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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- Original Video: • Queen - Bohemian Rhaps...
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This is not just a regular guitar that Brian is playing. He and his Dad made that guitar from scratch from parts around his house. He callls it the Red Special and still uses to this day. This is 3 different song put together. It was all in Freddie's head. They recorded this in 6 different studios. This is callled a Rock Opera. Freddie loved opera.
@@thenoodle1497, it's true! The body is made from an old fireplace and some of the parts came from an old motorcycle. Brian May is one smart dude. He's not only a guitar maestro and composer of #1 songs, he also holds a doctorate (PhD) in Astrophysics.
@@thenoodle1497 No other guitar will ever sing the way the Special can, because there's only one in the world. And only one Brian May playing it. (I know that May markets replicas now but there'll never be another true Special.)
Plus back in the day it was being run through the Deaky Amp, another homemade concoction made by Queen bassist John Deacon, who holds a degree in electrical engineering. My understanding is that they're still sometimes using the Deaky Amp, albeit refurbished now. These guys were all just the bomb for brains, honest to god.
Rick Beato has a great interview of Brian on his channel and he goes into all the details of the guitars and amps including the one of a kind Deaky amp. th-cam.com/video/mgkvU5eCaYo/w-d-xo.html
I didn't know that about Brian May and the guitar. Did you know that he has his Doctorate as an Astrophysicist. I hope I'm right about the Doctorate.
Ok, I’m old enough to remember this coming out. It was a revelation. No-one had heard anything like it. It was an instant hit, shot up the UK charts & was no 1 for weeks. It never gets old. Try watching the Green Day @ Hyde Park video of the crowd singing along to this before Green Day come on stage. You’ll get an idea of how iconic this song is here
It's a RHAPSODY...in music it means taking free form different pieces and stitching them together. Pretty radical for its day and still flips you out today! It was seismic. Radio didn't want to play it at first because it was so long. It was a thing kids did - you had to know and sing all the words. This video helped launch MTV and how music was marketed. And the video was made because they could not appear on a popular British TV show and sent this instead. It cost $5000 to make and shook up the song world, opening new doors and challenging the lyrical structure of rock music. It's been reintroduced to new generations...Queen is now 50 years young.
The answer to your question is anytime is a great time to hear this masterpiece! If you listen you understand more.
Early in 1985, Freddie Mercury explained Bohemian Rhapsody and said, "It was basically three songs that I wanted to put out, and I just put the three together".
According to some band members, Mercury mentally prepared the song before making the track and directed the band throughout. Due to the elaborate nature of the song, it was recorded in various sections.
Producer Roy Thomas Baker recalled in 1999;
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was totally insane, but we enjoyed every minute of it. It was basically a joke, but a successful joke. We had to record it in three separate units. We did the whole beginning bit, then the whole middle bit and then the whole end. It was complete madness. The middle part started off being just a couple of seconds, but Freddie kept coming in with more "Galileos" and we kept on adding to the opera section, and it just got bigger and bigger. We never stopped laughing ... It started off as a ballad, but the end was heavy".
The entire piece took three weeks to record, and in some sections featured 180 separate overdubs.
The song is clear in its' meaning when you listen to it and look up a few words. In its' opera fashion, it tells the complete story of a man who is apologizing to his mother and confessing to murdering a man. He is telling her good bye and expressing his regret and he is going to face his 'truth', judgement.
We watch him transform through several stages while facing his trial and consequences. Sorrow, Regret Fear. Then he goes through poor me, & blaming everything except himself. Then anger & pride because no one will save him. And lastly, sorrow & sarcasm that nothing really matters to him.
Lyrical references in this passage include Scaramouche, the fandango, Galileo, Figaro, Magnifico and Beelzebub, with cries of "Bismillah! (Arabic: "In the name of God!") we will not let you go!", as rival factions fight over his soul, some wishing to "let him go" and "spare him his life from this monstrosity", with others sending him "thunderbolts and lightning - very, very frightening", to him.
This section concludes with, "Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me!"
The ending lyric returns him to the beginning of his mistake. His 'Nothing really matters' attitude devalued the life of the man he murdered, as well as, his own. Now his life doesn't matter to those who seek justice for his victim. He has no choice but to accept his fate, so, although some tried to spare his life, nothing really matters to him, any way the wind blows, (whatever happens, happens), he has already wasted his life by stealing the other man's life & must pay for that life with his own! The unspoken understanding is, this is the only thing that matters now, because nothing really mattered to him before. Something really matters, & that something is life, and now he knows.
I don't understand why this is some sort of mystery to so many people & they attach unrelated explanations to it? There are so many people that miss the magnitude of genius and beauty of this lyrical brilliance and musical composition that blends rock and opera!
Anyway-Masterpiece! What a creative mind Freddie had! His band members appreciated his talent and brought everything they had to the table to help him, without question or fail! Such a huge, powerful, & timeless message, that came out of a song that was 'thrown' together, jokingly & without any expectations!
