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Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics
Words and music by Freddie Mercury
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
Mama, I 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-
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-
I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche,scaramouche will you do the Fandango-
Thunderbolt and lightning-very very frightening me-
Galileo,Galileo,
Galileo Galileo
Galileo figaro-Magnifico-
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
Will not let you go let me go
No,no,no,no,no,no,no-
Mama mia,mama mia,mama mia let me go-
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me,for me,for me-
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-
Nothing really matters,
Anyone can see,
Nothing really matters-,nothing really matters to me,
Any way the wind blows....
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Bohemian Rhapsody meanings
dusk37 says: Jan 30, 2005, 7:46 PM
This song, despite it's silly "Gallileo's" and "Mamma Mia"s, is obviously a very depressing song about a young man going to prison for life because he "killed a man", so he then becomes totally apathetic. "Life had just begin, and now I've gone and thrown it all away."Rating: 
2.5/5 by 9 users.
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dusk37 says: Apr 1, 2005, 8:55 AM
As I look at the rating of my interpretation of this song, I can't help but wonder why it was rated only 4 out of 5 stars: could it be that my nobody is fully convinced this song is about a man going to prison? I have listened to this song hundreds of times through the years, and there's NO other interpretation. "Mama, I just killed a man: put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead"..."Life had just begun, and now I've gone and thrown it all away"..."If I'm not back again this time tomorrow, carry on"..."Goodbye everybody, I've got to go"... "Spare him his life from this monstrosity"... Does anyone have a different interpretation? I'd like to hear it. Discuss!Rating: 
1.5/5 by 3 users.
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dusk37 says: Apr 2, 2005, 6:29 PM
I will go a step further and say, not only is this song about a man going to prison, but he might also be sentenced to death: "I don't want to die"..."So you think you can...leave me to die"... "Just gotta get right outta here". (Prison?)Rating: 1.5/5 by 2 users.
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ajax says: Jun 10, 2005, 2:40 PM
Rating: 
5/5 by 1 users.
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ajax says: Jun 10, 2005, 2:41 PM
I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS ABOUT A MAN WITH "AIDS!!!"Rating: 
4/5 by 4 users.
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flamingkerry says: Jun 19, 2005, 8:37 PM
Rating: 
3/5 by 2 users.
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Elyse says: Oct 28, 2005, 10:04 PM
This is all speculation: This might be a goodbye song to his mother because he was going to die of AIDS. He had to tell her slowly, as not to shock her (he "...just Killed a man..."). To him, contracting the virus was like killing himself and he felt dead already. He didn't know when he'd die ("...Mama ooo if I'm not back again this time tomorrow carry on..."). Shivers down his spine, body aching all the time (possible AIDS/HIV symptoms). "Is this the real life or is this just fantasy"... He is fantasizing that he could be set free from this, but it can't be, it's too late, his time has come. And, he was asking the world to just let him go. But bismillah, in God's name, they will not let him go (or let go of him). He was metaphorically stoned by this disease by someone who "loved" him and left him to die. He wants out of it, but reverts to "nothing really matters.. to ease his pain, and to ease his mothers pain. Just carry on momma, nothing matters to me. Yet he puts blame on his mother "I wish I'd never been born at all". Some believe that the we blame our mothers when things go wrong in life... either conciously or unconciously.Rating: 
4.5/5 by 10 users.
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Genesmonkey says: Oct 30, 2005, 1:17 AM
AIDS did not exist when Bohemian Rhapsody was released in Oct. 1975. Long before the Wayne's World resurgence. AIDS cases began in the early eighties. I think its about Suicide, the man is himself. He speaks to mama as a spirit, to carry on.Rating: 4.5/5 by 3 users.
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honey says: Dec 7, 2005, 8:45 PM
I think this song is about suicide. Things in this hypothetical person's life didn't go as planned, and suicide seems like the answer. Perhaps there is still some question of whether it is the right answer, because he says "I don't want to die..."Rating: 3/5 by 2 users.
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Jak0TheShadows says: Dec 18, 2005, 1:37 PM
I heard it was about the play Dr. Faustus...Rating: 4/5 by 1 users.
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gilbertthegreat says: Apr 15, 2006, 4:14 PM
the song is clearly about aids cases of aids may not have been very main stream but u cant say it didnt exist think about it he has aids n then he slept with sumone n now there gunna die as well its like a good bye to his mother since hes dien at sucha young ageRating: 
2/5 by 1 users.
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cfwiii says: Apr 20, 2006, 7:35 AM
I believe that Jak0 is correct... there are just too many coincidences between BoRap and Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (lived in England at the same time as Shakespeare).Dr. Faustus is basically the standard Faust legend... a person who, unfulfilled with their life, chooses to sell his soul to the devil. He has "killed a man" (himself) by damning himself to an eternity in hell. He "puled the trigger" by signing away his soul. He seeks greater knowledge and enlighntenment, and at one point even asks to go back to the time of Galileo. Only later does he regret his pact with the devil.
He then tries to plead for release from his agreement. Good and Evil angels argue for his soul ("spare him his life..." "No, we will not let him go", "Let himn go!", etc.) He pleads with God for his help ("Bismillah" Arabic for 'in the name of Allah').
He eventually realizes that there is no escape from his fate. He will spend thousands, hundreds of thousands of years in hell. Nothing matters anymore. He is resigned to his fate. He awaits the final entry of the devil ("beelzebub") to take him down to hell at midnight ("sends shivers down my spine")... he fears the "Thunder and Lightning."
