QUEEN - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Aquest va ser el primer Top 10 de Queen als EUA, aconseguint el número 9 el 24 d'abril de 1976. Al Regne Unit, on Queen ja tenia un cert reconeixement, va arribar al número 1 el 29 de novembre de 1975 i es va convertir en el Christmas number One del 1975 ocupant la primera posició durant nou setmanes. "Bohemian Rhapsody" va ser la primera cançó que va arribar al número 1 al Regne Unit dues vegades en la mateixa versió i també és l'únic single que ha sigut Christmas number One dues vegades amb la mateixa versió de la cançó. La segona va ser a la seva reedició el 1991, després de la mort de Freddy, quan es va mantenir al número 1 durant cinc setmanes, fent un total de catorze setmanes al capdamunt de la llista.

Quan la banda va voler llançar el senzill l'any 1975, diversos executius els van suggerir que, a causa de la seva durada de 5 minuts i 55 segons, era massa llarga i mai seria un èxit. La cançó es va interpretar a altres músics que van comentar que la banda no tenia cap esperança que es reproduís a la ràdio. La banda va passar per alt aquesta avaluació corporativa tocant la cançó per al popular DJ Everett: "teníem una còpia de bobina a bobina, però li vam dir que només la podria tenir si prometia que no la radiaria. "No la posaré", va dir fent l'ullet..."

Everett va provar als seus oients fent tastets de només parts de la cançó. La demanda del públic es va intensificar quan Everett va posar la cançó sencera al seu programa catorze vegades en dos dies. Hordes de fans van intentar comprar el senzill el dilluns següent, però les botigues de discos els van dir que encara no s'havia publicat. El mateix cap de setmana, Paul Drew va escoltar la cançó al programa d'Everett a Londres, va aconseguir una còpia de la cinta i va començar a reproduir-la als Estats Units. En una entrevista va dir que "va ser una situació estranya en què la ràdio a banda i banda de la Atlantic estava batent la teoria de que les companyies discogràfiques deien que mai no es transmetria!

Freddie Mercury va escriure la lletra, i ha hagut moltes especulacions sobre el seu significat. Moltes de les paraules apareixen a l'Alcorà. "Bismillah" és una d'aquestes, literalment significa "En nom d'Al·là". La paraula "Scaramouch" significa "Un personatge normal que apareix com un covard fanfarró". "Beelzebub" és un dels molts noms donats al dimoni. És possible que Mercury hagués escrit "Galileo" a la lletra com una picada d’ull a Brian May, que és un aficionat a l'astronomia i el 2007 es va doctorar en astrofísica.

De totes maneres, Lesley-Ann Jones, autora de la biografia de Mercury, pensa que Freddie Mercury es descobreix com a gai en aquesta cançó. Jones diu que quan va plantejar la pregunta a Mercury el 1986, el cantant no va donar una resposta directa, i que sempre va ser molt vague sobre el significat de la cançó, admetent només que es tractava de "relacions". (La religió familiar de Mercuri, el zoroastrisme, no accepta l'homosexualitat, i va fer esforços per ocultar la seva orientació sexual, possiblement per no ofendre la seva família.) Després de la mort de Mercury, Jones diu que va passar temps amb el seu amant, Jim Hutton, que li va dir que la cançó era, de fet, la confessió de Mercury que era gai. El bon amic de Mercury, Tim Rice, va estar d'acord i va oferir una anàlisi lírica per donar suport a la teoria:

"Mama, I just killed a man" (Mama, acabo de matar a l’home) - Ha matat el vell Freddie que intentava ser. La seva imatge anterior.

"Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead" (he posat una pistola contra el seu cap i vaig prémer el gallet, ara es mort) - Ha mort, la persona heterosexual que era originalment. Ha destruït l'home que volia ser, i ara aquest és ell, intentant viure amb el nou Freddie.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man" (Veig una petita silueta d'home) - Aquest és ell, encara perseguit pel que ha fet i el que és.

Sigui quin sigui el significat, potser mai ho sabrem: el mateix Mercury va mantenir el secret i la banda va acceptar no revelar res sobre el significat. El mateix Mercury va declarar: "És una d'aquelles cançons que té una sensació tan fantàstica. Crec que la gent hauria d'escoltar-la, pensar-hi i després decidir-se sobre el que els diu". També va afirmar que la lletra no era més que "Tonteries amb rima a l'atzar".

QUEEN - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

This was Queen's first Top 10 hit in the US, peaking at #9 on April 24, 1976. In the UK, where Queen was already established, it went to #1 on November 29, 1975 and became the 1975 UK Christmas #1 holding the top position for nine weeks. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the first song ever to get to #1 in the UK twice with the same version and is also the only single to have been Christmas #1 twice with the same version. The second was upon its re-release in 1991, following Freddy’s death staying at #1 for five weeks, making a total of fourteen weeks at the top of the chart. 

When the band wanted to release the single in 1975, various executives suggested to them that due to its length of 5 minutes and 55 seconds, it was too long and would never be a hit. The song was played to other musicians who commented the band had no hope of it ever being played on radio. The band bypassed this corporate assessment by playing the song for Everett:

"we had a reel-to-reel copy but we told him he could only have it if he promised not to play it. 'I won't play it,' he said, winking ..."

Everett teased his listeners by playing only parts of the song. Audience demand intensified when Everett played the full song on his show 14 times in 2 days. Hordes of fans attempted to buy the single the following Monday, only to be told by record stores that it had not yet been released. The same weekend, Paul Drew heard the track on Everett's show in London and managed to get a copy of the tape and started to play it in the U.S. In an interview observed that "it was a strange situation where radio on both sides of the Atlantic was breaking a record that the record companies said would never get airplay! 

Freddie Mercury wrote the lyrics, and there has been a lot of speculation as to their meaning. Many of the words appear in the Qu'ran. "Bismillah" is one of these - it literally means "In the name of Allah." The word "Scaramouch" means "A stock character that appears as a boastful coward." "Beelzebub" is one of the many names given to The Devil. Mercury may have written "Galileo" into the lyrics for the benefit of Brian May, who is an astronomy buff and in 2007 earned a PhD in astrophysics.

Anyway, Lesley-Ann Jones, author of the biography Mercury, thinks that Freddie Mercury coming out as gay in this song. Jones says that when she posed the question to Mercury in 1986, the singer didn't give a straight answer, and that he was always very vague about the song's meaning, admitting only that it was "about relationships." (Mercury's family religion, Zoroastrianism, doesn't accept homosexuality, and he made efforts to conceal his sexual orientation, possibly so as not to offend his family.) After Mercury's death, Jones says she spent time with his lover, Jim Hutton, who told her that the song was, in fact, Mercury's confession that he was gay. Mercury's good friend Tim Rice agreed, and offered some lyrical analysis to support the theory:

"Mama, I just killed a man" - He's killed the old Freddie he was trying to be. The former image.

"Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead" - He's dead, the straight person he was originally. He's destroyed the man he was trying to be, and now this is him, trying to live with the new Freddie.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man" - That's him, still being haunted by what he's done and what he is.

Whatever the meaning is, we may never know - Mercury himself remained tight-lipped, and the band agreed not to reveal anything about the meaning. Mercury himself stated, "It's one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them." He also claimed that the lyrics were nothing more than "Random rhyming nonsense".