Bohemian Rhapsody

Words and Music by Freddie Mercury from the 1975 Album "A Ni ht at the !pera" by the British roc"#pop band $ueen% Band members& Farro"h Bulsara "no'n by his sta e name Freddie Mercury (lead )ocals* piano+ Brian May (lead uitar* )ocals+ ,ohn -eacon (bass uitar+ Ro er .aylor (drums* )ocals+ /opularity& A hu e commercial success* Bohemian Raphsody 'as top of the 01 sin les charts in 1972 for 9 'ee"s* and a ain for 5 'ee"s in 1991 follo'in Mercury3s death% 4n the 05A* it pea"ed at no%9 in 1972* and at no%6 in 1996 after its appearance in the film Wayne's World% .he band released 17 no%1 albums and 18 -9-s and has sold o)er :88 million albums% .he music )ideo clip for Bohemian Raphsody 'as the first music )ideo clip a)ailable to any .9 stations for promotional purposes% Freddie Mercury (Farro"h Bulsara+ Farro"h Bulsara 'as a /arsi and 'as born in 19;2 on the island of <an=ibar* off the east coast of Africa% >e 'ent to boardin school in Bombay in 4ndia until he 'as 12 'hen his family mo)ed to ?n land% Both he and his sister* 1ashmira (@oo"e+* 'ere brou ht up as <oroastrian% 5uch an upbrin in afforded Freddie Mercury 'ith a rich palette of reli ious symbolism and crossAcultural eBperience% .he duality found in <oroastrian* to be resol)ed in the final assault 'hen the sun and moon dar"en mi ht be hinted at in "Coo" up to the s"y (Bohemian Raphsody+"% @ertainly Mercury 'rote personal and reli ious lyrics% "5omebody to Co)e" for eBample* is also multilayered and inspired by ospel music (li"e the intro of Bohemina Raphsody+ and Duestions Eod3s role in life 'ithout lo)e% Mercury also composed other hits for $ueen* such as "-ont 5top Me No'"* "5omebody to Co)e"* "@ra=y Cittle .hin @alled Co)e"* "We Are .he @hampions" and "1iller $ueen"% >e had a sense of dress and sho'manship* lo)ed the arts* learnt classical piano as a boy* san 'ith eBcellent control o)er a 'ide ran e* attended and 'as in)ol)ed in ballet and opera* trained as an artist* and* 'as enerous and enFoyed spendin his 'ealth% /ri)ately* he seemed afraid of loneliness and 'ished for happiness% 4t is difficult to disassociate Mercury and Bohemian Raphsody from the issues of homoseBuality at that time* as he himself 'as biseBual% >e li)ed 'ith his first partner* Mary Austin* for se)en years% >e told her of his biseBuality* became promiscuous before settlin 'ith ,im >utton* a hairdresser% But he remained friends 'ith Mary Austin% At that time* homoseBual practice 'as considered to be morally 'ron % 4t 'as not a topic for eneral discussion% Mercury did not comment publicly about his seBuality%

4n 1991* Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia (a complication of A4-5+% >e had arran ed his o'n pri)ate funeral that included a traditional <oroastrian ceremony% Recordin (Bohemian Raphsody+& Recordin be an in the Roc"field 5tudio* and continued throu h four more studios (Roundhouse* 5ARM* 5corpion* and WesseB+% Recorded on a 6; .rac" Analo ue tape (no di ital recordin in 1975#2+ and 'ith up to 178 o)erdubs in some sections* "bouncin " trac"s 'as reDuired (such as& record on trac"s 1*6 and :& then miB these do'n on to trac";G this lea)es trac"s 1*6 and : free for more o)erdubbin +% 5ome sections of the tape had to be spliced (cut and stuc" to ether 'ith stic"y tape+% Form and 5tructure& .he form of the son is sectional% 4t consists of& intro* )erses 1 and 6* uitar solo* opera* hard roc"* and outro% 4ntro& Close mostly fourApart male )ocal harmonies includin falsetto and a cappella in Bb MaFor usin block chords% All sun by