Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody

Why is the song called Bohemian Rhapsody? Why does it take exactly 5 minutes and 55 seconds? … What is this song really about? … Why did the Queen movie come out on October 31st?

The film was released on October 31st because the single was first heard on October 31, 1975.

It’s so titled because a “Rhapsody” is a free piece of music composed of different parts and themes where neither part seems to be related to the other. The word “rhapsody” comes from the Greek and means “assembled parts of a song.” The word “bohemian” refers to a region of the Czech Republic called Bohemia, where Fausto was born, the protagonist of the play that bears his name written by playwright and novelist Goethe.

In Goethe’s work, Fausto was a very intelligent old man who knew everything except the mystery of life. By not understanding it decides to poison herself. Right at that moment the church bells ring and he walks out. Returning to her room, she finds a dog. The animal transforms into a kind of man. It’s about the devil Mephistopheles. This one promises Fausto to live a full life and not to be disgraced in exchange for his soul. Fausto steps in, rejuvenates and becomes arrogant. Meet Gretchen and they have a son. His wife and son pass away. Fausto travels through time and space and feels powerful. Getting old again feels miserable again. Since he didn’t break the covenant with the devil, the angels contend for his soul.

This play is essential for understanding Bohemian Rhapsody. The song is about Freddie Mercury himself.

Being a rhapsody we find 7 different parts: 1st and 2nd act A Capella 3rd act Ballad 4th act guitar solo 5th act opera 6th act rock 7th act “coda” or final act.

The song talks about a poor boy who wonders if this life is real or is it your distorted imagination living another reality. He says that even if he ceases to live, the wind will continue to blow without his existence. So he makes a deal with the devil and sells his soul. When making this decision, she runs to tell her mother and tells her… “Mom, I just killed a man, I put a gun to his head and now he’s dead. I threw my life away. If I’m not back tomorrow move on like nothing matters.. ”

That man who kills is himself, Freddie Mercury himself. If you don’t keep your covenant with the devil, you will die immediately. He says goodbye to his loved ones and his mother breaks down into tears, tears and desperate weep emanating from Brian May’s guitar notes.

Freddie, scared screams “Mommy I don’t want to die” and the operative part begins.

Freddie is in an astral plane where he sees himself: “I see a little silhouette of a man.” “scaramouche, are you going to start a dispute/fight?”

Scaramouche is “Scaramouche” a feud between armies with riders on horseback (4 horsemen of the Apocalypse of Evil fight the forces of good for Freddie’s soul) and keeps saying “Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me.”

This phrase appears in the Bible, exactly in Job 37 when it says…. The thunder and lightning frighten me: my heart pounds in my chest. Seeing him so frightened by the decision his son has made, his mother begs him to be saved from the covenant with Mephistopheles. “He’s just a poor boy… “Forgive your life from this monstrosity. What come easy, easy go will you let it go? “their pleas are heard and angels descend to fight against the forces of evil.

“Bismillah (Arabic word that means “”In the name of God”) is the first word that appears in the holy book of Muslims, the Quran.” So God Himself shows up and shouts “we will not leave you, let him go”.

In the face of such a confrontation between the forces of good and evil, Freddie fears for his mother’s life and says “Mama mia, mama mia let me go” (Mother, let me go). They scream back from heaven that they won’t leave him and Freddie yells “no, no, no, no” and says “Beelcebu (Lord of Darkness) I may have put a devil on you mother.”

Freddie pays tribute here to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach as he sings… “Figaro, Magnifico” referring to Mozart’s “The Wedding of Figaro”, considered the best opera ever, and Bach’s “Magnificat”. Op end and break out rocker part.

The devil, angry and betrayed by Freddie by failing to fulfill the covenant, says to him “Do you think you can insult me in this way?” Do you think you can run to me and then leave me? Do you think you can love me and let me die? It is shocking how the lord of evil feels powerless before a human being, before repentance and love. Lost the battle, the devil leaves and he reaches the final act or “coda” where Freddie is free and that feeling comforts him. Sounds the gong that closes the song.

The gong is an instrument used in China and Far East Asia to heal people who are under the effects of evil spirits. 5:55 minutes in is tough.

Freddie liked astrology and 555 in numerology is associated with death, not physical but spiritual, the end of something where angels will guard you. 555 is about God and the divine, an ending that will usher in a new phase. And the song plays on Saints Eve for the first time. A festival called “Samhain” by the Celts to celebrate the transition and opening up to the other world.

The Celts believed that the world of the living and the dead were almost united, and on the day of the deceased both worlds would come together allowing the spirits to pass on to the other side.

Nothing in Bohemian Rhapsody is casual.

Everything is very measured, worked on and has a meaning that transcends beyond just a song. Voted globally as the best song of all time. This song made a radical shift in Queen as if she had actually made a pact with the devil, changed their lives forever, and made them immortal.

[Written by Jorge Palazón, Madrid, Spain, found on I AM YOU YOU ARE ME WE ARE ONE Substack]