Bohemian Rhapsody - An Exposition
Freddie - an analysis of three songs
Bohemian Rhapsody - An Alternate Exposition
| 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 |
Questioning. Later on we find that the subject of the song has killed someone and is in, we assume, prison, waiting his court appearance. The opening stanza shows the state of mind of the person. They are questioning whether it is real or is it just a dream (shall I wake up?). Caught in a landslide refers to the way one event can lead to another and so on until the instigator is overwhelmed - perhaps by the thoughts of the actions, perhaps which also lead to the final action. There's no escape from reality - sleep is denied as it was Lady Macbeth 'Sleep no more, Macbeth has murdered sleep....Macbeth shall sleep no more."" (2.2.33...40), so he must not sleep but look toward heaven and see. He is just a poor boy - needs and will get no sympathy for his actions. In the total scheme he is nothing: easy come and easy go. Nothing major, nothing planned. It doesn't matter what happens (wind blows) - as it no longer matters to him. He doesn't have the money to win - if you wish to be cynical about it all. |
| 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 |
Talking to his mother either in person or in his mind - perhaps a young man, maybe just a teenager caught in violence that was unintentional which would relate to Stanza #1. A descriptive section - how he killed the person, but did so without realising his actions and is trying to go over it, trying to see what he did and why. His life was only just begun, he was not old and had so much to look forward to but has gotten rid of it. If he's not back again - tomorrow he may die but again it repeats that he is worthless - that nothing matters, that his life no longer matters and he is begging her to carry on. Not the words of a murderer, but the words of a spur-of-the moment killing, of a victim of events that crashed around him like a landslide. |
| 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 |
It's time for him to go. It is now too late to repent, too late to think or wonder as his time has come. He is going to court and face trial. It is the court's judgment that may impose the death sentence. The poignant last two lines are strong in this verse. He doesn't want to die, he's not prepared for it and despite his brave words prior to this, he is terrified, so scared his body is tense and aching with shivers running down his spine. Then there is the ultimate repentance - if he had never been born then he would never have killed and not been here. |
| I see a little silhouetto of a man Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango Thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening me Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Figaro - magnifico |
This part, the Opera part, is his trial and the case is going straight over his head. What are they saying? Who are they? A young person who is unable to comprehend the working of the court. Perhaps the silhouette is him, perhaps it is the judge. Scaramouche is a figure from literature, a romantic rogue who is, among other things, a lawyer who 'confounds his enemies with elegant orations' , the fandango is a dance that starts slow and finishes very fast - much like a lawyer's oration. Thunderbolt and lightening - the to and fro, the arguing of the legal team. Gallileo and Figaro were both people who were imprisoned for trying to express themselves against authority. Magnifico, could easily be the summing up as this term is said at the end of a performance by an orator, not merely a poetic alteration of Magnificent. So the operatic section could easily be the court case building around him. |
| 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 (never) Never let you go - let me go Never let me go - ooo 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 |
He is just a poor boy, a victim of circumstance - playing the old game of upbringing causing the crime. We have the oration from the defense begging for his life and then the back-forth argument between the sides. Let me go - no will not let you go... Bismillah means 'In the name of Allah' or, more literally, 'for the very essence of Allah' and is a plea by one side or other, perhaps even the third side of the defendant himself calling out. This can also relate back to the Gallileo cry at the end of the prior stanza as it was religion then that punished Gallileo. This religious cry is ended and it becomes a backwards-forward argument which ends in the negative, upon which the defendant calls upon his final comfort, that of his mother (my mother). It is unlikely, as some postulate, that this is referring to Mary, Mother of Christ, as this is not in keeping with the Allah reference above. He is begging to be released using this, and knowing that, if executed, he is going to hell where Beelzebub, the Lord of Lies has a special devil awaiting him - something in keeping with Islam and, indeed with Zoroastrianism. |
