Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody - A Classical Musician’s In-Depth Analysis

Brilliant, wild, random, enigmatic, funny… Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is bafflingly successful — or is it’s success really so mysterious? Far more than just a hodge-podge of smartly-presented musical styles, this song displays a deep instinct for classic form and structure. Freddie Mercury really knew what he was doing!

Here’s the link to the original song by Queen:

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Special thanks to those who are keeping my ko-fi cup supplied:
I’ve formed the habit of publishing all the names of my supporters simply because I appreciate your appreciation of my work, and I want to recognize each one of you personally. But, unfortunately, YouTube allows a limited number of characters for the description, and I cannot fit all names anymore. So, this is my message to each one of my supporters personally:
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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.

[VirginRock]

As usual, please write here your questions only.

[Sassypaws]

Freddie never shared what he was thinking about when he wrote this song but did admit that "Bohemian Rhapsody" was composed of three separate songs that he had been working on but could not seem to finish. So he decided to mash them together, adding some transitions and bridges, and created "Bohemian Rhapsody".


Part I is the "Into". The video image shows the four members of Queen singing and harmonizing the lyrics of the "Intro" in A cappella. In reality, it is only Freddie's voice you hear on the recording. Freddie laid down 5 separate tracks of himself singing and harmonizing with himself. (FYI - multi-tracking and overdubbing runs rampant in Bohemian Rhapsody.)


Next is the "Ballad" portion of the song ('Mama, just killed a man'). Freddie had worked on it for years but the song never had a name. The other members of Queen tentatively titled it "Freddie's Cowboy Song". The lyricist Tim Rice (who wrote the lyrics for "Jesus Christ, Superstar", "Evita", "Aladdin", "The Lion King", ...) was a close friend of Freddie's and he believes this portion of the song’s lyrics were about Mercury confessing to his fans that he was gay.

The third section is the guitar solo. This is the only part of Bohemian Rhapsody not written by Freddie. Freddie told Brian that he wanted a guitar solo in the song and where he wanted it to fit into the song but left it to Brian to create. Brian wanted to have his guitar effectively sing a verse that would inject a different melody. He heard something in his head. He said that he could hear this melody and had no idea where it came from. That melody isn’t anywhere else in the song, but it’s on a familiar chord sequence, so it dovetails in quite nicely.

The guitar solo leads to the fourth section which is the "Operatic" section. Freddie not only loved Rock but he loved Opera. He was always fascinated with the idea of combining rock and opera. It took 3 weeks to record "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the "Operatic" section was much smaller when they began recording but Freddie kept adding to it.

Various lyrics in the "Operatic" section seem to refer to the band...

* Freddie casts himself as Scaramouch, a stock clown of 16th-century Italian literature.
* Galileo who was an Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer definitely refers to Brian (Queen's lead guitarist) who in real life is Dr. Brian May, who has a Ph.D.in Astrophysics.
* Figaro refers to the Mozart opera, "The Marriage of Figaro" and it is a subtle way to reference Roger Taylor (Queen's drummer) who has a four-range vocal span (E2-E6) and was even frequently cited as hitting E5 in live performances. Freddie compared Roger's voice to a dog whistle.
* The final reference of Magnifico is John Deacon (Queen's bass guitarist), who has not just a BSc but a First Class Honors Degree in Electronics. John is the creator of the "Deacy Amp". When Brian's homemade electric guitar (dubbed The Red Special) was connected through a treble-booster (an effects unit used by guitarists to increase the high end of their tonal spectrum) to the "Deacy Amp", Brian could produce sounds reminiscent of various orchestral instruments, such as violin, cello, trombone, clarinet, or even vocals from his guitar.

It is hard to realize that it is only Freddie, Brian, and Roger singing in the "Operatic" section (John never sang on the records). This was 1975, well before digital recordings and they were using 24-track analog tape. This made it necessary for the three to overdub themselves many times and "bounce" these down to successive sub-mixes. Some sections feature 180 separate overdubs!

The fifth section is the "Hard Rock" portion. In this section, Freddie sings angry lyrics addressed to an unspecified "you", accusing them of betrayal and abuse and insisting "can't do this to me, baby", before the final lines conclude with him singing, "just gotta get right outta here".

