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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I'm not sure, but i think I've heard a scaramouche is an Italian figure who makes other people happy, while being sad in his heart.
K, I think it's a good interpretation. However, I'm not sure if I agree. I think he's going to commit suicide. 'Cause he said: anyway the wind blows doesn't really matter to me. In your interpretation, it's obvious he don't wanna die (k, that's what he said)and he want to escape, etc. But when nothing matters, why in heavens sake does he want to escape? I think, he wants to punish himself for his actions. In the end of the song, you hear a sound, (the last sound), I think that sound used to be a gun. He shot himself. -
The song is about a man telling the world he is gay. he says mother I killed a man because he no longer sees himself as a man. this is shown again when he says he sees a silhouette of a man. while some may consider these comparisons to be wrong, consider the global opinion on gays when this song was written.
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This song is obviously about death and murder. However, there is more than one interpretation. Good Art in any form whether it is a painting, poetry or music should have many interpretations. All art forms should evoke a variety of emotions. Freddie Mercury was an amazing artist and his passion was conveyed through his music.
IMO this song may not necessarily be about Freddie having contracted and unwittingly spread the HIV virus to others himself, but it could be about the overall process of how it initially unfolded during his time in the gay community. The song illustrates this tragedy to those who understand it.
"Momma just killed a man put my gun against his head pulled My trigger now he's dead" could be a metaphor for sex that causes death. It does not have to be literal. Just because the public thinks Freddie wasn't suffering from aids at the time the record was released does not mean he wasn't socially aware. Quite possibly Freddie would have been sympathetic toward those suffering from this disease and willing to dedicate a song to their plight.
The Bohemian Tragedy: HIV. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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You've got it all wrong. Yes, he killed a man, but he's already dead. (Hence the "Is this the real life, is this just fantasy".) "No escape from reality" He's facing the fact that he's dead. "Look up to the skies and see, I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy" He needs no sympathy because he's dead, and you have to look up to see him in heaven.
In the second verse he's confessing to his mom in heaven (she's already dead.) about him murdering the man.
In the third verse he's reflecting on his execution.
The fourth verse is him trying to be retrived by satin (beezlebub) to go to hell, but the angels give him sympathy (even though he doesn't ask for it) and try to keep him there.
Fifth verse is him talking to his living family (though they can't hear him) before going to hell.
Sixth verse he's in hell and saying he doesn't care, because he's pretty much paying for his actions. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Yes, I've been here before, but just to clear up a few things.
I thought Freddie Mercury experts established that "BR" was written in the '70s and Freddie contracted aids in the '80s.
He was not sloppy with his pen so we can assume "Mama just killed a man" means exactly that and NOT "Mama I just killed a man" or any other variation. His mother just killed a him figuratively, probably as she and Freddie confront his sexuality. This is a family with traditional middle east views on male and female sexuality and family life. Newspaper and CNN reportage seems to reveal, it's a domestic situation which can easily become volatile and even lethal.
These are not fashionably laid back, careful to be fashionably cool, campus secularists; drifting with whatever sophomoric views are currently spilling over lecture podiums - these are family people with centuries old roots and ostracism and shunning is a death.
I don't believe artists like FM or Bob Dylan try to be cryptic. It's like overhearing doctors or computer hackers chatting in professional jargon. The language quickly becomes very dense and efficient without regard for listeners. Freddie is revealing personal intimacies and not serving the needs of we eavesdroppers. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The Interpretation of the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody
Interpretation 1
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.
The first verse introduces the key character as an easy come easy go type of person, whatever will be will be. Lives his life as a carefree bohemian. Despite being poor he is happy so he needs no sympathy about being poor, thanks. This is how he lived his life in the past but now in the second verse he has made a mistake of murdering someone and has been caught.
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.
He tells his mother what he has done and regrets his action while being this young and the rest of his life is now thrown away. He is sorry to have disappointed her and if he does not come back to see her again, then just forget about him because he will have been caught for his crime.
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.
But in the third verse it is too late to escape. He is now about to face the courts and is scared about his fate which is most likely the death penalty. In death you finally leave everything of this life behind to face the real truth of our existence in the afterlife. The curse of many a `constantly in trouble young man’ is that he wishes he had never been born at all but yet he doesn’t want to die. This verse oscillates between a bravado in the face of death and the fear of dying.
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.
Verse four sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo but in fact is quite clear when taken in context of the music and how it is sung in an operatic style. This is the trial faced by the young bohemian and is played out in a style reminiscent of Gilbert and Sullivan’s `Trial By Jury’.
I see a little silhouetto of a man, (says the defence lawyer to the jury)
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Jury replies: Are you trying to dance your way out of this situation already? Just like a Sacaramouche (Read Houdini)?)
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me.(You are scaring me says the accused)
(Galileo) Galileo.
(Galileo) Galileo,
Galileo Figaro
Magnifico.
(That is because we are the highest and greatest authority, they respond)
The next verse is a plea for leniency based on being from a poor background (a ploy still used in today’s courts). Based on this defence the jury is being asked to spare him from the monstrosity of execution
I'm just a poor boy and 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.