| 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 |
The die is cast, he is pronounced guilty and after is plaintive cry in the last stanza, anger has now taken over. He is now rebelling against what will happen, and again we get religious overtones here. The stoning is a religious death, the spitting in the eye is an insult to the victim before death. The love referred to is the love that his religion held for him before condemning him as well as the love that his mother held for him - perhaps the next line Oh baby... is his mother speaking to him at last and indeed the last line of this stanza could be either him needing to escape the pressure of the court, or from imprisonment; or indeed be his mother having to leave and not see the execution take place. This is a vitriolic and stormy section after the operatic piece and shows the turmoil into which he is being thrust. |
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah Any way the wind blows... |
Finally he is standing awaiting execution, and is once more at peace and philosophical about his death. Nothing matters - it is all over and he is resigned to his fate. He repeats the line about 'any way the wind blows' - fate has passed him by and his end occurs. Perhaps the gong at the very end indicates the execution and is the end. |
The piece is a 'rhapsody'. This is not a defined term (in that there are many possibilities) but mostly it is a musical piece of undefined form, often with an epic theme and characterised by changes in mood. Bohemian Rhapsody certainly has all of these - the epic theme of murder & punishment but most importantly, seen through the mind of the defendant, not from an outsider; one with mood changes, and in an undefined (at the time) form. The term bohemian again adds to the unconventional theme. Literally it is about crime and punishment, beyond that it is an interlude inside the mind of another: a very bohemian topic. The influence may come from Freddie's childhood and perhaps the execution of one of the Arabic citizens of Zanzibar which he may have witnessed when young. The song, and its necessity to be written, could signifying a freeing of his own trauma by trying to expunge this experience so he could remove his guilt by removing the guilt of this person. It could be this track which allowed him to come to terms with his new lifestyle, so divorced from his past and to come to terms with the fear of punishment for any actions that were ingrained within him. Every song-writer and poet writes at least one piece which is their masterpiece, and usually this is one which is life changing. This has nothing to do with his (far) later bi- or homo-sexuality, but with the new lifestyle of opulence and fame, finally gained through this song. |
- A Translation from the Parsi
1 Ibrahim, Ibrahim, Ibrahim, |
1 Name of a Prophet of Allah (aka Abraham) 2 Lit ‘The God’ will pray for you. 3 Mustapha, ‘chosen’ – one name of Mohammad 4 5 6 7 Mustapha Ibrahim, in the image of him 8 9 10 11 Call to Allah 12 13 Allah, if not discovered (known) 14 (you must) Prostrate (self) or not behold (him) 15 Mustapha, (through) Mohammad, the will of Allah gives protection 16 (call to Allah) 17 18 Seek, foolish heretic, foolish heretic, a religious life 19 Peace be upon you 20 21 22 Mustapha Ibrahim in the image of him (Allah) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Come Seek belief foolish heretic 32 Upon you be peace. |
The song Mustapha, written partly in English and partly in Parsi (the particular dialect from his people in India) is about advising a person (Ibrahim Mustapha) on how to reconcile his problems with faith or belief.
Freddie, growing up on Zanzibar would have had much experience with the Islamic faith and would have had no more problems in this 'prayer' to Allah as he had with the Christian songs 'Jesus' or "Liar'. He would also have no problem with the tri-language presentation of this song: indeed it is indicative of the cross-cultural turmoil that is within him.
Mustapha and Ibrahim are both names of prophets: Ibrahim is the Biblical Abraham, Mustapha is Mohammad and both had a crisis of faith which was turned around and they accepted God into them and were made whole because of it.
Perhaps the song is, as some presume, written about a childhood friend of Freddie's; yet this flies in the face of what we know of him and of how he keeps his childhood sacrosanct from his performances. We have explored some of the crises and problems that Freddie had in his personal life and it seems that this song is his penultimate, if not ultimate, quest to overcome his crisis of faith. It was written for the Jazz album (1978) - at the same time that he was going though other personal crises. It is likely that he is, in this song, speaking to himself - telling him that all he has to do to accept his faith is to accept it and it will be there.
