anonymous October 28th, 2005 05:10AM  
This was written years before he found out he had AIDS.

anonymous December 27th, 2005 04:11PM  
The song is about of course about murder, and the consequences of your actions. I think Freddie used the five stages of grief for the verses 1. Denial/ Isolation "goodbye everybody-I've got to go" 2. Depression "sometimes wish I'd never been born at all" 3. Bargaining "I'm just a poor boy.. will you let me go?" 4. Anger "so you think you can stone me and spit in my eye.. just gotta get right out of here. and 5. Acceptance "any way the wind blows"

CroftD1 March 14th, 2006 12:54PM  
It is an opra-hence the name Bohemian Rhapsody. Have you ever heard somebody taking rhyming jibberish and turning it in to some sort of meaning even though there is not a real 'behind the lyrics' meaning it still can have some sort of a story line. Freddy was refering to people trying to line a "He read an article in the news paper and wrote..." or "He must have known a guy who...". So don't be ignorant on what the guy's story line of the OPERA is although he may have gone a little too deep. I actually agree with the guy for the most part and yet I agree that it was just a bunch of neat rhyming lines. I've done the same in my lyrics. Read the F--- name of the song, the name tells you what the song is about. That is why artists Name songs unless you forgot!

anonymous April 22nd, 2006 02:22AM  
Just my opinion here

I think the song tells the story of a man who commits murder then ponders suicide. In the beginning he is in shock and realizing he can't escape from what he's done "no escape from reality". Then as he's telling his mother what he did he is pondering suicide and saying how useless he is anyways, "I'm just a poor boy...I'm easy come easy go". "If I'm not back again this time tomorrow carry on...goodbye everybody-I've got to go, gotta leave you all behind" definitely sounds suicidal.

The opera like part is him reliving himself murdering the man. "I see a little silhouetto of a man" he is seeing himself and then he calls himself a "scaramouche" a foolish and boastful coward. "Thunderbolt and Lightening" is a reference to him firing the weapon and the next part is very interesting. It is written "very very frightening-me" the dash between frightening and me seems to say that he is describing himself as very very frightening.

In the next part it appears as if he wants to commit suicide and some people are holding him back while others are encouraging him. This might also be a battle within himself.

He is saying he's just a poor boy and nobody loves him, and basically saying that he is a common poor boy, he is "easy come easy go". And he asks him to please "let me go" commit suicide.

The chorus responds "Bismillah [in god's name] no, we will not let you go" during this part the two sides argue over his fate. When the side that wants to stop him from commiting suicide wins- "no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no" he continues arguing saying that he is an evil man who deserves death, and that there is a place in hell waiting for him, "Let me go-Beelzebub [satan] has a devil put aside for me".

The next part is him yelling at the chorus that held him back from suicide. He is a poor boy who the people usually felt no pity for before-in his other times of need they left him to die and now they act as if they love him. "So you think you can love me and leave me to die". He is angry about this hypocrisy.

As I said before-my own opinion

kamododude July 2nd, 2006 12:03AM  
I hate to say this-but with all due respect who?pinkfloyd----and beleive me I am am saying this in the nicest way possible---you are and idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bohemian rhapsody is not about AIDS-----he shot the dude in the head----if he was being symbolic he wouldn't have been so specific about puting the gun to the dudes head and pulling the triger-----sory--but that was some kind of stupid dude!

kamododude July 2nd, 2006 12:12AM  
I saw an interpretation by anonymous added on 2005-07-19 starting with the words---"sory,but your all wrong"------------------------i just want to say---aside from my own interpretation---that is the best I have heard-well writen-and I couldent have said it better myself-he is absolutely right----------------------------------------------------------extreamly accurate---we can t be certain what exactly is or was going through the artists mind but it sure as it wasnt AIDS--thats just rediculous---people of such ignorance shouldent be allowed to submit such non-sence------it takes away from the true meaning--or meaning for it to be unknown--if you don't know what you're talking about shut itand leave it to the people who realy know what we are talking about---like whoever sent in the section by anonymous

anonymous July 11th, 2006 07:11AM  
I personally feel that the song first deals with the melancholy part of his life, listen how the music flows from the beginning. literally, pulling triger and killing man is the symbol of making some kind of huge mistake, mistake without mercy. Still hope exists, "mama life has just begun....". Reality is harsh as he says "....never been born at all". Nevetheless he expects to face it " carry on carry on...nothing really matters"

On the other hand its late "too late my time has come..." as if he's going to die inner pain as well as physical pain. Thats what life is all about.