Wow 🥰 that's exactly how I feel about this song 😍
This is the same thing I came to understand about the song.
I know. It seems pretty straight forward to me.
because it's not literal - we all know he didn't kill a man. He "killed" the part of himself that was a lie even though he knew it would hurt others in order to be his authentic self. One didn't simply come out in that era especially if you knew it will kill your career
@@firstnamelastname6193
You're silly!
The story is literal, common, relevant then, now & always.
You don't have to touch a damn stove to know it burns!
Freddie Mercury didn't mix messages & this was not about his sexualality!
Freddie kept his personal life & his professional life, including the music that he created, completely separate!
He was secure in who & what he was in every way, shape & form!
If he wanted to write a song about announcing his sexual preferences, he damn sure would & he wouldn't be camouflaging it within some other meaning!
In reality, if you knew anything about the man that he always displayed himself to be, you would know that he didn't have to be anything except himself, just as he was. His genius, talent & professionalism was his reality. Nothing was fabricated about him!
You insult his character by even suggesting your hidden message bullshite!
( You got his fans mixed up with some damn idiot such as yourself).
He was never, ever that type of performer or composer or man for that matter!
Freddie was honest & he didn't play games.
He was himself, & he always said what he meant and meant what he said & to hell with what anyone thought, darling!
That's why Bohemian Rhapsody was played in full & without cuts in the first place! Because Freddie & Queen did not practice the b.s. that you just suggested.
Ppppssshhhhh.....
This is a masterpiece Freddie wrote, he never said what the meaning was, many speculations of Freddie coming out as gay...he was working on three songs and decided to combine to this...if you wanna see how they worked in studio, watch the making of ONE VISION, also check out WHITE QUEEN live at Hammersmith, great piano and guitar collaboration
Yes please 🌹❤
Freddie specifically said he wanted everyone to draw their own meaning from the song, much like Led Zeppelin said about Stairway to Heaven. No, it was not Freddie's way of coming out.
It was filmed on Nov 10, 1975.
@@fridaylong2812Actually Freddie told Roger the real meaning of the song and Roger won't reveal what he said but he has said the meaning is pretty obvious. You should watch the documentary about the song. So there's no way you can possibly say it's not about him coming out. That's just your opinion, it's no more valid than the opinion of people who think it IS about him chiming out.
@@fridaylong2812 have u. Never seen Wayne's World
It was a BIG hit when it came out, it topped the charts 9 weeks in a row. It's considered the best rock song in history. Also it's the most streamed song of the 20th century and the video is the oldest video on youtube to get 1 billion views.
This song hit #1 three times, 1975 when it was released, 1991 after Freddie died & 2018 after the movie Bohemian Rhapsody came out. You should do a reaction to the crowd singing Bo Rhap before a Greenday concert in Hyde Park in 2017 (before the movie came out). They even sing the guitar riffs. Most of the crowd hadn't even been born when the song was released. It's awesome.
Since you really appreciate the musicianship you should take a deep dive down the Queen rabbit hole. They cross many, many genres & there's 20 years of genius to explore.
Next up should be Somebody to Love Montreal '81 & then Live Aid '85 at that point you'll be deep enough you can't climb out. 😁
If you liked how Brian makes the guitar “sing”, you should listen to “White Queen” A night at odeon Hammersmith 1975, the piano and guitar duet, it seems like they were talking, it's wonderful, you will also appreciate Freddie's skill playing the piano, it's incredible! !, you will not regret
RIP Freddy you are still the best! We miss you!
I grew up listening to this song, I was born in 1976, and many others thanks to my teenage siblings. My musical education consisted of just about everything. My father listened to country, my mom to music such as Hendrix, Beatles, Doors, Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Lynyrd Skynyrd, while my siblings listened to Kiss, AC/DC, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, among many others. I got into Rap, Hip Hop and R&B which I got my mother to listen to and enjoy with me. I also listen to Celtic, Native American and classical among others. Growing up with such a diverse selection made me love it all.
Great reaction! I was born in 1991 in the uk and my uncle had a pub so spent many nights with family singing to all the pop classics.
Without a doubt, every time this song comes on, you better believe every person in the room is dancing, singing their heart out to every single lyric. Because of the length, variety in pace, it feels emotional when it ends, like you’ve all been on a journey, and in my family is usually the last song played in the night.
None of this is "simple"!!! The music, guitar or piano, it's a masterpiece!
I heard it in my car, and freaked out!!!
It was the best thing I’d ever heard. I told my band (T Connection) we gotta play this! We had to practice that for a whole week to get it right!!
Freddie was a genius!! Brian is one of the top 5 greatest and melodic guitarists in the world!!! RIP Freddie❤️
Brian May is one if the greatest guitarists of all time!
