2023 Gold Donors Darkstone Posted March 4, 2016 2023 Gold Donors Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 I heard an interesting theory that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is actually an account of suicide and sebsequent judgement and damnation in the afterlife. I always assumed it was the story of a young man condemned for murder writing a final letter to his mother whilst facing the gallows or whatever, but if you consider the "man" he just killed at the beginning to be himself and the letter to his mother a suicide note then the song becomes alot darker and deeper. The latter part of the song depicts him begging for his soul as he descends to HELL! I'd be interested in thoughts you guys might have. When i first heard this theory it actually blew me away because it fits perfectly. I think it also may reflect some of the demons Freddy Mercury was dealing with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamus Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Thought provoking. Have never attempted to decipher the meaning behind the lyrics. However, it's my firm belief that Bohemian Rhapsody is the best song written in the history of rock n roll... ... let the debate begin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Little Pony KarpetRydOFunk Posted March 4, 2016 My Little Pony Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 I was always under the impression it was about Freddy Mercury finding out he gave his partner AIDS. That's the "I killed a man" bit. And the rest is him trying to deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Gold Donors Darkstone Posted March 5, 2016 Author 2023 Gold Donors Report Share Posted March 5, 2016 I was always under the impression it was about Freddy Mercury finding out he gave his partner AIDS. That's the "I killed a man" bit. And the rest is him trying to deal with it. I may be wrong, but i think bohemian rhapsody predates the AIDS virus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaHun72 Posted March 5, 2016 Report Share Posted March 5, 2016 I was always under the impression it was about Freddy Mercury finding out he gave his partner AIDS. That's the "I killed a man" bit. And the rest is him trying to deal with it. Oh Carpet! Kids these days! Agreed, it probably is the greatest rock song in history. Only letdown by one thing....how much radio, mass media play etc. it gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Gold Donors Darkstone Posted March 5, 2016 Author 2023 Gold Donors Report Share Posted March 5, 2016 I was always under the impression it was about Freddy Mercury finding out he gave his partner AIDS. That's the "I killed a man" bit. And the rest is him trying to deal with it. Oh Carpet! Kids these days! Agreed, it probably is the greatest rock song in history. Only letdown by one thing....how much radio, mass media play etc. it gets. It certainly gets its fair share of airplay on Melbourne radio, that's for sure. As for the best rock song in history tag..... I don't know. That's a big call. I don't think i could come up with a contender though...Where do you start? Too hard to choose.I could maybe come up with a floating top ten, but even then??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 5, 2016 Report Share Posted March 5, 2016 You guys make me actually want to pay attention to the lyrics next time I no doubt I hear it. The song has never done anything for me. It's not my personal favourite, but probably "the best" song I could think of off the top of my head would be Tesla's 'Song and Emotion.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Little Pony KarpetRydOFunk Posted March 5, 2016 My Little Pony Report Share Posted March 5, 2016 I was always under the impression it was about Freddy Mercury finding out he gave his partner AIDS. That's the "I killed a man" bit. And the rest is him trying to deal with it.Oh Carpet! Kids these days! Haha. Yeah. Someone told me that years ago, and I thought, "Huh. That's interesting." And never thought about it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightrain Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 I read somewhere that Brian May stated that it has something to do with Freddie's own personal issue, so in this case, it's highly probably it's related with his sexual encounter. Perhaps 'I killed a man' also gave the meaning that the 'man' is himself, he's begging his mom for forgiveness because he can't fight the demon or something like that. Freddie's parents were a devoted ancient religion called 'Zoroaastrianism', man I just found about it today haha but perhaps this religion is totally against gay-stuffs so totally a huge conflict between him and his family, but he chose to be Mercury, that's why the lyric 'Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go, Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth' has something to do with him leaving his old and family behind and becoming the man he was in Queen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2023 Gold Donors Darkstone Posted March 6, 2016 Author 2023 Gold Donors Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 I read somewhere that Brian May stated that it has something to do with Freddie's own personal issue, so in this case, it's highly probably it's related with his sexual encounter. Perhaps 'I killed a man' also gave the meaning that the 'man' is himself, he's begging his mom for forgiveness because he can't fight the demon or something like that. Freddie's parents were a devoted ancient religion called 'Zoroaastrianism', man I just found about it today haha but perhaps this religion is totally against gay-stuffs so totally a huge conflict between him and his family, but he chose to be Mercury, that's why the lyric 'Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go, Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth' has something to do with him leaving his old and family behind and becoming the man he was in Queen Good point. Perhaps the song is a kind of metaphor for the death of the old Freddie.Another interesting point.....the word "bismillah" which is sung a couple of times in the middle of the song during the court/Divine judgement section is actually Arabic for "in the name of God". Many layers to this song. It's a shame he's not around to enlighten us further Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kourosofsteel3 Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 I don't know the lyrics, but based only on the title, Rhapsody is a straight reference to Odyssey (every chapter of Odyssey is being called a rhapsody). Bohemian it may refers to Bohemianism and one of my favorite poets and,imo, the first to be associated with this lifestyle is Arthur Rimbaud who tried everything in his short erotic life, including same sex intercourse, and, btw, he allegedly killed a man during one of his numerous trips. Btw, I prefer to attend a lecture of Brian May on adaptive optics rather than listening to his band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 Freddie's parents were a devoted ancient religion called 'Zoroaastrianism' Religion: It's intelligent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 In the words of the man himself - 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... "Bohemian Rhapsody" didn't just come out of thin air. I did a bit of research although it was tongue-in-cheek and mock opera. Why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CureTheSane Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 I read somewhere that Brian May stated that it has something to do with Freddie's own personal issue, so in this case, it's highly probably it's related with his sexual encounter. Perhaps 'I killed a man' also gave the meaning that the 'man' is himself, he's begging his mom for forgiveness because he can't fight the demon or something like that. Freddie's parents were a devoted ancient religion called 'Zoroaastrianism', man I just found about it today haha but perhaps this religion is totally against gay-stuffs so totally a huge conflict between him and his family, but he chose to be Mercury, that's why the lyric 'Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go, Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth' has something to do with him leaving his old and family behind and becoming the man he was in Queen Yeah, I either saw or read someone in or close to the band claim that it was Freddie's "coming out" song lyrically. Musically it was a mash up of 3 songs he was working on I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.