But as the music turns its melody towards roch frequency... It may means whatever life may be just enjoy and rock. But I feel the pain inside that rock as the guitar plays the solo. In the middle song is full of energy.

At the end again the flows becomes slow and at last he says "....little wind blows". Reality bits futile life with no hope dominates again.

anonymous July 17th, 2006 02:54PM  
This song is about freddy mercury strugging with his bisexuality or just being gay. He is wanting to come out of the closet. He tells his mother about being gay and she rejects him. "mother just killed a man". The lyric any way the wind blows refers to bisexuality. He wishes he had never be born at all because he is gay and therefore different. He thinks about killing himself and then realizes that nothing really matters. He says me galileo and figaro. They were both gay. The monstrosity is homosexuality. Let me go refers to comming out of the cloest and we will not let you go is his freinds or his coscience telling him not to. He decides to come out by say so you can stone me and spit in my eye. In the end it doesn't matter,any way the wind blows.

anonymous July 29th, 2006 02:00PM  
I think the song can either be taken literally which is the way most you have taken it... It obviously can be about murder...

But I think the reason the song has become legendary is because in ways most people can relate to the feelings at one point in life... It's symbolic

1.Goals and your desires being on achievable... Can it all be a delusional fantasy?

"is this the real life-
is this just fantasy-
caught in a landslide-
no escape from reality- "


2. I think the killing of a man can be about yourself...
There have been times where I've felt like less of a person or less of a man about self-pity and regret. While you don't want to end your life you also don't see any point in continuing it....

"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- "


"I don’t want to die,
i sometimes wish i’d never been born at all"


3. The fear of never being able to find what you need ... Not being able to escape from what seems like the only reality... Let me out!

"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-
but 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-
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
no,no,no,no,no,no,no- "


4. The last part of the song is about picking yourself up... You have to break out of this and take control of your life... It's not all your fault and you are better then this...

"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

anonymous October 16th, 2006 12:20PM  
This song was written with meaning, no doubt. What that meaning is/was is of no consequence, however. True art, especially music, is not supposed to relay a message of the writer/performer, but rather inspire you to attach your own meaning. In other words, listen to the lyrics, feel the music, relay its meaning to your own life. You don't have to have "killed a man" to understand feeling of remorse for something you may have done..
Art's greatest foe is the analyzation of it.
Just my humble opinion.

anonymous October 17th, 2006 06:32AM  
Hey, has anyone realised that the only clever and tricky songs to figure out are really old? So many people have different ideas about them, but modern songs are generally really simple.

Creepy, bohemian rhapsody just came on my computer as I was typing this.

bubbabigdick October 17th, 2006 10:26PM  
Weiners!!! Aids hadn't even been invented yet back in the mid 70's when this song came out. That's right, queen didn't record it especially for Wayne's World, and Nirvana didn't invent rock 'n roll.

anonymous November 24th, 2006 04:51AM  
I am a writer. No, I don't write songs, but I have written a novel and several short stories. I just want to say that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar! Many times in my own writing I use a phrase or a metaphor because I like the way it sounds, or because it paints the picture that I am trying to get across to my readers. There is no secret meaning, no deeper message.

During the Renaissance, educated people enjoyed intellectual puzzles and games very much. They often hid clues in their writing, painting, etc., and those smart enough to follow these clues were rewarded with hidden stories, instructions, or even jokes. Those in the know completely understood this practice and could find the hidden meaning with little trouble. The rest of the world could still enjoy the works for their face value, so it worked out well for everyone (although I think the artists probably looked down on people who didn't 'get it', and had a few laughs at their expense). I am sure that there are more than a few authors today whose stories are chock full of hidden meanings, but some writers just want to tell a story. Read Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz, and then look up all of the interpretations that those two books have generated. There are entire courses devoted to exploring what these books are really about. For crying out loud, why do they have to be about anything? Why can't they just be a couple of really great books? They tear them apart and suggest that the authors were actually commenting on politics and religion and sociology, and God knows what else. Bullshit. They were telling a freaking story. Period. Of course every single writer is affected by what is going on in the world around them, and it is reflected in their stories. But unless you live in a country like China or Cuba where you can be jailed or even killed for writing certain things, why on Earth would you waste your time and energy hiding the true meaning of your story in a bunch of ambiguous and confusing metaphors?

