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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It’s a great interpretation of queen’s bohemian rhapsody... which I believe is a song about fame and different ways to become famous “is this the real life or is this just fantasy caught in a landslide no escape from reality “ a lot of people long to become famous, then once they are famous they realize it’s nothing like they imagined. “Open your eyes look up to the skies and see I’m just a poor boy , I need no sympathy “ the boy is praying to become famous . “Easy come easy go .....nothing really matters “ poor people come and go but rich people is all that matters “any way the wind blows “ whatever path you may take . “Mama just killed a man” a man was a famous killer ... and in the “easy come, easy go , will you let me go bismillah no “ that is him trying to get his soul back from the devil ...
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The narrator,while walking to the place he will commit a murder for someone else is questioning his reality and rethinking his actions in the Intro.In the end he murders the man.
Then,he sadly confesses to his mother about the deed and tells her to not feel sad.In the next part,he is executed after saying goodbye to his family and friends.
The rival fractions in Hell fight over the narrator soul to claim it either to let him go or to torment it.
He then breaks out of Hell after learning about the betrayal he suffered and then breaks out of the prison.
He then takes his revenge on the one he killed the man for and then chooses to leave it all behind and do something good with his life as “Nothing Really Matters”.
I hope you read all of it,it the most probable I think so and it fits the tune and the guitar solo perfectly.
Thanks for reading
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I have listened to some Queen songs throughout my twelve years of life so far. And this song is one of those songs that gets connected to your head, and you can't stop muttering the lyrics or stop listening to it with the world. These lyrics are menacing, heart-breaking, and powerful, like Rush's "Nobody's Hero" and My Chemical Romance's "The Sharpest Lives". It just.....is powerful enough to look into the lyrics like Sherlock Holmes. So I will look into the lyrics like "Miss Junior Detective"....
So the whole intro verse before the-real-time lyrics is about that the young man is looking upon the people outside of his-stuck-up prison life. He hates it, and just stares out his prisoned-barred "window", wild-jumbled thoughts whirling around his head. But then he "opens his eyes" as has to think about reality: why he is in prison, why he did what he did (murder), and what he became. But then he just doesn't care about anything anymore. (Why, dude. :p.)
NOW THE REAL LYRICS!!!:
The first verse is probably about him writing a letter to his mother, explaining his crime (but why did he do it? Self defense? Or just being psycho? Nobody really knows....)
When the main character says or sings (blah :p.), "Mama, life had just begun", I think he is referring to the life he is living in prison ("new life").
Then he sings, "But now I've gone, and thrown it all away", (Remember, I am just a kid, so no judgy!) is that he has "thrown" the life he had before he killed that man, and that he has now "gone" to the new life he will now live.
Also, when I heard this song in the car with my sister and my great-aunt, I thought this song was about this guy dying in a deathbed, and he was telling his mama things. (I only knew "Mama OOOOH! Didn't mean to make you...." So now that I have looked into the lyrics more, I guess I was wrong :p.)
Now second verse!
Again, dude is writing letter to mommy, blah blah blah, but he is probably knowing that his mama is weeping uncontrollably, and he "didn't mean for her to cry".
"And if I am not back tomorrow..." Oof. Getting busted and getting death sentence! NOOOOOOO!
Then he wants her to "Carry on" (Why is every rock band have to have "carry on" in it? I hear it in like every My Chemical Romance song :P.), so she will live her life as a grandma or something. And then again, he doesn't care about anything.
Third verse!!!:
"Too late, my time has come..." Oh. My. Gawd.! Heartbreaking lyrics! *SNIFF*!
Okay, so I think he is writing a reply to her, and she wanted to come visit, but she is an old woman, so she couldn't really go. (Why choose at the last minute, woman?! He's gonna get executed!) And this is the day before his execution! NOOOOO! Poor boi! *SNIFFLE SNIFF*.
