A WINTER'S TALE:

In early 1991, Freddie Mercury entered a recording studio for the final time.

The singer was sick.

His body weakened by an enigmatic illness, for which there still is no cure.

"We knew that we were totally on borrowed time, because Freddie had been told that he would not make it to that point," Queen guitarist Brian May said in the documentary "Champions of the World."

Mercury wanted to make the most of whatever time he had left.

"He told us, 'Get me to sing anything. Write me anything and I will sing it and I leave you as much as I possible can,'" May recalled.

Mercury was only able to work for a few hours on most days.

He would throw back a drink or two, gather up his fading strength and head into Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland.

Producer David Richards noted that Mercury, uncharacteristically, insisted on laying down the final vocal tracks before any of the songs were finished.

"I think he felt there wasn't enough time to have it completed," Richards said in the documentary. "Which also means that he definitely wanted these things to be released. There's simply no other reason why he would have done that."

Those sessions, sadly, produced only a couple of entirely "new" songs.

They were included on the band's 15th — and final — studio record. "Made In Heaven," was released in 1995, almost four year's after Mercury's death.

That album features the last recorded notes of the singer's amazing career.

And the final song he ever wrote, too.

While in his apartment in Montreux, Mercury composed the lyrics and music to "A Winter's Tale."

It's a stunning snapshot of a beautiful, snowy day on the shores of Lake Geneva.

"It's winter fall

Red skies are gleamin'

Seagulls are flyin' over

Swans are floatin' by

Smokin' chimney tops

Am I dreamin'?

Am I dreamin'?"

Mercury even delivers a playful reference to one of the band's biggest hits ...

"There's a kind of magic in the air

What a truly magnificent view

A breathtaking scene"

It's optimistic, hopeful and blissful. Not at all what you would expect from a man who knew he was living out his last days.

But, in a bittersweet moment, Mercury does acknowledge his own mortality.

"My world is spinnin', and spinnin', and spinnin'

It's unbelievable

Sends me reeling

Am I dreamin'?

Am I dreamin'?"

I was struck by the beauty and serenity of the song the very first time I heard it.

That feeling has stuck with me ever since.

So, when the first flakes of snow begin to gently fall out of the sky every year, no matter where I might be, I listen to "A Winter's Tale."

That tradition has been a part of my life for almost three decades now.

It's four minutes of pure joy and happiness which I desperately look forward to every year.

"So quiet and peaceful

Tranquil and blissful"

A few years ago that tradition sparked one of the most profoundly spiritual moments of life.

Sitting at my computer on an October night, I began to play the music video for "A Winter's Tale." For some unexplained reason, I suddenly had an odd feeling.

Almost as if I was being watched.

I turned around in my chair.

Looking out the window, I could see snow — and not just a few flakes. The ground was already white, even though the forecast didn't call for snow.

Such an extraordinary, and unexpected sight.

I walked outside and with the snow falling around me, I listened to Mercury's voice flow out of the speakers of the computer.

As the song faded away, I headed back inside.

A few minutes later, I turned around and looked back out the window again. Not only had the snow stopped, all the white on the ground was gone.

It had all melted.

It was gone.

I just couldn't help but think ...

"Am I dreamin'?

Am I dreamin'?"