None of the recording agents would take this song cuz it was 6:21 minutes and at the time all songs were 3 minutes long … they wanted them to cut out some parts to bring it to 3 minutes…. Freddie refused… he had a buddy who was a DJ and the guy would “slip” this song into his playlist and people went wild over it… the rest is history…
Freddie wrote the song, well the three songs this is made up from, and yes I remember it very well when it first came out in 1975 they had trouble getting airplay on the radio because of the length of it,. Dr Brian May is the Lead Guitarist and he made what's known now as The Red Special, back in 1963 from items around his family home, the drummer Roger Taylor has the high voice, and John Deacon on Bass built the amp he and Brian use.
I have just watched the Somebody To Love and not keen on you skipping through it, it's very easy too understand what Freddie is saying and it's certainly not his backing singers they all wrote many songs you will most certainly know, and that's Freddie trademark with the microphone and his roadie handing it over, and no that's not all beer on the piano it's a variety of drinks for Freddie and John
Bohemian Rapsody released out of the UK in 1975. It was spectacular. One of the first videos on MTV....I was in high school, driving my car in Massachusetts, USA....I had to pull over....to listen on the radio. Then later found out it was a video, too! Your reaction was great. Good job.
Lol, it was magical. We listened on our late night bedroom AM radio, on our car radio, and eight track tapes and turn table while sitting on the bedroom floor burning candles. No cell phones, no computers, no TV after 11pm, no cable just the best music ever supplying the sound track of our lives.
The World went nuts!! The World still goes nuts over Queen!! I am so blessed to have grown up with this music!! I'd play it anywhere my body was!!
This video was ahead if it's time in 1975 this has been said it launched the birth of MTV.
In my opinion the greatest Rock song of all time.
Interpretation (meaning of the song) is open to what the listener wants so Queen would never commit.
Mine is tied to coping with accepting his homosexual side...
▪︎ Questioning himself.... is this way of thinking my true self or just trying to fit in
▪︎ Cnfession (killed off his heterosexual self) - after accepting he's gay which goes against societal grain and most likely will come with parental disappointment.
▪︎ Facing the truth (honest with self and others) and judgement (as unwarranted as it is) pleading for acceptance and mercy - being judged harshly
▪︎ Reacting with anger .... who gives you the right to judge me, I'm outta here!
▪︎ Then just resting and accepting .... someone else's opinion doesn't really matter. With everyone and everything ... whatever way the wind blows just let it be. Accept move on and don't judge
Great reaction to this masterpiece. The song was released in 75 and this was the first music video for promotional purposes.
All 4 of them were great musicians, Brian May (Dr. May) is one of the best guitarist in the world, he really could (and still can) sing with his guitar, John Deacon was an excellent bass player, Roger Taylor the drummer has a better vioce than many lead singers and Freddie Mercury was the GOAT singer and excellent pianist. All 4 band members could play the guitar and piano. Brian, Roger and Freddie were huge fans of the iconic Jimi Hendrix and Freddie taught himself to play the guitar, so you also have some chance to learn it.
Queen is the most versatile rock band, they wrote their own stuff in several genres from rock to jazz, to pop, etc. about 200 songs. Freddie never learned how to sing, but his powerful and emotional performances are still legendary.
If you do research on your statement 1st music video; others would debate you. Tony Bennett claim in his autobiography, he made the 1st in 1956. The term music video was used in a British magazine in 1959. 1895 someone claimed Thomas Edison, and on it goes.
The next step to enjoy Queen is, Somebody to Love, live at Montreal.
Try "Somebody to Love" live @ Montreal 1981... and if you have some time, you should watch their legendary Live Aid performance from 1985. It's about 20 minutes... You should do the whole thing at once and don't break it up. It will be the quickest 20 minutes you've ever spent!! Queen had many different sounds.. they never disappoint. Freddie Mercury- lead singer, Brian May- lead guitar, Roger Taylor on drums, John Deacon- Bass guitar.. (Have you ever seen the movie Wayne's World?? That's where you can see how we all rocked out to this song back in the day!! th-cam.com/video/thyJOnasHVE/w-d-xo.html)
Yes another excellent masterpiece!!🤩⭐
Putting in a request for Innuendo. From the 1991 album of the same name. This album was the last one Queen created while Freddie was still living; the entire thing is worth hearing. (Their final album is Made in Heaven, 1995, which was crafted by the three surviving bandmates using vocals Freddie had left behind. It's a soaringly beautiful album.)
Innuendo the single, a 1991 song, is so immediately relevant to today's world. It's a music masterpiece right up there with Rhapsody for complexity, it's an important, important piece of art and its words matter more than ever.
When this first appeared in 1975 we were all gobsmacked, we had never seen or heard anything like it before. I've heard it literally thousands of times over the years and love it as much now as the first time. I know exactly how you feel about guitar - snap. Freddie was the perfect singer for many types of song, the GOAT.