The bohemian believes he has their sympathy and asks them straight out – will you now let me go? And their response is adamant despite his repetitive pleading…
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.
(Let me go) Ah.
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.
The bohemian’s anger now erupts. It looks like he will not be shown mercy and will be executed. He decides that he will be going to hell where Beelzebub already has a demon ready for him.
But before he goes he is taking out his anger on those around him for deserting him.
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.
Desperation hits and he thinks he can find a way to escape
But eventually he relents and accepts his fate....
Nothing really matters,
Anyone can see,
Nothing really matters,
Nothing really matters to me.
Any way the wind blows
Interpretation 2
Freudians may argue that this song represents Freddy’s inner battle and eventual realisation of his true sexuality as gay. He killed the male aspect inside of him, devastated his mother, condemned by those around him and abandoned by those he thought loved him.
Which interpretation do you prefer? -
Like Ghattas & Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury died ‘young’. Life comes with Death. We’re not going to ‘get’ to get to where we’re going until the day we die. For these lives, as soon as a Life is accomplished then it is Death. These artists brought happiness to countless proles.
Is this the real life?
After some spiritual (not the right word) exploration & discover, this world appears to be more & more a fake world or at least a non-unique world amongst what, within this world, can only be described as parallel worlds.
Is this just fantasy?
Again, if our universe is not the only universe then there must exist a level of fantasy.
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Recognising this other reality is an extremely difficult task that risks a premature death (as described by Carlos Casteneda & Aldous Huxley, returning through these doors is not always possible)
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
The only empirical logic is, therefore, to accept our reality romantically as opposed to classically understanding its infrastructure, meaning & purpose.
I'm just a poor boy (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
We are all alone to seek alone, life appears as random as it is fated. We brush off statistically implausible destiny as sub-consciously engineered. Yet, our universe is only ever defined by our point in time (& whatever that defines: flat/round earth, gravity/no-gravity etc.). Yet, further, our individuality is defined by something other than our constituent atoms & molecules, because these, it is understood, changed during the course of our lives whilst ‘we’ journey & ‘grow’.
Mama just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life has just begun
In this prime reality, terrible things can happen that we ourselves choose which can either mess up our lives or complete our lives or create a trough from which to attain a peak?
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
We are individuals. Our lives may even be unique to us alone. One must continue with diligence to determine our own meaning.
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
We all die, whatever out culture & defrauded religions promise. Take responsibility for your life with all that that entails & We’re not going to ‘get’ to get to where we’re going until the day we die.
Mama, oooooooh (Anyway the wind blows)
I don't want to die
Sometimes wish I'd never been born at all
Being deprived of the point of life can potentially destroy its meaning. Cleary, not everyone finds their meaning. Some people die so old without ever finding their meaning. Others die so young, because they haven’t even got a chance to get going.
[Guitar Solo]
I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me
(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro
Magnifico-o-o-o-o
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, o, o, o, o
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
(Oh mama mia, mama mia) Mama Mia, let me go
Beelzebub has the devil put aside for me, for me, for me!
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
This part describes the choices & fates we have in life & how those appear to be affected by those around us or, more correctly, by our universe.
Galileo made huge changes to our universe affecting religious claims and all that was claimed by the establishment (or the manipulators of the institutions)- by the ‘Figaro’.
[Guitar Solo]
(Oooh yeah, Oooh yeah)
Nothing really matters
Anyone can see
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters to me
We all die and as such, in some ways, cannot claim to any more important than the diligent dung beetle what works, focussed, entranced, in fusion with nature, every moment of its life. How is our typically mis-guided lives any better than that of Mr Beetle? Who is going to heaven?
Any way the wind blows...
It all appears to be out of our control. Yet, there is flow: sometimes it is possible to almost see our future unfold and flow positively.
•Last Updated on ••Thursday•, 28 •July• 2011 -
One of the best songs ever! While there doesn't seem to be any type of covert meaning and is simply a story, my favorite part is when he says, "sometimes wish I had never been born at all." To be a grown ass adult and feel this way is odd but maybe he continuously found himself in the most bizarre and inane of circumstances most of his life.
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This murder is about his own identity done by a mother from a backward culture who especially in those years would look at a gay person as a dirty thing. When he sings mama just killed a man, he really means that. His mom really killed his spirit, perhaps by a fight after finding out he was not the same as the culture she and her husband were from. Familiarity of Farokh Bolsara (Freddie Mercury) with the word Bismilah which is Arabic for "in the name of God" says that he is confronting the culture of the east and culture of Islam (even his parents were not muslim, but Zoroastrian) who are very much against homosexuals. That culture is going to keep and kill him for being gay and the murder of the soul. It is not about Aids, as in those years there was no such concept. It definitely becomes clear when he says towards the end that he cannot stay and he has to leave here (meaning his family).
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I agree with the person on the top listing. Great Song... Don't forget to play the drums and play pokemon
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