It makes about as much sense as those people who supposedly communicate with the dead. The dead people apparently cannot communicate in any kind of straightforward manner when 'talking' to these people. I would think that a dead person who manages to find a way to communicate with a loved one would make sure that their message couldn't be misinterpreted. If it's important enough that they have to tell it from beyond the grave they should just say "Hey, Joe, it's me, Grandpa. I left ten thousand dollars buried in the garage. Northwest corner, two feet down. Oh, and I am pissed at Grandma for remarrying so soon after my death. Oh, yeah, and death is like this: When you die you feel_____ and you go ______ and you see________. Don't do _______ while you're alive because ________________ happens when you die if you do. Take care, Grandpa. But NOOOO, instead they manage to get to the studio where John Edwards is and they can't even tell him who they're there to see. They can't manage to tell him their own name! They don't seem to want to discuss the afterlife at all, instead they want to give a vague reference to a family joke, or say that whenever the cat meows three times in a row it's because they are messing with the cat, who can see ghosts. Yeah, that makes much more sense. Hidden meanings, nonsensical words, indirect references that no one understands, that is a much better way to communicate from the grave.

But I digress. Back to the song. Do I think that this song is based on a real story? No. But it does tell a story. A young man killed a man. He threw away his whole life in that one reckless moment. He begs for forgiveness and mercy, but it is not to be. He knows he is going to die and he strives to accept his fate. In the end he is even defiant to some extent. Some of the words are used because they rhyme. Period. Other words are used to tell a beautiful, tragic tale. He is painting a picture with these words, as any great storyteller does. He uses his amazing musical ability to tell this tale as well. He was a musical genius and was experimenting with rock opera. A musician is a lot like a painter. The more layers of paint, the more colors, and the more brush strokes they use the more complex and exciting the finished piece will be. Freddie Mercury blended many different styles (layers) to create this song. These lyrics, along with the innovative music was like nothing ever done before in the rock world. I don't think it had anything to do with being bisexual or gay. It definitely wasn't about having AIDS, as AIDS had yet to rear its ugly head when this song came out. The great thing about music is that it is so personal. You can listen to a song and make it about whatever you want it to be about. For one person it could be a cautionary tale about committing a crime of passion and paying the price for that moment of unbridled emotion. For another it could be a coming of age tale about dealing with your sexuality and the implications of coming out. For yet another it could just be a song with a good beat. It doesn't matter what the author meant when he wrote the words, what truly matters is the listener's perspective. Some people don't even listen to the lyrics. To them, it is all about the music. To others, the music is completely superfluous, the lyrics are the only thing they care about.

This is one of the best rock songs of all time. No matter what Freddie was thinking about when he wrote it, he ended up creating a fucking musical masterpiece that people will still be listening to a hundred years from now. Some of the new artists that are out there now are a flash in the pan, and their music will get the attention it deserves. Fifty years from now Fergie's London Bridge will thankfully be forgotten (up or down), and Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson will be roommates in a home for criminally untalented divas. But Freddy Mercury will still be a God, and Bohemian Rhapsody will still be playing (on the microchips implanted in our frontal lobes)!

SORRY for such a LOOONNNNG submission, but I'm a bit loquacious tonight. If you don't like it, don't read it, 'kay?

Tat

anonymous December 7th, 2006 12:30PM  
Okay, I always thought this was about a young man drafted to be in the Vietnam War. Here goes my explanation:

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,
A little high,little low,
Anyway the wind blows,doesn’t really matter to me,
To me

This first section might be about the thoughts he is having on the way over to Vietnam, a sort of resignation to the fact that he's on his way and there's nothing he can do about it now.

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 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-

This section might be about the fact that he's killed someone during his first few weeks in the war and he hates himself for it. He's writing a letter to his mother describing his feelings.

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 ooo- (any way the wind blows)
I don’t want to die,
I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all-

I don't know if it's somewhat out of order, but he could be talking about saying goodbye to everyone as he leaves for the war.

I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche,scaramouche will you do the fandango-
Thunderbolt and lightning-very very frightening me-

This is where a battle breaks out...

Galileo,galileo,
Galileo galileo
Galileo figaro-magnifico-
But 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-
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
No,no,no,no,no,no,no-
Mama mia,mama mia,mama mia let me go-
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me,for me,for me-

Here he is captured by the enemy and pleads for his life. But they will not let him go. Either that or he is pleading to be sent home.

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 is after he returns home. The American people literally stone him and spit on him.

Nothing really matters,
Anyone can see,
Nothing really matters-,nothing really matters to me,

Any way the wind blows....

Again, he resigns to the fact that this is life and he had no control over anything that happened to him, however it may have affected him.

