Posted on 08/25/2015 5:46:21 AM PDT by Squawk 8888
I remember exactly where I was when I first heard “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The radio–a Juliette multi-band on my dresser–was tuned to Winnipeg’s CFRW on a weekday winter’s evening. The DJ–I wish I remember who–came on and said “This next one is kind of weird. You’ve probably never heard anything like it, so sit back and take a listen.”
After the first two lines, my young teenaged brain locked up, a metaphorical beachball spinning somewhere slightly beyond the auditory cortex. Something didn’t compute. What IS this? Is it a joke? Some novelty song? A rock opera? They can’t be serious, right?
Queen, however, was deadly serious. But no one–and I mean no one–could have ever predicted that this goofy multi-movement mini-symphony would became one of the most beloved classics of all time.
How did this happen? The BBC takes a look.
Forty years after it was recorded, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody still sounds bonkers. That it continues to reign as a work of wigged-out genius rather than a dated gimmick testifies to its go-for-broke attitude – one that has resonated across generations.
Hear it now, and you’re immediately transported to Wayne and Garth’s car in Wayne’s World, head-banging and slapping the dashboard as Brian May’s power chords kick in. Or you’re bellowing “Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?” along with Freddie Mercury in your best opera-diva voice.
The prog-rock pocket operetta has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide. It’s one of the biggest-selling rock singles of all time. It was a top 10 hit twice, 15 years apart, even though it was – at nearly six minutes long – twice the length of the typical hit single.
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Yes and Yes.
Yeah, but nothing really matters.................
Site explains how it was composed, but not why
This is the Modern Music Ping List. Our topic is music from the 20th and 21st century, from Ravel and Shostakovich through to the Synth Pioneers and beyond.
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I was at the Visitation church baseball fields. My dad drove me over to talk to the coach when he realized we missed registration. I wound up playing for Finkbinder’s Tropical Fish.
“However, there are Islamic references in the song.”
I’ve never heard that. What are they?
Love the picture!
That’s the cover photo from the single.
It has no meaning. Just a mumble of crappy, lofty sounding phrases combined with some fine musicianship and excellent production.
I took a trip to Italy with high school classmates in 1975. That song was on the playlist you could listen too - about 10 songs back then. We listened to it over and over. Every time I hear that song, I thing of of that trip.
It is the anthem of neo pagan American decadence and hedonism.
Brilliant. Nothing like it. Ever.
Read the article. It’s in there.
It actually comes across as three songs in one.
Considering he was raised Zoroastrian, I don’t think he was praising Islam.
I could not get enough of that song in Jr high thanks to Wayne’s World. Whenever it was on the radio, I stopped whatever I was doing. Guess it was a teen thing.
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