The choice of doing this through the Islamic religion rather then his Zoroastrian one is twofold. In one, should it be obviously about his faith, then it opens his personal life to others - something he does not do. In the other, musically it works better then trying to work with Zoroaster and Ahura Mazda..
We now look at three tracks now that seem to be Freddie talking directly to us, his listeners. All are from 'The Great Pretender' album, and are the tracks 'In My Defence', 'Mr Bad Guy', and Freddie's interpretation of 'The Great Pretender'.
Each of these tracks are different to most of his work in, as previously stated, they seem to be talking directly to the listener without any intermediary. In the song 'In My Defence' Freddie is simply stating that all he is is a singer and cannot and should not be made to take on the wrongs of the world: he is no more capable of righting them then is anyone else. In the third stanza:
In my defence what is there to say
We destroy the love, it's our way
We never listen enough, never face the truth
Then like a passing song, love is here and then it's gone
Freddie tells us that what happens is our fault: we destroy the love (don't expect him to fix it), we don't listen (don't expect to heed the warning (Prophet's Song?)) yet we expect the singer of songs, Freddie, to cure all our ills for us. He is caught between the lovers and the fading dream, caught where he cannot be and in this he gives his plaintive cry for help to a God.
It is easy to place all of Freddie's mid-80's and later work in the 'I know I am going to die and so I am saying goodbye etc' field, but this over simplifies the music and does a great disservice to Freddie's skill as a song writer and as a human. The common role taken on by anyone in a position of power - whether singer (bard), judge, politician, teacher or parent - is to become the scapegoat, to bear the blame for the trials and tribulations that occur in their charge's lives. It is easier to lay blame on others then it is to face up to your own mistakes: it is easier to hate the lawmaker then to acknowledge that you have broken the law.
This is what I believe Freddie is saying in this song. He is not saying he has had enough, but rather that he can do nothing: his words and songs can do nothing, if the people who cause the problems do nothing.
In much the same way the song 'Mr Bad Guy' is, at one level, a reaction to those who have called his life and lifestyle 'bad' - rather then bow down before them, he takes responsibility for his actions and invites the listener to come away with him. This is much like the earlier folk songs, such as 'The Gypsy Rover', or before that - on another level - the trickster. This is the ultimate civilizing spirit found often in spiritual religions, such as those of the Native Americans or Native Australians. The trickster is the bad guy, but not evil: just there to show another way, to tempt and to 'trick'. The rainbow chasing (wishes and dreams) and the ecstasy (emotional fulfillment), together with the 'spread your wings and fly away' all link to dreams and desires: all of which are suppressed by the society in which we live. Like the immortal trickster, Freddie is inviting us to break those bonds and to fly away with him as the Bad Guy. He ruins people's lives by giving them dreams and hope and hence making them no longer fit into the society that holds them. In this song, perhaps more then any other, he shows his awareness of how he frees his listeners rather then putting himself down.
The last song of the trilogy of 'Who am I?' songs is the title track from the album 'The Great Pretender'. This song, not written by Freddie, but one which he made his own, can again be looked at at various levels. It is important, however, that it is looked at in terms of his body of work, not in terms of trying to prove or disprove a theory about his personal life.