And he is "saying goodbye" to all the people by praying (Maybe?????).
Now, the guy is all jittery, and his body can't stop aching, and air sends shivering feels down his spine. (Probably you're also jittery because you were hunching over a letter, HMMM?!)
"Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth..." He needs to face the truth. I don't know if you like answer questions before getting executed, soooooooo....I'll just say he is getting questioned by the Pistachio police.
Last Verse!!!! *SNIIIIIIIIIIFFFF*:
"Mama OOOOOH! I don't wanna die!" Oof. Heartbreaking, dude....Super heartbreaking..... (Everyone dies, but I guess this is hard for you because you're gonna get your head chopped off or something. #KidLogicPower....)
Now time for your wishings, dudey dude. "Sometimes I wish I was never born at all!!!!"
Oh. Snap. We have something in common! I wish I was a different person! High five, dead guy! *High fives tombstone*
Now the amazing guitar solo by Ray Toro and Frank Iero!!!!! (LOL. "My Chemical Romance Teams Up With Queen".....But My Chemical Romance is from 2000! DOY! And Queen is from 1970! YEET!)
Okay, sorry for all the jokes. But kids are stupid and weird, okey doki?
That's my theory! -
I think Freddie Mercury wrote Bohemian Rhapsody as his coming out song. As in the song he says, "No escape from reality" The reality is who he actually is. In another line Freddie then sings, "Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he's dead." I believe this is Freddie saying he is now killing off the man he once was or at least trying to be. He understands his families beliefs, so he goes onto sing, "Mama, 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 is also showing that he has accepted who he is and it doesn't matter to him. But, it goes back down to more self doubt like things such as heaven and hell. "Mama, I don't want to die. I sometime I wish I'd never been born at all." and "Beelzebub has the Devil put aside for me." Finally we're to the point where Freddie stops with self doubt to the line, "So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die?" Up until the final point of the song, "Nothing really matters, anyone can see, nothing really matters. Nothing really matters to me."
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I always thought of Bohemian Rhapsody as an interesting mish~mash of lyrics and musical effects until my nephew died from AIDS~~when the lyrics became crystal clear to me.
He is preparing his mom for what's to come. First, he tells her that he's knowing passed a death sentence on to another man my "pulling his trigger". Then he tells her that he must also go, but she shouldn't cry. She must go forward with her life when he is no longer there. From that point the lyrics deal with the way he'd always viewed himself and how he'd been treated by others who didn't think much of him~as a poor boy who no one loved. The lyrics then become more ethereal when they move to Beelzebub and Hell. I think he was feeling that Hell is where it all ends for the unfortunate men who contacted AIDS.
Even though Freddy didn't have the disease when he wrote B. R., AIDS was already an "unknown" known frightening killer illness taking out a multitude of unassuming men...just my thoughts. -
I really liked this song and I think your perception of it is your truth. I think only Freddie knows what it meant to him. My truth is it was a struggle with changes is a persons life, maybe Freddie's maybe not. I just listen and enjoy while regretting the loss of a human life.
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In 2019 the meaning of the song should be more obvious than it has been in the past. The song is about the transition of life from common man to rock star. It is about leaving a simple life to celebrity life, and maybe even selling out to get there. It is about sacrificing your past (in this case Freddie Mercury's past,) for fame and fortune. My interpretation follows:
"Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?"
Freddie can't believe he's famous.
"Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality."
His talents are both a gift and a curse.
"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."
Mercury is humbled and conforms to the music industry.
"Mama, just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head,
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead."
This is metaphorically speaking -the man that Mercury killed is himself. He killed the person his family and friends all knew, and traded it for fame and fortune.
"Mama, life had just begun,
But now I've gone and thrown it all away."
He's still young and realizes he can never go back to the simple life he had before.
"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."
Basically, he won't be visiting for Sunday night dinner whenever he wants to.
"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."