Just my opinion... and it goes along with "Another One Bites the Dust"

anonymous December 17th, 2006 10:32AM  
You can read some highly interesting and intelligent interpretations of this unique song at http://www.mercury-and-queen.com/bohemianrhapsody.htm The author connects it with the painful and tragic events in Freddie Mercury's life.

All I would like to say is that Bohemian Rhapsody has AS WELL (- because it is just ONE facette of many which 'create' the song) a deep symbolic meaning not visible for everyone...

anonymous January 4th, 2007 12:14AM  
Wow. I had no idea there were so many interpretations of this song. For me it's always been clear: the song is about an execution. Please bear with me as I construct a detailed argument for this interpretation.

Here's the set-up (all of this is proven later): The narrator has committed murder. He might have done this out of malice, or self-defense, or anything in between; we don't know. The fact is that he killed someone, was caught and sentenced, and is now on Death Row. The man is not an important person, so to speak. He is not famous, nor rich, nor anything of the kind. He has no high-priced lawyers and no "connections" to help him in his plight. The narrator implies that, if he had higher social status, if he had money or fame or whatever, then he would stand a good chance of escaping death. But alas, he is merely a "poor boy" (aka ordinary person), and has no such power. His family and friends are attending the execution (or have otherwise heard about it), and are very distressed. Conversely, the family and friends of the dead man want revenge and they can't wait to see the narrator executed. The song takes place just prior to the execution, and involves the narrator talking to (or perhaps just thinking about) his mother, just before he dies.

If you're still reading, you have my thanks.
Here's the line-by-line analysis:

*We start with the narrator's thoughts:
"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"
*The narrator is overwhelmed by the idea that he's going to die. He almost wonders whether this is all a nightmare or something.

"Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality"
Again, he feels overwhelmed, but he can't really deny that he's about to be killed.

"Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see,"
Looking up to heaven, wondering about life etc.

"I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low"
Here he is quoting the common perspective: he's just a poor man ("boy"), and he doesn't deserve sympathy. Much of the song is about how no one seems to care for the narrator, even though he seems mournful and regretful for his actions.

"Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me"
Now that he's going to die, nothing more matters. He has no future, no hopes or dreams or goals. He's going to die within the hour, and there's nothing he can do about it. He feels very hopeless, and from his perspective nothing really matters.

"Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead"
This part is obvious. He committed murder. I don't he's confessing to his mother here, as surely she would already know by the time of the execution. I think that he's really just sadly reflecting on what he's done, and he mentions this to his mother (or perhaps he's just thinking about her)

"Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away"
He was a young man, in his 20s perhaps. He had the chance to live a meaningful life, but instead he killed a man, thus causing his own death via execution. The narrator laments, noting that he could have saved his own life by choosing not to murder. But now the deed is done, and the narrator will face justice.

"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"
Again he's sorry for his actions, and regrets that his mother now weeps for him, as he will soon be killed. The execution will take place within the hour, so if he's not back again this time tomorrow, it will mean that the execution happened on schedule, that he failed to escape it via pardon or other means. The narrator tells his mother that, even if he dies, she should carry on living, almost as if his death didn't matter to her.


"Too late, my time has come"
The execution is imminent.

"Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time"
These are symptoms of his intense fear.

"Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go"
He says a final farewell to his family and friends.

"Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth"
The truth is that he killed a man, and now he faces strict justice. He will die.

"Mama, ooh, I don't want to die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all"
This much is obvious. He doesn't want to be killed, and indeed he wonders if it would have been better never to have been born in the first place.

A new voice starts singing; this voice represents his friends and family who are (or have been previously) protesting his execution.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man"
The narrator seems so poor and pitiful, "a shadow of what he once was", so to speak

"Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango"
Honestly, I don't know what this means

"Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me"
Both he and them are afraid that he'll be killed. The "lighting" part might indicate that he's to be killed with the electric chair, or it might just be symbolic.

"(Galileo.) Galileo. (Galileo.) Galileo, Galileo figaro"
Galileo was unfairly persecuted by the authorities of his time. Granted, Galileo didn't commit murder, but the narrator's advocates still draw a parallel, insisting that he doesn't deserve the punishment he's receiving.

"Magnifico. I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me"
The narrator repeats the common belief.

"He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity"
His friends and family argue that, because he's a poor boy, he deserves sympathy and compassion, not death.

"Easy come, easy go, will you let me go"
Here the narrator pleads for his life. He basically says "You don't seem to care about me; I'm 'easy come, easy go'. You don't really care if I live or die. So, if you don't really care whether I live or die, can't you just let me live? Can't you grant me a pardon or something?"

