Widely considered to be one of the greatest songs of all time, “Bohemian Rhapsody” was the first single released from Queen’s fourth studio album, A Night at the Opera. It became an international success, reaching #1 in seven countries and peaking at #9 in the United States. Seventeen years after it...
[Intro]
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low
Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me
[Verse 1]
Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mama, ooh, didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters
[Verse 2]
Too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time
Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooh (Any way the wind blows)
I don't wanna die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me
(Galileo) Galileo, (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro magnifico
But I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?
Bismillah! No, we will not let you go
(Let him go) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let him go) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Never, never, never, never let me go) Ah
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
(Oh, mamma mia, mamma mia) Mamma mia, let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me!
[Verse 4]
So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?
So you think you can love me and leave me to die?
Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby!
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here
[Outro]
(Ooh)
(Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah)
Nothing really matters, anyone can see
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters to me
Any way the wind blows
Bohemian Rhapsody was written by Freddie Mercury.
Bohemian Rhapsody was produced by Queen & Roy Thomas Baker.
Queen released Bohemian Rhapsody on Fri Oct 31 1975.
The most sensible literal reading of the song is that the narrator confesses to a murder, is put on trial, and either escapes or gets executed. Figurative readings—like interpretations that it is an allegory for Freddie’s struggles with his sexuality—are also possible, but harder to support.
There is nothing connecting any of the characters in the song to Freddie’s bandmates. Indeed, he started writing the song before he met them. Some argue that “Mamma” is Mary Austin, Freddie’s long-term partner. A year after the release of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Freddie confessed to her that he was bis...
A “bohemian” is an unconventional artistic free spirit who lacks anything tying them down. It can also refer to the Kingdom of Bohemia, now part of Czechia. It became associated with that sort of lifestyle because the French thought that was where travelling Romani communities came from.
“Objection, your Honor: context!” Re-phrase:
In late 1975, when Bo Rap’s thunderbolts and lightning cast Queen as rock-gods, was Mercury struck as very, very openly gay?
To “be gay”, or “not to be gay”, in mid-1970’s England, was that a question of psychiatric, legal, and/or religious ramification...
According to officialcharts.com:
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is responsible for the modern music video. The video for the track was recorded on November 10, 1975. It took just four hours to film and another five to edit, at a total cost of £4,500. It was aired on Top Of The Pops for the first time on Novem...
Lead singer Freddie Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia in November 1991, as a result of his ongoing battle with AIDS. Bassist John Deacon left the industry soon afterward. As of 2020, guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor still tour together as Queen, alongside Adam Lambert.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was certified 8x platinum by the RIAA on September 5, 2019.