Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody Meaning
Song Released: 1975
Covered By: Panic! At The Disco (2016), Pentatonix (2017)
Bohemian Rhapsody Lyrics
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...
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'Fandango' refers to the 'hemp fandango' - the kicking and jerking done by an individual who is hanged
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For me it is confession of a man committing suicide in liminality between life and death.
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I agree with some of the observations but unfortunately had no other way to add my thoughts except to write the whole thing
IN HIS CELL
Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-
(To here he is just stating his disbelief of his situation that he cannot escape)
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see-
(Looking for intervention from god)
I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy-
(I did it so I don’t expect sympathy)
Because I’m easy come, easy go,
I came into the world without note and will leave the same way)
A little high, little low, (I have good and bad moments)
Anyway the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me,
To me
(Its not important whats happening as I cant affect it)
Mama, just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head,
Pulled my trigger, now he’s dead,
(obvious)
Mama, life had just begun,
But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away-
(A young man must be over 18 who will never live up to his and his mothers expectations)
Mama ooo,
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-
(If there is no stay of executions I wont return from the executioners room, try to forget me and the disgrace I have caused and continue without me)
EN ROUTE TO THE EXECUTION CHAMBER
Too late, my time has come,
Sends shivers down my spine-
Body’s aching all the time,
(suffering with the effects of panic and nervous his muscles are contorted all the time making them ache)
Goodbye everybody-I’ve got to go-
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth-
Mama oooo- (any way the wind blows)
I don’t want to die,
I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all-
carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters.
(Saying his last goodbyes and wishing that he had not been born, done a murder and put the family and himself in such shame, repentant as he actually does not want to die)
--------
IN THE ELECTRIC CHAIR, A BATTLE IN HIS HEAD BETWEEN THE EVIL PART CAPABLE OF MURDER AND HIS CONSCIENCE
I see a little silhouette of a man, (Good Side saying how pathetic am I)
Scaramouch, Scaramouch will you do the fandango-
Thunderbolt and lightning-very very frightening me- (Evil Side wanting to see this arrogant man dancing as the electric passes through him like being hit by electrical storm)
Galileo,galileo,
Galileo galileo
Galileo figaro-magnifico- (Evil Side trying to justify itself in a comparison with Galileo who was misunderstood and considered evil for his experiments)
I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me- (Good Side)
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family-
Spare him his life from this monstrosity- (Evil Side)
Easy come easy go-,will you let me go-
Bismillah!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 (In the name of god ‘arabic’ we will fight it)
Will not let you go-let me go
Will not let you go let me go
No,no,no,no,no,no,no-
Oh Mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go-
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me- ( I have to go Satan has assigned me my own devil)
-------
ANGER AT THE REASON JUST BEFORE DYING
So you think you can stop 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- ( a new idea here as to why he is so angry, the man he murdered was a lover of his girlfriend and her action caused him to snap and kill her new man)
Just gotta get out-just gotta get right outta here-
--------
QUIET REFLECTION AS HIS BODY SUCCUMBS TO DEATH LIKE THE EFFECTS OF DRUGS MAKING YOU SLEEP IN AN OPERATING THEATRE
Nothing really matters,
Anyone can see,
Nothing really matters-,nothing really matters to me,
Any way the wind blows....
Steve -
This song is very clever and very literary. It is an allegory. If you simply read the lyrics, it is about a man who is being put to death for murder. However, if you consider that Freddie Mercury was homosexual and died of AIDS, you can read another meaning into the lyrics.
In my interpretation, the song is about killing a man with AIDS and then dying of AIDS himself. The words "...put a gun to his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead..." can be interpreted in two ways. Literally, the singer shot a man in the head. Or, allegorically, the man gave his gay lover AIDS and is now dying from the disease.
As I said, it's a very clever and literary song. -
I think you are probably correct, one I think of as the most sensual interpretations I heard. I think the "Scaramouge" part is them asking the guilty man if he will fess up or if he is willing to apologize, based off of the fact posted by someone else on this page about the name Scaramouge.
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Ok. Confusing song but, if you listen, I think you will find that he's a transvestite. He kills himself to become a her !!
The murder is killing the boy in him to become the person he wants to be ... There was a death, of a boy and the birth of a girl ......! -
As far as I'm concerned, it's about murder by shooting your diseased man-love-bullets into his head.
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Well after watching the film 'The Desert Fox' with James Mason, reference is given to the Corporal Bohemian rising to power. It's plain and clear The infamous Madman's psyche is questioning his last minutes before his suicide in the bunker
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There's no way anyone besides Freddie Mercury can ever interpret this. It's so deep and personal that there's almost no point. But its amazing how one song can be taken so many ways. It's a masterpiece.
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It’s really interesting reading all the thoughts and ideas. I went googling after hearing the song again yesterday. I think Freddie wrote it with meanings on different levels, from the allegorical murder/execution plot to his personal struggles/epiphanies. And some fun nonsense in between. Random musings on what some of it sounds like to me…
On the cover plot, it sounds like the guy is a sociopath whose only remorse about killing somebody is that he’s feeling persecuted by suffering the consequences. It paints an interesting picture of him possibly using every bargaining chip, from “pity poor me” to “how dare you?” to “think of what this will do to my poor mama.” When I hear the part below I think of old cartoons showing a character (Bugs Bunny? Wile E. Coyote?) being electrocuted, with their skeleton standing out:
"I see a little silhouetto of a man;
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning."
Is Scaramouche (the “stock character” as somebody pointed out) “doing the Fandango” (“dancing”) as he’s executed? Kinda graphic, but... The final words “any way the wind blows” sound to me like his last thoughts before the huge gong is struck (the switch is pulled?).
Anyway, it’s fun to imagine and each bring our own potential meanings to it; a cool thing about a song or poem is that it can just mean whatever it means to any particular person without needing to be “right” or “wrong.” I think Freddie knew that.
Auntie M
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This song is about Freddie Mercury's Aids and killing someone through aids.. "Momma, just killed a man put a gun(his *down there*) against his head. Pulled my trigger now hes died": meaning someone died through aids because we all know that can happen fast.
If you don't believe me fine, but i know or a fact it is that.. "so you think you can love me then leave me to die": Obviously two people love each other and one died from the disease that the other had. I DON'T KNOW IF IT IS ABOUT FREDDIE BUUT I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT FREDDIE HAD AIDS (and died from aids too :'( r.i.p) -
As the person who explained this thoroughly stated, I agree with all of what they said. However, another interpretation is that all of this is the case, but he is still on the run at the start of the song; they are searching for him and basically if they find him, he will die. So naturally, he says to his mother "If I'm not back again this time tomorrow, carry on" as in if he isn't back where they arranged to meet, he has been captured.
I also think it can be interpreted that the weird bit in the middle could be either an internal battle of his thoughts or perhaps a talk between God and Satan himself; God pardoning him being a poor boy and saying Satan was tempting him in which Satan possibly agrees.
Towards the end, he is caught and this iw hy nothing does matter. He loses his energy and just doesn't care anymore. -
To be honest I think Freddy came up with a song like that cause it summed up his state of mind at that time in his life. He was confused about his sexuality and probably fully realised about then he was definately homosexual. "Mama did'nt mean to make you cry....etc.", was this his way of saying I'm not the boy you wished me to be. "Got to leave you all behind and face the truth"- his way of saying I must move onto a new life with my gay community. The middle part is upbeat suggesting he's happy after coming out, and later downbeat suggesting he wish he was'nt gay. The song is filled with sadness and confusion, in my opinion it's analogous to his state of mind over his sexuality at that time in his life. Total crap or not thats what i believe.
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