Mercury* althou h the )ideo has four band members lip-synching% .he rhythm* in simple Duadruple time (;#;+ mostly follo's the natural inflection of the 'ords* includin a 5#; bar* and some sli ht syncopation% Close& the harmonies ha)e mostly small inter)als bet'een each part% Falsetto& a techniDue commonly used in roc"#pop male sin in * but usually a)oided in more classical sin in as 'ea" and lac"in timbre* 'hereby only parts of the )ocal folds )ibrate% 4t adds about a ;th#5th abo)e a male3s usual )ocal ran e% A cappella& )oices 'ithout instruments% Block chords& all parts ha)e the same rhythm% Lip-synching& li"e "airA uitar" or mimin * to mouth the 'ords% After four bars* the piano enters 'ith bro"en chords% Mercury sin s solo lines alternatin 'ith choral harmonies 'hich are doubled on the piano concludin o)er the chromatic* descendin piano bass line& ?b* -* -b* @ (F7#@+ to Bb (a perfect cadence+% 5ynth 'ind effects accompany the 'ords "any 'ay the 'ind blo's"% Mercury as"s "4s this the real life %%% open your eyes" %%% but don3t 'orry about me* because 4 am nobody in particular* free li"e the 'ind and any'ay it "doesn3t really matter to me"% 9erse 1 4n the style of a roc" ballad* the dreamli"e ima es are shattered 'hen Mercury sin s to his "Mama" (May refer to his mother or his lon Atime irlfriend Mary+ "4 Fust "illed a man%%%"% Bass uitar is added to the piano* and the choral li"e sin in is no' replaced by Fust the )ocal soloist% >e did not mean to ma"e her cry* and if he does not come bac"* he 'ants her to carry on as if nothin really matters% At the time of composin this son * Mercury 'as tellin Mary about his biseBuality% .he chord seDuences are typically Bb MaFor* before* it modulates* a ain throu h a chromatic descendin bass* to the subdominant* ?b MaFor& @ B Bb A Ab E (?b#E+%

At the start of this modulation the drums enter 'ith a simple roc" pattern as also found in $ueen3s (Brian May+ "We Will Roc" Hou"* and the 'ords indicate that he is oin * and mi ht not be bac" a ain% But the short piano )amp reAenters* bac" a ain in the "ey of Bb MaFor% 9erse 6 5ame music as )erse 1% ".oo late* my time has come* sends shi)ers do'n my spine* body3s achin all the time" uses the same musical material as )erse 1* eBcept the drums continue% A ain* Mercury accompanies the modulation to ?b 'ith the 'ords " otta lea)e you all behind"% .he teBture be ins to build 'ith the introduction of the electric lead uitar on the 'ords "face the truth"% .his leads into the neBt section* but unli"e 9erse 6* 'e stay in the 1ey of ?b MaFor% Euitar 5olo (Brid e+ .he last ; bars of the )erse are repeated t'ice 'ith a uitar solo that uses the notes of the ?b scale* but in a modal sense (miBolydian ABb to Bb+* and introduces ne' melodic material (by Brian May+% 4n the final bar of this seDuence* the descendin bass scale continues until it arri)es* uneBpectedly on A& F ?* ?b* -* -b* @* B* Bb* A for the neBt section% !pera 5uddenly 'e are in a )ery different 'orld and in the unrelated "ey of A MaFor% .he tempo doubles perhaps to create tension and conflict% .he band is stripped do'n to Fust staccato chords in the piano% .hese are reminiscent of the pi==icato typically found in the strin s of opera% Scaramouch& a comical oftenAboastful character* a buffoon% 0sed in theatre and puppetry (/unch and ,udy+% Fandango& /ortu ese#5panish traditional dance (usually be ins slo'ly and becomes increasin ly eBcited* a itated and eBtra)a ant+% 5ometimes used synonymously to mean bi Duarrel* or mi hty fuss% Figaro& possible reference to Mo=art3s