Every member of Queen were brilliant!!
It was an instant hit! Even we where swimming in good music!
One of the BEST MASTERPIECES EVER!!!!! TIMELESS and still hits HARD!!!!!
It's a Rhapsody mixture a combination of opera, rock, and just they way they performed it, period!!! I played it so much when my kids were young they even rock out to it as adults!!!!!🤩💪🏾🤩
I loved it from the first time I heard it. I had a teacher that would play rock radio during class. And anytime and anywhere is good. You should check out audience singing the whole song.
I was too young when this song was released. At that time I just listened to pop music in my own language. The first time I heard Bohemian Rhapsody was in 1980. It was on a tape in a car, when I was on my way to some school event. I was almost asleep in the backseat, but I woke up and thought "This must be the most beautiful song ever written!". But I never asked for the name of the song, and eventually I forgot it until many years later, in december 1999. On the radio they had a lot of special milennium stuff. The listeners could vote for the best song from every decade. Bohemian Rhapsody was nr 1 from 1970-1979. I think Hotel California came in second.
I was in the 9th grade when Queen released Bohemian rhapsody. (1975) My dad was U.S. Navy and had bought a killer AIWA system overseas. We had a rock station on FM radio that defied the norms and played this a lot. So yea, you listened on the radio, on vinyl or on cassette. It was a huge party song at most keg parties where people would take turn singing the various parts. Back in the day when MTV actually played music videos, you could watch this video on the tv. I now have grown sons in their 30s and they call this the all time best rock song. They got their good music taste from their momma though. LOL
I’m 46 and this was still playing in 80-81
It’s LEGENDARY 👊🏾
I'm 45 and you're exactly right!
If you want to know more about this song, there is a mini doc on yt called Inside The Rhapsody. Part 1, Brian May (lead guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums) talk about how the song came about and the reaction to it. Part 2, Roger talks about making the video. Part 3, Brian walks you through the master tape and how the tracks were laid down to create the song. It's fascinating stuff.
Also, a youtuber named Rick Beato2 (channel name) does an interview more recently (a month or 2 ago) with Brian about BH. There is a shorter version of this called 'What makes this song great' and Rick Beato breaks the song down almost line by line (or really, note by note). Awesome interview.
@@beandean23I need to check it out thank you for suggesting that
This is a British anthem! I don’t know anyone, any age, that doesn’t know every word!
I was a youngster when it was originally released, heard it on the radio, and saw the video on Top Of The Pops, a weekly show during those days, showcasing our top twenty hits here in UK, and also new releases. It was number one here for 9 weeks, and again when our darling Freddie passed away, and again when the film came out a couple of years ago.
Freddie remains the best frontman for a band ever, is a musical genius, and a sweet, gentle, kind man. Brian, lead guitar, is an astrophysicist, and obviously a guitar genius. Roger, drums, has an amazing voice too, and lovely shy John, bass, is amazing. Each member of Queen has written songs that reached number one for the band. But this masterpiece rock opera was all Freddie’s work. He’s a god, and I miss his presence in the world so much.
the moment it dropped it went sky high....
It was a breath of fresh air. I listened to it on radio before I went to school. ❤️
In music terminology, a "rhapsody" is a musical piece that puts several different sections together, so this fits that definition perfectly. It's still a mystery to this day exactly what Freddie Mercury, who wrote this, meant by all of it, but it remains one of the great masterpieces of rock music.
Hi... I'm French and a teacher... I used to teach art to 8-9 children after French, maths... I made them discover all kind of musics, but they were always asking me "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the end of the day because they loved it so much... To me, and it's my opinion, the man he kills is just himself... He was married, loving his wife very much until his last day, but understood quite quickly he was gay... I think it was hard for him, he was between what he really was, the love and respect he had for his wife and a traditional family who could hardly understand his choice to be a singer at this time, so, very hard for them to understand he was also gay. Queen is a very special band, you should listen to them and discover all they could create, just amazing... But, to me, the end of the 60's and the 70's were the best moments of British music (and still now).. You like the biggest guitarists and the best musicians, just listen to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis with Peter Gabriel and others... Still now, English music is very creative with amazing titles, singers and musicians. For the great guitar telling a story, you really should react to "Comfortably Numb" of Pink Floyd in the concert "Pulse", I just think you will cry... Beautiful reaction, thanks for that very nice moment and big hugs from France 🇫🇷🤗😙
Did you know that Brian May built that guitar himself…w/his dad @ 17. Still uses it 50+ years later.
Yes legendary….still considered a masterpiece nearly 50 years later.
I saw Queen in concert in the 70's. They put on an awesome show! Best decade for music!
It was released in 1975. I was 13 when I first heard it.