There are many other coincidences that are too strong to ignore. I do not have any doubt that BoRap is about the Faust legend, probably influenced heavily by Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus."
If this reference to Faust is true, it only adds to the enjoyment of BoRap for me... As "Dr. Faustus" is a beautifully written story. Some claim that the last death scene (as Faust waits for the arrival of the devil to take him away) is one of the greatest poetic passages ever written in the English language.
Rating: 5/5 by 2 users.
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bravesplaya14 says: May 16, 2006, 3:11 PM
ok ok now first the lead singer died after the band disminded so it's not about aids. second he didn't kill a man. my thought is that it was a song that was saying goodbye to his mom and how she used to see him. the song bohemian rhapsody was on the band's first c.d a night at the movies. this meant that they were gonna become stars and it's a goodbye to his mom and how she used to see him. it has nothing to do with killing himself or another for that reason. so who cares how many times u've heard the song there are alot more theroys of the song.This meaning has not been rated.
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doggy99x says: Jun 30, 2006, 10:36 AM
It would be difficult for the song to be about AIDS, since the song came out in 1975, and AIDS was first recognized in 1981. (although the unnamed illness had already taken countless lives in africa, and had already spread to all shores)This meaning has not been rated.
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JoeBlevins says: Jul 24, 2006, 11:55 AM
Wikipedia suggests that the song is rumored to be inspired by Albert Camus' absurdist novel, "The Stranger." I've just read "The Stranger," and the similarities between the novel and the song are striking.The narrator of Camus' novel is a seemingly nihilistic, amoral young man who does not show any visible grief over the death of his mother, whom he has put in a rest home. Nevertheless, his mother is still very much on his mind and he discusses her frequently in the novel. (In the most recent translation of this French novel, he refers to his mother as "Maman," which according to the translator is sort of a childish name.) The narrator befriends a vicious pimp and later, in a heat-induced daze, shoots and kills an Arab who is stalking the pimp. The narrator's life had been going very well up to that point, and he indeed had a girlfriend who loved him very much and wanted to marry him. But the rest of the novel is about the narrator's imprisonment, trial, and impending execution. The narrator is constantly saying how things don't matter to him, just like in the song. When his girlfriend asks if he loves her, for instance, he says he doesn't see how it matters one way or another. The idea of being executed, however, seems to arouse the first real traces of emotion we see from the narrator, especially towards the end of the novel.
I am greatly oversimplifying Camus' novel, but it is a very likely influence on Queen's song.
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sukeytawdry says: Aug 18, 2006, 9:51 PM
Wow, some crazy ideas here--interesting. If you listen to the lyrics and take the song literally, it's about a man who has killed someone and has been sentenced to death for it. Certainly, this is going on inside his head, but there's no way it could be about AIDS. AIDS really didn't exist, at least in the USA when this song was first released. I think maybe you're making way too much of the song--I love Queen, but if you listen to their whole body of songs, their meanings are usually quite literal.This meaning has not been rated.
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sukeytawdry says: Aug 18, 2006, 9:53 PM
AIDS was also not known in the UK in the mid-seventies. I was around then, and no one heard of AIDS until about 1983.This meaning has not been rated.
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styxfan01 says: Mar 26, 2007, 4:31 PM
The song is from the album "A Night at the Opera" and as most opera's have dome form of tragedy in them, it is clearly a song about a young man who kills someone and get's the death penalty. He regrets what he's done and as his last request ask them to let him go.This meaning has not been rated.
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db_65 says: Apr 9, 2007, 10:30 AM
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db_65 says: Apr 9, 2007, 10:35 AM
What on earth are you people on about ajax '' i thought it was about aids '' god sake this song was first drafted by freddie in 1972 and not even completed until 1975 so please AIDS .. numpty.. just enjoy the greatest song ever written for what it is '' a great song '' stop trying to discect it because even university boggons couldn't..This meaning has not been rated.
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db_65 says: Apr 9, 2007, 10:37 AM
What on earth are you people on about ajax '' i thought it was about aids '' god sake this song was first drafted by freddie in 1972 and not even completed until 1975 so please AIDS .. numpty.. just enjoy the greatest song ever written for what it is '' a great song '' stop trying to discect it because even university boggons couldn't..This meaning has not been rated.
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RHCPmamacita says: Jun 13, 2007, 8:20 PM
I've always thought that it was about a man who killed someone and then commited suicide and went to hell(hence the "Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me" part)This meaning has not been rated.
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sug says: Jul 31, 2007, 5:31 PM
elyse--that is a spooky insight into it all. it does seem like artists write about death in some form and the it happens the way they sing it. ex: tupac. i know its not the best example, but its true.This meaning has not been rated.
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darkjem says: Sep 22, 2007, 8:26 AM
Dear darling, I just thought it might be helpful to point out that Freddie Mercury was a genious and this was one of the best songs ever to come out of that mind. Most of you are being overly haughty that your take on the song is not excepted by everyone. There is no wrong take on the song, there are some that make more sence and fit better, but this is one of the beautiful things about this song: one person can hear it one way and another a different way and based on their presonal experiences, it's correct. It's not even up to the song writer to tell you what the song is about, if they can you that is the only thing you can take from that song, it's a poorly written song.Have a nice day,
Darkjem.
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darkjem says: Sep 22, 2007, 8:28 AM
I'm not clever because I can't spell and didn't use my dictionary but I'm sure you all understand me.This meaning has not been rated.
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