Pop-Up Video: Bohemian Rhapsody (1976)

Bohemian Rhapsody
Single: Queen
Album: A Night at the Opera
B-side: I'm in Love with My Car
Released: October 31, 1975
Recorded: August–September 1975
Songwriter: Freddie Mercury

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It is a six-minute suite with several sections without a chorus: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part, and a reflective coda. Read more: Wikipedia

First release: 1975

The song title Bohemian Rhapsody is a parody. Franz Liszt composed the "Hungarian Rhapsody," and "Bohemia" is a kingdom near Hungary. "Bohemian" is also an adjective for something unusual. This tune definitely defies convention.
  • Bohemian: persons with an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people and with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. 
    Wikipedia  
  • Rhapsody: a one-movement work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, color, and tonality. An air of spontaneous inspiration and a sense of improvisation make it more accessible in form than a set of variations. 
    Wikipedia
The song was Mercury's confession that he was gay.
  • "Mama, I just killed a man..." - He's killed the old Freddie, his former image.
  • "Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead..."  He's destroyed the man he was trying to be
  • "I see a little silhouette of a man..." It still disturbs him.

The song made three trips to the Top 40 of the Hot 100 in three decades (the '70s, '90s, and '10s). It alone shares this honor Prince, for "1999."

Second Release: 1992


In 1992, the song enjoyed renewed popularity in the United States after being featured in a scene in the film Wayne's World. Read more: Wikipedia

Third Release


It hit the charts again after the movie's release by the same name. Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 biographical drama film about Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band Queen. 

Read more: Wikipedia

The movie is available on Hulu

Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen


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