I was to young to drive the first time I heard Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio. Like you, the very first time I heard it, was confused but had to hear it again and again and again. I have it memorized word for word, inflection for inflection. Absolutely love the song. Infact I know most of, if not all of Queen's music. Was a great band. And that's saying a lot considering the time that they were playing.
This song was played constantly on the radio and on jukeboxes everywhere. Records and cassette tapes. It was in the charts for months as people got into it. An amazing time to be alive.
Nice reaction! It was before my time, but this song was and is played everywhere, as soon as it is played people will sing along. It is one of best selling songs of all time. Queen's record label did not want to release this song as a single, it was 6 minutes long with an opera section, but the band insisted that it should be released. The song was immediately a hit, it stayed at no.1 for 9 weeks in the UK upon it's release. The song has charted in 3 different decades, in 1975, 1992 and in 2018. The song is a story or a journey, it was written like an opera. It is about a young man who kills someone, he confesses his crime to his mother. He then decided to give himself over to the police. The middle opera section, is a trial for his soul between heaven and hell. In the rock section he becomes angry with his situation but in the end he accepts his situation. The song goes through the 5 stages of grieve.
No one really knows the deeper meaning of the song, since Freddie mercury never told anyone. But in my opinion the song about being an entertainer and being part of the music industry. The idea is that you have to kill a part of yourself to become a good or popular entertainer, there is also the idea of selling your soul to devil to become famous.
This is actually a very complex song, it has 49 different cords, most popular songs today have around 1 - 3 different cords. The song has five sections, but there are notes that repeats throughout the whole song, so it does form one song. It was very difficult to record because they only had tape and they only had 24 tracks, there are 180 vocal overdubs on this song, this was all done with 3 voices. The opening section was just Freddie Mercury who multi tracked himself 5 times. The video for the song was also the very first video that was done for promotion.
Queen did many different genres of music, this is progressive rock. You should check out Somebody To Love from Queen it is more of a gospel style. You likely know some other Queen songs such as We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.
Have a look at the documentary of the making of the song “One Vision”...if you would like to be a fly on the wall🤩
@@josephinemonahan915 Yes, the Making Of One Vision is like a wonderful time capsule of the creativity of the band.
Yes the man at the piano is the great freddie mercury sorely missed
I never get tired of it.
Instruments in all music speaks back and forward to each other. This song you WILL remember.
when this song came out the radio didn't want to play it cos its very long but one radio guy stole a copy of the song and played it 14 times and it was a huge hit and that was the start. The radio guys had to play it. A huge demand to hear it
I can't speak for Bohemian Rhapsody but I do remember the very first moment I ever heard We Will Rock You coming out of the girls bathroom during recess at school. I walked into the bathroom where a whole group of us gathered around to hear this rock and roll masterpiece, many for the first time. Queen has just always been in the soundtrack of my life ever since.
This is the soundtrack of my youth. It gave meaning to the confusion of youth, puberty, and life. The harmonies, guitar solos and lyrics. Supreme. Freddie. 💜
On the radio. That's where most of us heard it for the first time. Then, yes, in the car and at a party and also just chilling out.
Listen to all of their music, they were the best!
Look out for Queen videos showing their concerts, amazing crowds…I started listening in 1974 on the radio, then LP’s…
Queen is magnificent. They were a bit after my time, and somewhat out of my genre, as I listened to more CSNY, Eagles, Deep Purple, etc. I know people were crazy about this song. The older I've gotten the more I appreciate the immense talent of this band. They were geniuses.
This came out in 1975!!! Remember, back then no high tech stuff was out. No auto tune at all. Raw talent.... This song is a masterpiece, period .. !! I was 13 years old at the time and I still remember how revolutionary this sond and this band was. We were listening to this song everywhere. I remember us listining this song in our car on an 8track cassette. I grew up listening to this wonderful music. Pure genious!!!
This is such a good reaction with good questions. Release was October 1975; at that time radio airplay was all there was, and it meant life or death for singles releases. If you got good airplay then your song would usually do well and naturally reach maximum ears. A friend of both Freddie and Queen's, Kenny Everett, was an English radio DJ who played the thing over a dozen times over a couple of days and it's been fire ever since, everywhere. I remember first hearing it on the radio in the car. It was thrilling! (Still is.) At the time nobody knew what the hell it was about but the brilliance of it is that everyone was getting so much out of it, even if they didn't know exactly what it was they were getting from it 😊. That's still true now.
Today it's generally accepted that the first portion is Freddie's struggle with his sexuality and that the person he pulled the trigger on was himself. Beyond that, he did say in a much later interview that it was three unresolved songs so he "just put them all together". Freddie wasn't one for explaining songs and wanted people to form their own takeaways, which we all still certainly do, especially when it comes to Bohemian Rhapsody.