The truth is, he is now the front man for an elite rock band and is obligated to write music, record music, to perform concerts and to tour the world. His schedule is structured entirely by his producers. They have 100% control of his calendar, and he has virtually no control.
"Mama, ooh (any way the wind blows),
I don't wanna die,
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all."
He misses his old life and knows he can't just leave his obligations or he likely will face consequences of some type -possibly even death.
"I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?"
Scaramouche means cowardly buffoon. Fandango is a spanish dance. So he realizes he is here for everyone's entertainment. He doesn't feel respected by those who financed him. He feels small.
Thunderbolt and lightning,
Very, very frightening me.
(Galileo) Galileo.
(Galileo) Galileo,
Galileo Figaro
Magnifico-o-o-o-o.
Thunderbolt and lightning could represent the devil. The lightning bolt does in fact represent Satan. This symbolizes the debt that is owed. Galileo might signify the alignment of the stars or what is, or what is to become. It is reality.
"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."
Presents the idea of asking to quit from the industry look absurd.
"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!)
Never let you go (Never, never, never, never let me go)
Oh oh oh oh
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."
Bismillah means in Islam "In the name of God." Beelzebub is the devil or a demon.
"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?"
Stone me with pot and spit in my eye hoping for ignorance.
"So you think you can love me and leave me to die?"
Mercury realizes he's not loved by the industry.
"Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby,
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here."
He wants out of the music industry whether there's a way out or not.
(Ooooh, ooh yeah, ooh yeah)
"Nothing really matters,
Anyone can see,
Nothing really matters,
Nothing really matters to me."
He realizes there's no way out so he decides to give up all hope, and conforms.
"Any way the wind blows."
He's completely at their mercy and is now content with anything. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Just one line that always bugged me:
"Mama, just killed a man, Put _a_ gun against his head
Pulled _my_ trigger, now he's dead"
"A" gun. Not my gun. Any random gun?
Or a proscribed gun?
"My" trigger. His trigger. His decision.
Confirming ownership of the 'trigger' but not the gun.
The gun represents an external force (society?).
The trigger is his choice to 'kill' "a man." (Himself?) -
It is a compilation of different songs that Freddie and other band members had been working on. They needed to record something and Freddie pulled all this together. He had it all laid out including the dubbing.
Therefore the meaning is multi-layed. To me, it is clear that "I killed a man" is Freddie deciding to come out to his family and friends as a gay man. The death of the man is the heterosexual man whom he had pretended to be all his life but could no longer be.
He knows this is breaking his mom's heart and she will not understand and may even be that now he is dead to her. Sadly many people disown their children who they come out.
As someone who has come out to his very religious family and got disowned, I can understand "But now I've gone and thrown it all away." After all, this is what many families think their gay child is doing. My brother used these exact words to me.
But especially telling is
"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."
And then his statement that he knows he is losing them by telling them this truth,
"Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go, Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth." -
I think Bohemian Rhapsody is about Freddie's life. In the song it could go from really dark to really confident. His life had highs and lows, and so does the song. This might not be true, but this is what I think.
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I think this story/song is about him killing a man (obviously) because in this song, it says:"Mamma, just killed a man. Pulled the trigger now he's dead. So then, when he says "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", it's when he go's 2 jail and he's saying bye 2 his mom. THEN, get ready for then sad part, when he says "Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooh, I don't want to die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all", he has to go face either the electric chair, or being hung. The rest is....... pretty crazy but i think it's before he dies, during he dies and after he's dead, so there. That's the whole song, and if you don't know this song, I'm sorry for spoiler alerts! -
"He's just a poor boy from a poor family" is a another ploy plea to let him off for his crime, because he was from a broken home and had a hard upbringing. This is used in many real cases.
Look a Ross Ulbricht's propaganda being spewed out now for a great example.
HIV was not involved due to the time line being out of order. The reason is clearly stated that he killed a man, based on two different methods of stating it in the lyrics.
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