The song reflects Mercury's love of opera with his high notes and Caballé's operatic vocals, backed by a full orchestra.

The song starts with an orchestral introduction, which fades and is followed by Mercury and Caballé singing alternately their solo lines, sometimes merging into a duet.

When singing the chorus "Barcelona" and a few other parts for the studio version, Mercury dubs over his voice in his usual multi-tracking style.

Since Caballé covers the soprano part, Mercury sings in his natural baritone voice rather than the forced tenor that was common in his other recordings.

[6] Whereas Mercury articulates his every word, Caballé focuses on the tone; her lines are much harder to comprehend, and further, she uses both English and Spanish languages.

Mike Moran, who co-wrote the song, appears in the video conducting the orchestra with a light stick; he is often wrongly confused with Brian May, mostly due to their almost identical haircuts.

[10] Its next important performance occurred on 8 October 1988, at the open air La Nit festival in Barcelona, which was staged on the occasion of the arrival of the Olympic flag from Seoul.

[13] He died in 1991, so the recording of the song was played over a travelogue of the city at the start of the international broadcast of the opening ceremony of the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Most 7" record and 5" CD covers featured Mercury and Caballé singing on a stage with an orchestra on the background, though the Portuguese version pictured them in a static studio photo.