1974. When it first came out it was Legendary
For us in Britain, when Queen released this it was the wildest greatest thing. It was being played everywhere, on radio & at parties, in homes. After it faced a time being rejected by the mainstream media because it was such a long track. A comedy British legend, at the time working in radio & friend of Freddie Mercury, the late Kenny Everett i believe played it first over the radio waves. Bohemian Rhapsody was so outlandish & yet it hits anyone in the face as brilliant. Britain took this song & Queen to their hearts. Queen became one of the greatest rock groups of the World & the World also took them to their hearts. Every word known to every song, the huge stadium crowds happy to sing with Freddie. Considered the greatest showman, Freddie often had the full crowd copying his vocal range. Their music is global & thankfully Queen (sadly without Freddie) still rock today, playing many great classic tracks loved globally. Adam Lambert heads the band recently. He is a great singer with his own presence & strong vocals. 👍🇬🇧
It was our every day lives. The 80s were unique. We were expecting the bomb to drop at any day. Queen perfected our view of the world.
Hey guys. I saw this, I think it was 1976. In Detroit in this perfect venue called The Masonic Temple. It had really good acoustics, so the sound was great in this venue. I won’t go on like I normally do but to say it was the first time in my life that I had tears in my eyes and my arm hair stood straight up. It gave me the chills. That voice came straight from heaven. The combination of opera and rock was genius.
I remember the day this song came out. I am 60 now and it came out it 75. I was 15. It did not take off and go to the stars when it came out but it always held its own. It was longer than most songs that were on the radio and was played but not everyday. The opera part lost us a bit but the song has become more and more popular through the years. I probably heard it on the radio every month or so after it came out. We liked Queen but Zeppelin was still considered number one. Alot of different rock groups were popular and so much new music was coming out this song always held its own.
Rhapsody is a characteristic musical piece of romanticism composed of
different thematic parts freely united and without any relationship
between them. This song recreates the myth of "Faust" in four blocks.
The ballad, where he confesses a murder to his mother, and says goodbye
to her. The Opera buffa, where the judgment of his soul is recreated,
where angels and demons discuss condemnation or forgiveness. The Rock
part, where the Devil makes his plea, saying that he cannot escape his
sentence, nor live a life dedicated to evil, and then pretend to betray
him, with excuses such as that he has had an unjust life. And the final
section, where he reflects, and does not care about condemnation or
forgiveness, since he has always lived according to the circumstances or
how the wind turned ... (Leaving to free interpretation,
1975 - was the very first music video as we know them today. It was originally 3 songs that they combined into one. It topped the charts right away and then topped again in the early 90s when Freddy died. We listened to it on radio and on album. I still have my original Queen album from this time :)
1975. From the album "A Night at the Opera". It was on the radio like any other song but it is unlike any other song. It was recognized as amazing at that time and for all the years following. It's the most downloaded song in history. Freddie's masterpiece (or, one of his masterpieces).
Freddie never explained, he wanted the fans to make their own choices!
That's why it's called a Rhapsody!! A rock production!!
I was alive. I was in high school. It was played on the jukebox at the hang outs. Came out 1975. A night at the opera album. Was privileged to see them live in 1977 for News of the World tour. Sad at one point they stopped touring the states in the 80’s because of MTV and the I want to break free song, from what I understand. Anyway, they are all legends. Their music will live on forever.
Queen had dozens of hits. Genius band. Best performer in the world - Freddie Mercury 1970’s -1989’s. RIP Freddie. Most recognizable voice in rock.
It was no.1 in the UK for nine weeks from November 1975 over Christmas. Went back to no.1 in December 1991 for five weeks, once again over Christmas, but sadly just weeks after Freddie passed.
It sold over two million copies in the UK alone, but was massive all over the world (even top ten in the USA).
It is voted 'greatest song ever' in polls from every direction, and has done for many years (UK) and since the movie, the world is ready to accept it as the greatest 'popular music' song ever written!
Doesn't have to be your favourite for it to be an inimitable masterpiece!
So many people who react to Queen and/or Bohemian Rhapsody are so surprised that there are several different parts to this song….but one of the meanings to the word rhapsody, and when it is used in music, is “a musical composition of irregular form having an improvisatory character.” Freddie Mercury is not the only composer to have written a rhapsody. When you know the meaning of the name that the composer gave the song, you can expect it to be something a bit different than the norm.
The 1st thing to understand is that in 1975 recorded music was a privilege: you could buy vinyls and record them on 1/4" tapes only (no K7). So, Bohemian Rhapsody, like all Queen's songs, was conceived for being played live at concerts. It's an experience, now in the past. Hopefully you and many more enjoy those archives that may be an inspiration for today's artists.
DON'T BE CONFUSED . . THIS IS THE BEST OF THE BEST . .