The Great Pretender is originally a love song as is shown by the last line "...pretending that you're still around." Indeed, the great majority of Freddie's work is in the area of love songs and he may well have chosen it for this particular message. Yet it has been selected out of all the possible love songs and the question here is why? The lyrics can also be taken, from what we know of Freddie, to be the simplest and most direct exposition of the problems he has with his dual identity. His outgoing stage front comparing with his private home front. If this song is looked at in this way then we see the home Freddie calling out to his audience, telling them of the control his stage persona has over his life to the point where one becomes the other. '..adrift in a world of my own' where he has been left by 'you' - perhaps the lover, perhaps the listener. 'Too real is this feeling of make believe' the make believe world of his stage life, too real, and taking over. 'I seem to be what I'm not (you see)' he acknowledges the falseness of his public persona and shows the delicacy, the lost nature of his private persona. This could be a simple love song yet, as stated, he has many of his own and there are many there so why chose it? He may like it and just wish to cover the track. It is possible. It is also possible that he is referring to his sexual preference, although the question must be begged 'why?' why, after keeping it intensely private would he broadcast it in any song? Logically it just doesn't follow. If he wrote the lyrics himself and was subconsciously thinking of it then perhaps it could occur, but to assume he chose it to let everyone know is just foolish. The only likely explanation is that he is saying, quite simply in this and in the other two songs: I know who I am, but you don't seem to see, or want to see me as I am. You see the Freddie who solves the world's problems with his songs, you see the 'bad guy' without seeing the treasures the bad guy, the trickster, gives; and you see the Pretender without seeing what is beneath.
Freddie's songs are often simple in what they are saying and sometimes reading anything beyond the very lyrics is wrong. Sometimes they are deeper and need to be interpreted. In the case of these three songs, all you have to do is read the lyrics and ask yourself the question 'Why would he write or sing about this aspect of his life?'
Why would John deliberately backtrack 'Another One Bites the Dust'? The time, effort and cost involved would not be worth the outcome: especially as they would gain absolutely nothing from it. Why would Freddie broadcast his sexual or any other preferences in his music? His stage persona was always designed to shock and be memorable - it was effeminate in the early 70's, certainly gay in the late 70's and then maturing in the 80's. This was a deliberate act to distance himself from himself. His outfits suited the time and maintained the image of flamboyance that was his trademark. It is wrong, also, to take this out of context. When Queen began, many of the big names were effeminate and Queen and Freddie were a part of this. As they grew, Freddie was expected to maintain a certain form and, in this case, it was a homosexual one. In the mid-80's this lessened as the shock value was no longer needed. Ultimately his dress on stage was not his dress off stage which was whatever was fashionable at the time.
His words in all his songs, reveal something of Freddie, but that something is, more often then not, that he is a keen student of human feelings and emotions, nothing more. In some of this songs, we can find out more about him and his life. The point is to ensure that what we find is not only plausible, but logically plausible. We know that he kept his private and public lives separate. We know he kept his feelings and desires hidden. To assume that he would publish them is foolish: to assume that he was aware of the difference between the private and public Freddie is logical and acceptable. An interpretation along these lines, then, is more plausible then on others. Obviously only Freddie can know..
| 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 |
Viewing this song from the point of view of the dichotomy of Freddie's existence we can see the early awareness and perhaps understanding of his dual nature being realised. The shy, withdrawn Freddie seems to be soliloquizing here, trying to determine what is his reality - where his real life begins and ends. Referring to his stage persona, he questions whether it is reality or fantasy but realises that, by this stage it has grown so big that he is being swept along with the landslide of their success. He is semi-despairing, just a poor boy who is gaining his dream, yet one which, at this stage, is not all-consuming: what will be, will be and he is content to move along with this, whichever way he is blown. |
| 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 |
Freddie was closer to his mother then to his father and, in many ways would undoubtedly feel that his choice of career would not be acceptable to her and to his religion and culture. Yet he still proceeds. Taking up the 'gun' and 'killing' the man he was, killing the past and breaking from tradition just as he should be growing into it was one of his early conflicts with his 'new life'. Here he is perhaps trying to destroy the private Freddie, to take on board the new fame-filled jet-setting lifestyle. Yet he is keenly aware of what he is giving up, and the disappointment that it would initially have caused his mother: his ancestors. Again, we get the '...nothing really matters' repeated from earlier; only this time it is for his family, for his past, to realise that, ultimately, the way is forward and what is cast off is nothing more then empty tears and they - and he - should simply move on. |
