the statue. With band mates, Freddie recorded seven albums in Montreux including the iconic “A Winter’s Tale,” an ode to this city that was released in his final album, Made in Heaven, four years after his death on November 24, 1991.
The posthumous album went platinum with over 20 million worldwide sales. But that global audience response pales in comparison to the 6 minute long operatic “Bohemian Rapsody,” which was initially rejected by the record company EMI as not commercially viable in 1975, but was wildly received as the final song in the “Live Aid” concert at Wembley in 1985. Featured in the biographical film by the same name, it became “the most-streamed song from the 20th century and the most-streamed classic rock song ever.”
Two years later in 1987, he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. He chose this spot on Lake Geneva, he told a friend in 1988, “If you want peace of mind, come to Montreux.” And as we walked along the promenade last month, in the gentle breeze and calming waters you could feel the peace – but also smell the air. It seems that in the shadow of the Alps, and everywhere else in Switzerland, second-hand smoke is a big problem.
According to Public Health officials in Switzerland, tobacco use is a declining epidemic in Switzerland. But 25% of Swiss adults still use tobacco compared to approximately 15% in the U.S. This, combined with stubborn resistance to establishing smoke-free areas in the nation’s hospitals, restaurants, bars, and schools means that second-hand smoke inhalation is everywhere – even on the promenade at Montreux.
The most recent Tobacco Atlas estimated that 2.7 billion global citizens suffered from exposure to second hand smoke. This included 767 million children. An estimated 1.7 million died from heart disease or respiratory illnesses in 2023 as a result.
In Switzerland, in the latest 2023 Tobacco Atlas, that calculated that just under 10% of adult deaths were attributable to smoking. 956,000 men and 762,000 Swiss men and women self-identified as cigarette smokers that year.
Tobacco use in the country has been reinforced by an intact supply and consumption chain inside the national borders. The country produced over 23 trillion cigarettes in 2023 derived from a Swiss tobacco crop that yielded 823 tons of tobacco grown on 393 hectares of Swiss land.
As for consumption, this has been reinforced by spotty health policies restricting its use in public settings like hospitals, government offices, restaurants, bars, public transportation and universities. Critics award the country only a 2.5 on a 5 point scale for pricing and marketing practices that are known to discourage cigarette use in nations around the globe.
Just beyond, the Freddie Mercury statue, a bit beyond the Place du Marche’ lakeside promenade of Lake Geneva, sits “Le Chateau de Chillon.” It is commemorated in an 1870 painting by Gustave Courbet, the French realist painter. As you can see above in a current photo, the site remains a dramatic and inspiring image including in the background “Dents du Midi” (teeth of the south), the 7 Swiss Alp summits that together resemble the teeth of a saw.
The air was clear enough the day to inspire this photo, if only a bit distracted by the faint smell of tobacco in the air.
