“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a song written by Freddie Mercury and originally recorded by the band Queen (including members Mercury. May and Taylor) for their 1975 album “A night at the opera”. The song is in the style of telling a nightmare, and has unusual musical structure for popular music. It has no chorus, instead consisting of seemingly disjointed sections including operatic segments, an acappella and a hard rock part.

The lyrics of this song was extremely depressing. The narrator referred himself as a poor little boy that needs no sympathy. The song begins with a question whether life is “real” or “just fantasy caught in a landslide” before concluding that there can be “no escape from reality.” Over the next section, the vocals evolve from a softly sung harmony to an impassioned solo performance by Mercury. The narrator explains to his mother that he has “just killed a man,” with “a gun against his head” and in doing so, has thrown his life away. Then he explains his regret over “Didn’t mean to make you cry” and urging mama to “carry on as if nothing really matters” to him. After a guitar solo composed and played by May, which serves as a bridge connecting front and back, here it comes to the opera section. Dynamics vary greatly from bar to bar, from only Mercury’s voice accompanied by a piano, to a multi-voice choir supported by drums, bass, piano and timpani. The song comes to an aggressive hard rock afterward with Mercury shouting “Mama, mama let me go. Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me.” Finally the wind blows as usual and nothing really matters.

Freddie Mercury once commented to his song that, “It’s one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them… ” People tend to have different interpretations for this song over times. Mercury refused to explain his composition other than saying it was about relationship, and the band is still protective of the song’s secret. He never explained the lyrics, but I think he put a lot of himself into the song. He must had some private issue that doesn’t want to share in public. When I listened to this song for the first time, I felt like the narrator had went through a life threatening experience and ready to say goodbye to his beloved family and friends. I once thought this song is about a story of a young who Killed someone by accident and struggled from desperation and regret.

Queen members have been intentionally vague about the true meaning behind this song. Some people think it is about a murder, some think that it has no meaning, instead it’s just written to fit in the music. Among all these interpretations, I believe this is a song about Mercury’s battle with AIDS. The fatalistic lyrics about a man who has killed someone and his sbsuquent judgment supposedly chronide Mercury’s feelings about his illness and inpending death.

Citations

http://listverse.com/2010/06/14/top-10-misinterpreted-song-meanings/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody

http://www.metrolyrics.com/bohemian-rhapsody-lyrics-queen.html