 |
These are the messages that have been posted on inthe00s over the past few years.
Check out the messageboard archive index for a complete list of topic areas.
This archive is periodically refreshed with the latest messages from the current messageboard.
This is a topic from the The 1970's forum on inthe00s.
Check for new replies or respond here...
Subject: what does this song really mean?
Written By: vinyl lover on 10/29/05 at 7:06 pm
the song "bohemian rhapsody" by queen...what is the song really about?does anybody know the story?
Subject: Re: what does this song really mean?
Written By: 80s gail on 10/30/05 at 1:31 pm
I think it's about a guy that killed someone and is about to lose his own life for it,it was number 1 for weeks over here in 1975/76 and has been re released on a few occasions.
Subject: Re: what does this song really mean?
Written By: loki 13 on 10/30/05 at 1:53 pm
In interviews Freddie Mercury never explained the meaning
of this song.He even called it "rhyming gibberish".He wanted
people to listen to it and and figure out what it means to them.
it has been rumored this song is about his homosexuality,certain
verses may allude to that.
i.e. "any way the wind blows,doesn't really matter to me"
and "I got to leave you all behind and face the truth"
but as for me I'll go with his rhyming gibberish angle
sometimes a song doesn't have to mean anything.
Subject: Re: what does this song really mean?
Written By: Bobby on 10/30/05 at 2:08 pm
but as for me I'll go with his rhyming gibberish angle
sometimes a song doesn't have to mean anything.
Very true as Nik Kershaw stated for his 'meaning' for his song 'The Riddle'.
Yeah I know. Wrong decade. :-[ ;)
Subject: Re: what does this song really mean?
Written By: MaxwellSmart on 10/30/05 at 2:41 pm
The rhapsody is a one movement episodic work allowing for wider varition and improvisation than most classical structures. Compare Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies. I don't know if Mercury was making an Eastern European reference, as Hungary is in Eastern Europe, and Bohemia was an Eastern European country in what is now the Czech Republic. Bohemia became part of of Czechoslavakia after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire following WWI.
However, the song is ballad, mock-opera, and hard rock, and bears no distinctive Eastern European traits (ala Bartok or Stravinsky, say). So the "Bohemian" in question refers to the artist-hipster-non-conformist meaning it acquired in the late 19th century, probably inspired by the rootless, nomadic lifestyles of the Gypsies of Eastern European stock, some of whom were indeed Bohemian.
Note, "Bohemia" and "Bohemian" were not self-referential terms. They were sort of like "Germany" and "Germans." The inhabitants called themselves "Cesi," and their kingdom "Cechy."
So the "Bohemian" in Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" probably refers to the song's narrator as a hipster, a gypsy, or a drifter. You know, "a poor boy from a poor family," "easy come easy go," etc.
As far as gay allegory and cryptic references...well, that may never be resolved for sure, and it's more fun that way, isn't it?
???
Subject: Re: what does this song really mean?
Written By: CatwomanofV on 10/30/05 at 3:17 pm
No matter what it means, I still like it. ;D ;D
Cat
Subject: Re: what does this song really mean?
Written By: vinyl lover on 10/30/05 at 4:42 pm
thanks for the input. i guess ill never know the true meaning. oh well said the rockets..
Subject: Re: what does this song really mean?
Written By: Paul on 10/30/05 at 4:58 pm
Roy Thomas Baker (who produced the thing) related when Freddie demoed the song to him and the group...
All was going well until halfway, when Freddie said...
'Okay dears, this is where the opera part comes in!'
And everyone thought, 'Oh no!'
So yes...nothing too meaningful...just your typical Freddie self-indulgence!
The group (and EMI) were worried that the finished product wouldn't get airplay, as it clocked in at nearly six minutes...which never bothered legendary British DJ Kenny Everett who actually played it non-stop for half an hour!