opera ".he Marria e of Fi aro" based on the Fi aro trilo y by Beaumarchais% Magnifico& ma nificent% alileo& 17th @entury 5cientist 'ho 'as placed under house arrest by the @hristian @hurch for heresy namely his research on heliocentrism (includes that the earth mo)es around the sun* not )ice )ersa+% Bismillah& Arabic% !ften used in Muslim and >indu faiths "4n the name of Eod" Beel!ebub& 5emetic deity (Arabic#>ebre'+ 'ith many different references but often referred to as a demon% "i!!icato& 5trin s (such as )iolins* cellos+ pluc" rather than bo' the strin s% !pera /art A 0sin material similar to the intro ("43m Fust a poor boy%%%"8 but at double the tempo* the 5oloist sin s* also (li"e the accompanyin piano+ usin staccato "4 see a little silhouetto of a man" and is immediately ans'ered by the )ocals "5caramouch%%%%" .his builds to a full chorus 'ith drums* uitar and bass added * usin a risin )ocal chromatic scale on ".hunderbolts and li ht3nin %%%%" 'hich mo)es in contrary motion

to the fallin bass line 'ith a perfect cadence ? to A% .his contrasts abruptly 'ith the hi h male solo "Ealileo" and the play of open 7)es and churchli"e consecuti)e 5ths leadin into the bell li"e tones of the @m7 chord on "Ma nifico"'hich acts as a pi)otal chord to the ne' "ey of ?b% "43m Fust a poor boy* nobody lo)es me%%%" 0ses similar material to "4 see a silhoutto%%%" and althou h hi hly chromatic* is mostly in the "ey of ?b MaFor% "?asy come easy o% Will you let me oI" Ar uably this is the climaB of the dramatic action% 34 ha)e "illed a man% But 4 am only a poor boy% Will you let me oI3 .he ans'er is sun emphatically 3No% 4n the name of Eod ("Bismillah"+ sun in stron unison 'ith the cadential Bb to ?b% No3% Finally the soloist realises that he 'ill not be let o "Ne)er let me o %%%% !h No" (more bell tones+ and perhaps damnation "a de)il put aside for me"% .his finally reaches the -ominant 7th (Bb7+% ?ach chorus is doubled in rhythmic unison by the instruments% We are left to contemplate the Fud ement a ainst the soloist and his emotional and spiritual state as the instrumental >ard Roc" section ta"es o)er% /erhaps this techniDue is reminiscient of the concerto* 'hen the )irtuoso soloist impro)ises from the dominant% >ard Roc" .he tempo a ain chan es and also the metre chan es to compound Duadruple& 16#7% 5till in the "ey of ?b MaFor* the bass uitar dominates this section% .he soloist emer es defiantly% "5o you thin" you can stone me%%%" is li"ely to refer to the practice of stonin a "sinner" to death% >e refuses to accept the Fud ement and decides to escape% A seDuence of rapid ascendin scales finally eBhausts themsel)es and slo's to the ori inal tempo a ain 'ith the piano ta"in o)er% .his leads into a short brid e "!oh yeah" !utro 5oftly* 'ith subtle doublin of instruments 'ith the piano* and a little rubato (free rhythm+ the soloist sin s "Nothin really matters%%% to me%%%"% A descendin chromatic bass line* used in the )erse* reappears and leads us to the @* but this time it becomes a @ maFor chord actin as an uneBpected perfect cadence to F MaFor "Any'ay the 'ind blo's"'hich is only Fust audible before the final and conclusi)e on % # $as a teenager $hen this song $as first released% Like my school friends& # simply stopped each time # heard it on the radio% # had no idea of $hat it meant% # lo'ed the contrasts& clima(es& rich chromatic harmony& and choral effects% My imagination 'isualised a court scene of condemnation from $hich the singer someho$ escapes% # think $e can all interpret it as $e $ish% )ustin