| 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 |
It is too late to go back - his time has come and he is now a star. He walks a different path to his past life, his private life, and is thrust into the limelite and made to perform his utmost until his body itself is aching with the pressure of the life. Again, he wishes his past life goodbye and face the 'truth', face the audience and their changeable mood. Here he expresses the wish of all performers that they '...don't want to die', or don't want to go out and fail before the crowd of people. Then, finally in this section, he shows starkly the fear that he always had before a performance where he wishes he never took this path, was never reborn as Mercury and had remained safe in his past private life. |
| I see a little silhouetto of a man Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango Thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening me Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Figaro - magnifico |
This part, the Operatic part, shows the turmoil within him as he awaits his time to go on stage, to be tried and judged by the anonymous faces of his audience. All his bravado, all his posturing and preening is, to him, only a shadow puppet, only a silhouette of the true him and he shows this fakeness by calling on Scaramouche, a famous faker who hid his true identity behind the façade of a charming rogue: much like the stage Freddie. Like the stage Freddie, this mask, this Scaramouche, dances and prances in the wild Fandango across the stage, bathed in the lightning of the stage lights and the thunder of the music and of the crowd. In amongst this we get the call to Galileo and to Figaro; both of whom were forced to change their character to be accepted by the masses: Galileo had to recant his beliefs of be branded a heretic and Figaro had to act in a way that went against his own feelings and intentions by his patron. Perhaps, in Freddie's case, we have a link once more, not only to him having to hide who he really was from the audience, but also an acknowledgement that the character was forced upon him by the fans and by his contract. |
| 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 (never) Never let you go - let me go Never let me go - ooo 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 |
Once again, he despairs that he is a 'poor boy' - that the real Freddie is not the idol adored by fans and (at this stage) purportedly rich. He is crying out here for himself to be heard, for the private person to be the one that the fans accept, not the 'monstrosity', the stage person. In this part he cries out to Allah for the people to let him go, for him to be able to be himself; which they continually refuse to do. This interchange goes back and forth, tearing at him until he realises that they will 'Never let (him) go' and makes one final plea, adding to it that by refusing to let him destroy this stage persona, this monster, they have condemned him to a life of living hell. Once again, this is the private Freddie speaking, pleading for release, which is once more denied. |
| 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 |
He is now angry with those who have condemned him to this life: the stoning and spitting are parts of the Middle Eastern religious punishments of those who have prostituted themselves, something which his stage presence is akin to. A link is often made between the act of prostitution and the act of performing: both giving enjoyment for money. He attacks the audience for loving him when he is on stage, yet leaving him alone to 'crash and burn' after a performance when the adulation ceases. In this, he has had enough and simply tells them straight that they can't do this to him and he has to get out in order to save himself. |
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah Any way the wind blows... |
Once more, however, he comes to the acceptance that it doesn't matter what he wants, or what the audience wants, it is simply that what will happen is going to happen and it really doesn't matter any more, He may succeed, he may fail; he may be raised up and adored, or he may fail and descend into hell. Ultimately, it depends on chance and he is no more then a dream of the audience, subject to the whim of the winds which blow him across the stage into the next show. |
We can see this forming and running through the mind of Freddie as he waits once more to go onto the stage. We can see the fear within him of failure and of losing himself. This is Freddie's soliloquy: his exploration into his deepest fears of losing himself to the monster of performance and the feelings of self-betrayal and even of a form of resentment for the audience who continually demand of him. Yet throughout the piece he is ever philosophic, accepting that it is the whim of chance, of fate that places him where he is and takes him where he will go. In the end, does the private or the public Freddie win out? Is there really a 'winner' or is it just an acceptance of fate. There is no denying that Freddie wishes to be famous and wishes this life style, yet there is always within him the boy from Zanzibar, the Zoroastrian from a remote island who must wonder - as do all - what happened to the man who would have been had Queen never happened. This is Freddie's turning point. This is the song where Freddie becomes Freddie Mercury and accepts his fate: whichever way the wind will blow him. |