Close. 1975. As for meaning. Don't look for a literal one. It's probably a metaphor. For something personal to Fred. Either that, or he decided to play with imagery. While fitting 3 separate pieces together. Fred liked to let people decide what any given song meant to them. You get to decide what it means. To you. I was only seven. When this came out. This is not the song that caught my attention. The first song I heard from them was, You're My Best Friend. Seven year old me. Loved that song. I didn't really start to appreciate this. Until I was about twelve. Before that. My Favs were... Mustapha, Fat Bottom Girls / Bicycle Race, & the sound track they did for the movie Flash Gordon Circa 1980. I just loved the sound of them.
This song was such a game changer when it was released. I was 7 in 1975 and absolutely loved it. Listened to it on the radio. I had heard a few Queen songs before but to me this one was definitely different. They are legends! ✌❤
Brian May , lead guitarist, built his guitar “The Red Special” withe the help of his father
Thank you for sharing. Here in the UK I was seven years old and for many years we had a weekly program on bbc1 called Top of the pops..gone now ..MTV etc came along and eventually the program got taken off air but I think it still does a Christmas special yearly . Basically ,its they tell you the top 40 records being brought and they would have a few bands on from different chart positions and a lot from the top 10 , but always the number one band was on each week..the highest honour for a band to be on the show but the Number one spot was the pinnacle. In them days we had only 3 tv channels and a few radio stations..nothing like on demand we have now.
My recollection was I was about 7 years old and laying on my tummy ,elbows on floor upwards with my chin resting on hands on my own in the living room . The show was introduced by DJs and I remember him saying that Queen could not be there tonight and we’ve got something special for you called a video..and I remember being shocked to no band on 👀 and also I’d not heard the songs name before and what’s a video? Lol . Then I watched it..I remember feeling like I’d been taken on this amazing journey with all these different twist and turns of music and excellent voices and the story of him telling his mum he had just killed a man,plus songs used to be about two and a half minutes long in them days and this was very long and yet not long enough…didn’t want it to end .It was totally mind blowing for me then and it stayed with me . Even as a kid I loved music and dancing but this song is a masterpiece that will stand the test of time . I hope you re listened to this all the way through to take it in as a solid bold and gentle flow of genius that it is.
🇬🇧💛🤍
I remember when this song came out. I was in high school. I do believe it was their first hit. And it made Queen very popular. In those days you had to buy the album to hear it or wait for the radio to play it. Radio was huge for being able to listen to music. I miss those days because music was soooooooo real!
You got this man! Its just like a roller coaster ride. Queen released this song in 1975 my senior year in high school. The first time I heard it was in a friends car. He had an AM/FM Radio with a cassette player. (My car only had an AM radio). My brother had a very expensive turntable and bought this album on 33 rpm Vinyl. When I first heard it I turned it off when Freddy sang "Momma, (I) just killed a man" I thought it was going to be a song about glorifying evil. I thought queen was a bunch of "drag queens" and coming from a podunk town in the middle of Kansas I wasn't very worldly inclined at the time so I didn't really appreciate it. But as I became more familiar with Queen's other songs "We are the Champions" "Another One Bites the Dust" "You're My Best Friend" and "Fat Bottomed Girls" I became more willing to go back and listen to Bohemian Rhapsody but when I decided to finally listen to it with lyrics in hand it was spring of 1976 and RUSH had just released 2112. I listened to 2112 (all 7 acts) just before listening (really listening) to Bohemian Rhapsody and it finally hit me Freddy Mercury/Queen, Geddy Lee/RUSH were casting off the chains of Studio Domination. Studios wanted short songs repetitive lyrics, bubble gum music they could play on radio and get broadcast $$$. True musicians like Freddy Mercury and Geddy Lee wanted to create not only music but a new form of entertainment. These songs (Bohemian Rhapsody and 2112) are part music part stage play and part Opera, but they were unlike anything anyone had experienced to date in the mid 70s. For those reasons, the incredible talent of all band members notwithstanding these songs will be classics studied in High School and College music departments for hundreds of years. Just as we studied the classics from Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Edvard Grieg in the 1970s, classrooms in 2300 will be studying Bohemian Rhapsody and 2112.
We hardly ever listened in cars because we either had 8 track players or cassette players. We listened on the radio. Noone wanted to release it because it was so long, but one person Kenny Everett presented a radio show in the UK and played it continually when it was released and it went to No. 1 in the charts. In the 70s there was such a mish mash of music, everything sounded different, but THIS was SO spectacular that everyone just loved it from the start. Freddie will NEVER be bettered, he was so ahead of his time. He wrote this alone and brought it to the studio and at one point they had 3or4 different things happening in different studios, all overseen by Freddie. The man was a genius and it's so interesting watching people discovering him and Queen now when some of us have been listening to them for nearly 50 years!!
We listened to it in our car. Freddie made the sounds bounce from one side of the car to the other and then wrap around, it was Fantastic!
The 1.3 billion views have been over the last 13 years.
When this song came out in 1975 the only way to hear it was to buy the single or the album or for it to come on the radio.