(FYI - the "Operatic" and the "Hard Rock" sections of BoRap were featured in a scene in the 1992 film Wayne's World, in which the main character and his friends head bang in a car to the rock part.)

In the sixth and final section, the "Outré", returns to the "Ballad" to close the circle of the song and ends with the sound of a Chinese gong.

[andreparker]

I enjoy your "conversion" to a Queen fan. A remarkable band with a remarkable breadth of music style while still remaining uniquely "Queen."

[tomlegener]

You have raised the bar for reaction videos.
Thank you for the work you put in, and the thoughtful analysis.
Great combination of heart and mind.

[dorianramirez]

Dear Amy, as you learn to listen to, understand, and appreciate rock music, you are educating us rock fans along with you in the process. That's the wonder of it all. Thank you very much.

[dennish]

Someone commented on this. The power of this song lives on and on. Green Day Crowd singing Bohemian Rhapsody before the concert. 65000+ people listening to overhead speakers prior to the concert when the song started. The entire song was sung perfectly by the 65000+ people in its entirety on July 3, 2017.
This has been repeated at many Green Day concerts around the world.

[joelhammond]

This is the finest, most in depth breakdown of this piece I have ever encountered. Very impressed with your journey from first listen and observations, on through to your research findings, final conclusions and possible interpretations. Quite fascinating. If it's possible, I appreciate the song even more now. Thank you. 😊

[aaronhunt]

I think this analysis and Rick Beato's analysis of this are the best

[keymack]

**Huge standing ovation (silently in my mind as others in the house are sleeping) for this wonderful analysis of this classic Queen song!! I always feel 10 IQ points higher after watching one of your videos! Thank you,

[berdeter]

I'm not native English speaker and at the time I discovered that song my understanding of English was not enough to really understand the lyrics.

Having your review here grants me another perspective on the song.

À great thank you...

[robindeal]

This is the best explanation of the song!

[juqdokg]

Tusen Takk!
I grew up listening to Queen and Beatles, etc, formed my taste of music. You are intelligent, knowledgeable and interesting... and fascinating & entertaining to learn from.

[schimmelbaura]

I don't know what to say but thank you. Again, I nearly cried while your analyisis. The way you honor and appreciate the work of Freddie and Queen is so wonderful. I am very sure, Freddie would have loved having a conversation and play music with you.
Greetings from Germany

[helenespaulding]

Amy, you’ve outdone yourself here …and that is saying ALLOT. I listened with rapt attention and pleasure…. As though I were listening to a wonderful music teacher….which you actually are!
Not only did you bring in the actual musical meaning of the Rhapsody form (and mention Liszt’s wonderful Hungarian Rhapsody) but you also brought in Jungian psychology and the foundational “Hero’s Journey” trope of cultural mythology a la Joseph Campbell. Finishing it off with an explanation of the oftentimes tenuous place that true artists hold in society. holy Cow!
NAGNIFICENT! Wow! You could put together a course of the artists role in society and I would sign up immediately.
And your harp playing was so beautiful.
Thank you so much! You made my day

[fosterern]

Dang Amy you did it again. I've been a fan of Queen for about 50 years and hearing BR in my 20's was a hoot. Now after listening to your amazing analysis I have an even greater appreciation of this song. Thank you.

[open_water]

I miss Freddie but was lucky enough to see him live at the Glasgow Apollo in 1979. There was and is no one comparable.

[rubikmonat]

Well, that harp performance hit me like a truck. It brought me to tears. I was not expecting that from a single instrument. I'm going to take a break and watch the second half later.

[geoffconner]

Really beautiful on the harp. He probably would have gotten a kick out of that.

[anthonyzbikowski]

12:43 I have to say as a sometimes violist and all the time music fan.. baroque, classical and metalhead.. that was absolutely haunting transposed on harp. Nicely done.

Rick Beato has a hour long interview with Brian May (the guitarist) with a big chunk about the making of the song on his second channel.

[unfilthy]

I've always viewed this song as akin to a Greek Tragedy more than a Hero's Journey, but I'm guessing the many ways to interpret this piece is one of the reasons it has resonated with so many people for so long.
Fascinating analysis, and, of course, gorgeous harp rendition.