Song 195: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Originally, many thought this song would never be a commercial success because of its length of nearly 6 minutes when most hit singles were around 3 minutes long. Also, it wasn't written in the normal convention of a pop song,  verse/chorus/verse/chorus. Despite being told the record would never be played on the commercial radio, the single would be the Christmas Number 1 in 1975 and stay at the top of the chart for nine weeks. Then 16 years later, it would reclaim the number one spot for another 5 weeks (the only record to be Christmas Number one for the same artist). It has been at number one for a total of 14 weeks. Yes, the song to relaunch the Juke Box is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

Formed in London at the start of the 1970s, Queen started life as a four-piece rock band consisting of Roger Taylor, Brian May, John Deacon and Freddie Mercury. They first charted in the UK with their second album in 1974 and it wasn't until the release of A Night at the Opera did they achieve international success. Their catalogue of hits range from We will Rock You to The Show Must Go On, and it is hard to imagine the world pop scene without their influence, especially as they have sold in the region of nearly 300 million records, And, if their music wasn't iconic enough, their performance at Wembley for Live Aid is one of those moments in history, where people remember where they were when they saw Queen at Live Aid in 1985. But let's go back to Queen's first number one,  Bohemian Rhapsody as it is still one of the most iconic songs ever written. 

Written by Freddie Mercury for Queen’s 1975 album A night at the Opera, the song is an opera in its own right. Throwing out the normal conventions of a pop song, the tune is split into sections, which contains some of the most powerful lyrics of any modern-day pop together with some of the most fun lyrics to sing at the top of your voices with friends. It is one of those songs which makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, especially when I’ve not heard it in a while.

Part of the success of Bohemian Rhapsody was down to the fantastic Kenny Everett, who teased his radio audience with parts of the record on his radio shows. The snippets of the song left his audience wanting to hear more. Everett would play the song 14 times in 2 days to keep his audience happy and the rest is history. 

Many people debate what Mercury meant when he wrote the song, and I am glad that no one, or perhaps only a very few people, actually knew the meaning behind all the lyrics. There are a thousand theories out there, which you can read about, but for me, I would recommend that you just listen to the music and enjoy it for what it is. 

Mercury’s untimely death in 1991 sent ripples around the world, and I remember listening (and tapping) the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert off the radio and listening to the songs over and over again. The concert for those who haven’t listed to it entwined live performances with clips of Freddie talking about his career. I always remember one of the questions he was asked was “What would he do if he wasn’t a singer” and Freddie said “a Stripper”, which lead to the question, "what songs would you strip to?”, his reply was “to all the songs I’ve written.” 

The song is reported to be the UK's 3rd best-selling single of all times, and it is the most downloaded song of the 20th century, having been streamed/downloaded 1.6 billion times. The 2018 film of the same title brought Queen to a new generation of fans, together with the We will Rock You musical, opened in the West End in 2000.

For me, I never really think of myself as being a Queen fan, but when I look at through my music collection, the number of Queen songs within my library might lead anyone to disagree. I do remember that my headteacher at Primary School was a massive Queen fan and I have vivid memories of her having an 'It’s a kind of magic' t-shirt, which she wore. 

Many of you are probably wondering why to start this blog again after nearly a two-year absence, perhaps because the world has changed so much over the last two years and I want to finish what I started. I have to thank my nephew, Luke, for helping me choose this song. I asked him what was one of his favourite bands and Queen was his answers. Yesterday was Luke's 13th Birthday so I hope he enjoys being the inspirations to get his Auntie back writing again. Thanks, Luke and I hope we can share more music together soon. 

Watch  Bohemian Rhapsody here.

Released: 31 October 1975

Album: A Night at the Opera 

Written by: Freddie Mercury

Performed by: Queen