In 1975 it was the very first time a video was made just to promote a song. It was made to be played on a British TV show called Top Of The Pops.
Other artists started making videos and in 1981 MTV was born.
The song was actually 3 songs Freddie Mercury was writing but couldn't decide what to do with them. So he decided to just mash them altogether.
Don't over think the lyrics, Freddie never said what the song was about, he wanted the listeners to decide what they thought it was about.
Basically Freddy was writing 3 songs and combined them. He left the lyrics open to interpretation. The whole band are geniuses but Freddy OWNED the stage. I love your reaction lol.
Freddie
This song came out in 1975. Everyone bought albums back then. It was just part of the culture. There were a lot of choices. I'm a 70 year old man and lived though the entire hippie movement. You could see the development of music from the 50's, really big in the 60's and the 70's took things next level, such as this song.
When all of these songs came out back in the day, it was normal to us. We didn't understand that history was being made in rock and roll when these pieces were released to us
Some people say that this was his coming out song… He was originally From Zanzibar and his family were devout Parsi… Hence, he just killed his old self so that he could move forward being gay…this was released in 1971…
My friend came back from WSU with this album! Nothing like it!!!!!!
The entire album !
This song came out 1975. Listen to somebody to love live at Montreal 81 and Dragon attack same concert. Listen to another one bite the dust, one vision, under pressure, love of my life all at Wembley 86.
Is this the BEST song EVER?????? No matter what type of music you listen to⁉️👍👍👍👍
Find the documentary with Brian may and that particular guitar. Let your interest in guitars lead you to this particular guitar. The guitar was named by Brian as “The Red”. Back a few years before this song Brian and his dad didn’t have the money to buy one. So Brian and his father mad that guitar from objects around the house. I believe the frets came from a music story and probably the strings. A piano, and knitting needle for a trebello was used. I can’t remember all of it. The guitar was made like no other. John deacon the bass player wrote the song and the bass line for another one bites the dust, but the weird guitar noises came from the red. Other guitars can’t do what this guitar could do. He was warned by many professionals not to take it with him every time because it could get stolen. But Brian I believe still travel with it.
@MAJ Hello Maj. I first heard this song in November 1975, when I was a 14 year old school boy. Minds were blown. Nothing like this was ever heard of in the 1970's. 3 sections. 1/ A ballad. 2/ An opera. 3/ Full on Rock. I nearly shat myself with excitement when I first heard it. It went straight to Number 1 in the UK singles chart, and stayed there for 9 weeks. It also went to Number 9 in the US singles chart. 1975 was a great year for music and films, and being a teenager back then was magical.
He was and is the greatest showman ever they were amazing Freddie as a front man out of this world 🌎
The making of one vision amazing how they put this song together
It’s a friggen MASTERPIECE!!!
I was in high school n heard it alot on the car radio. Occasionally on my home radio.
This particular video was made in 1975 no auto tune and no Mtv it was technically the first music video. Piano and lead vocals is Freddie Mercury his voice ranged through bass, baritone, tenor, soprano and falsetto. John Deacon on bass guitar and backing vocals, Roger Taylor on drums and secondary vocals his vocal range was the same as Freddie’s and his falsetto was even higher. Brian May on lead guitar and backing vocals. Brian and his dad built that guitar out of junk they had laying around. He named her The Red Special. He still has her and still plays her. He calls her The Old Lady now. You can’t put these guys in a box. Freddie had a degree in fashion design. John was an engineer, Roger was a dentist and Brian May is a doctor of astrophysics. If you want to get an idea about Queen and the way people around the world responded to their music, watch the you tube clip of Queen Live aide at Wimbly 1985 full video is about 25 minutes long. It was seen and heard by over a Billion people live around the globe at the time it happened. It was a massive event and Queen wasn’t even supposed to be there the were added in last minute so it wasn’t an audience of their fans it was people that came to see Elton John David Bowie etc.
It was a revolution of music ---- and we knew it at the time. I saw it in 1975 - the video you just saw - on TV and music was never the same. Listen again - headphone, no video, close your eyes.
Since you asked... I was a young man when this song came out. It was as great then as it is now. Truly a timeless rock classic.
Think almost everybody in the UK can sing this song, old and young
(8:05) Good analogy! I have always said that Brian May's guitar was the 5th voice of the group!
It was on every radio, sang in all the hallways, talked about. Queen was one of the best rock bands in the world and still is!! 1975.
This came out in 1975! Freddie never gave an explanation about what Bo Rhap means. He felt it could/should mean something different to everyone. Don't overthink it, just enjoy.
You've started down the Queen rabbit hole - a ton of really great songs
We heard it on the radio in cars in 1975. We all knew it was different and it was special. Everyone would sing it when we all hung out. This was a huge hit.
I love your reaction. This song was ALWAYS a classic from the get-go. So unique and so much a head banger.