Then the opposite group, the friends and family of the dead man (and/or the execution authorities) respond to these pleas.

"Bismillah! No, we will not let you go"
The other group wants the narrator to be executed.

"(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."
The two groups have a spirited argument.

"(Oh mama mia, mama mia.) Mama mia, let me go"
Here the chorus of friends and family says "let me go", but I really think they mean "let him go. Don't kill the narrator"

"Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me"
Beelzebub means Satan. The narrator feels (or speculates) that Satan is out to torment him by leading him to such a sad fate. After all, it was probably a devil that tempted him to commit murder in the first place. Likewise, his family feels Satan is tormenting them as well, by killing the narrator to make them feel sad. Perhaps even the dead man's family joins in on this chorus; they feel that it was Satan who told the narrator to commit murder in the first place, and now they insist that execution is the only holy response to such a sin.

Throughout this, the narrator has been lethargic and morose. But right before the end, he has a sudden burst of passion.

"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!"
I'm not sure if he's talking to anyone specific here, or if he's just ranting with passion, screaming at everyone and everything involved.

As I imagine it, the narrator throws off his guards and fights to escape from his shackles. In the ensuing musical piece, he struggles with the executioners, knocking the room into disarray. The two families watch closely, but everyone knows it's a useless struggle; there's simply no way for the narrator to escape. And the end of the musical piece, he is beaten down and finally subdued. Once again he become morose and dispirited, and the executioners drag him to his place of death (electric chair, perhaps). In his last few moments before death, the narrator resumes his previous state of mind.

"Nothing really matters, Anyone can see
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters to me"
Again, because he's about to die, nothing really matters to him. He has no purpose, no hope, nothing.

"Any way the wind blows..."
This is an allusion to the begining of the song, where this image was used along with "nothing really matters"

So...yeah. I think that's a pretty thorough interpretation. Bohemian Rhapsody is about a remorseful murderer as he's about to be executed.

Questions? Comments? Did anybody even read all that?

anonymous March 11th, 2007 01:23PM  
OK, if you read the anonymous guy that wrote a crapload and got 5 stars I have one thing to add..." Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango"...well scaramouche means a coward and fandango is a spanish dance usually don't with a man and woman. So it basically means "coward, coward, will you dance?"...dancing may refer to an act that will make the judge free him, or god accept him in the heaven-hell interpretation(its long and way up there, also by an anonymous figure)

anonymous March 19th, 2007 05:48PM  
Many of the earlier interpretations have probably won me over from my original idea, but I used to think it was about Albert Camus' 'The Stranger.' The book was famous for its definition of existentialism through its lead character. The lead character kills an Arab man but doesn't know why and never has an opinion on his actions, being that nothing ever matters to him; hence existentialism. It makes sense, but it may not apply to all parts of the song.

anonymous May 11th, 2007 05:57AM  
Perhaps the song is about a man who committed suicide. The man who the narrator shoots could, in fact, be himself. Although he does say later in the song that he does not want to die, this could be a reflection of the events which have occured.

The letter to his mother could well in fact be his last dying prayer.

To me, it seems as though the narrator is depressed, wishing that he'd never been born amongst other things.

anonymous May 15th, 2007 11:38AM  
This song was playing constantly on the radio just after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991. Perhaps the people listening then would have caught the meaning of it's eerily prophetic words. It's almost as if this man had a premonition of his fate.

Freddie must have struggled coming to terms with his sexuality having lived with a woman Mary Austin for around seven years. It must have seemed like he was killing off his old self when finally announcing to her that he was gay. He was a young man on the threshold of life who loved a woman he could not marry and had to let her go. He had to become someone else - someone different from what his mother and others thought he was.

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 �

Freddie feels a deep forboding about this decision to acknowledge and act upon his homosexuality. He has a premonition that there will be deadly consequences:

He�s just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity

The unnamed "monstrosity" he fears turns out to be aids which results in his suffering a painful, lingering death.

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

He pleads to be spared what he fears is coming his way but he somehow knows it is all to no avail and that he cannot escape his fate:

I don�t want to die,
I sometimes wish I�d never been born at all

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 him go
Will not let you go � let me go

Will not let you go � let me go

No, no, no, no, no, no, no �
Mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go �
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me �
for me

Bohemian Rhapsody is prophetic. Freddie had an intuition of what lay ahead. A devil had indeed been put aside for him. No wonder he refused to explain the meaning of the song. At the time he wrote it, how could he even explain it to himself?