Plenty of fan theories about Queen’s rock opera Bohemian Rhapsody have arisen over the years trying to explain where some of the song’s cryptic imagery and dramatic shifts in style come from, and what deeper meaning—if any—lies behind its enigmatic lyrics. I came across one such theory on Facebook and decided it was interesting enough to post here. If you find this interesting, don’t miss the response I got from ChatGPT when asked these same questions and what could be said about this theory1.
By Jorge Palazón, Madrid (Spain), found on Facebook:
Why is the song called BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY?…
Why is it, exactly, 5 minutes and 55 seconds?
What is this song, really, about?
Why was the Queen movie released on October 31?The film was released on October 31 because the single was heard for the first time on October 31, 1975. It is titled like this because a “Rhapsody” is a free piece of music composed in different parts and themes where it seems that no part has any relation to the other. The word “Rhapsody” comes from Greek and means “assembled parts of a song.” The word “bohemian” refers to a region of the Czech Republic called Bohemia, the place where Faust, the protagonist of the play that bears his name written by the playwright and novelist Goethe, was born. In Goethe’s work, Faust was a very intelligent old man who knew everything except the mystery of life. Not understanding it, he decides to poison himself. Just at that moment the church bells ring and he goes out into the street. Back in his room, he finds there is a dog. The animal transforms into a kind of man. It is about the devil Mephistopheles. He promises Fausto to live a full life and not be miserable in exchange for his soul. Fausto agrees, rejuvenates and becomes arrogant. He meets Gretchen and they have a son. His wife and son die. Fausto travels through time and space and feels powerful. As he grows old again he feels miserable again. Since he did not break the pact with the devil, the angels dispute his soul. This work is essential to understanding Bohemian Rhapsody.
The song talks about Freddie Mercury himself. Being a rhapsody we find seven different parts:
- 1st and 2nd act A Capella
- 3rd act Ballad
- 4th act guitar solo
- 5th act opera
- 6th act rock
- 7th act “coda” or final act
The song talks about a poor boy who questions if this life is real or if it is his distorted imagination that lives another reality. He says that even if he stops living, the wind will continue to blow without his existence. So he makes a deal with the devil and sells his soul.
Upon making this decision, he runs to tell his mother and tells her…
“Mama, 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, ooh, 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…”That man who [he] kills is himself, Freddie Mercury himself.
If he does not fulfill the pact with the devil, he will die immediately. He says goodbye to his loved ones and his mother bursts into tears, tears and desperate crying that come from Brian May’s guitar notes. Freddie, scared, shouts “Mama, ooh I don’t wanna die” and the operatic part begins. Freddie is in an astral plane where he sees himself: “I see a little silhoutte of a man.” “scaramouche, are you going to start a dispute/fight?”
Scaramouche is “skirmish” a dispute between armies with horse riders (Four horsemen of the evil Apocalypse fight against the forces of good for Freddie’s soul) and it goes on to say “Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me” too much). This phrase appears in the Bible, exactly in Job 37 when it says… “the thunder and lightning frighten me: my heart pounds in my chest.” His mother, seeing him so scared by the decision her son has made, begs to save him from the pact with Mephistopheles. “He’s just a poor boy…” He forgives his life for this monstrosity. What comes easy, goes easy. Will you let him go? “Their supplications are heard and the angels descend to fight the forces of evil.” Bismillah (Arabic word meaning “In the name of God”) is the first word that appears in the Muslim holy book, the Quran. So God himself appears and shouts “we will not abandon you, let him go.”
Faced with such a confrontation between the forces of good and evil, Freddie fears for the life of his mother and tells her “Mama mia, mama mia let me go” (mother, let me go). They shout again from the sky that they are not going to abandon him and Freddie shouts “no, no, no, no, no” and says “Beelzebub (the Lord of Darkness) may have put a devil in you mother.” Freddie here pays tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach when he sings… “Figaro, Magnifico” referencing Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”, considered the best opera in history, and Bach’s “Magnificat”. He finishes the operatic part and the more rock part breaks in. The devil, angry and betrayed by Freddie by not fulfilling the pact, tells him “Do you think you can insult me ??like this? Do you think you can come to me and then abandon me? “Do you think you can love me and let me die?”
It is shocking how the lord of evil feels powerless before a human being, before repentance and love. Once the battle is lost, the devil leaves and we reach the last act or “coda” where Freddie is free and that feeling comforts him. He sounds the gong that closes the song. The gong is an instrument used in China and Far East Asia to heal people who are under the effects of evil spirits.
5:55 minutes last. Freddie was into astrology and 555 in numerology is associated with death, not physical, but spiritual, the end of something where angels will safeguard you. 555 is related to God and the divine, an ending that will begin a new stage.
And the song plays on All Saints’ Eve for the first time. A holiday called “Samhain” by the Celts to celebrate the transition and opening to the other world.
The Celts believed that the world of the living and the dead were almost united, and on the day of the dead both worlds were united, allowing the spirits to transit to the other side. Nothing in Bohemian Rhapsody is coincidental.
Everything is very measured, worked and has a meaning that transcends beyond being a simple song. It has been voted worldwide as the best song of all time.This song represented a radical change in Queen as if she had really made a pact with the devil, she changed their lives forever and made them immortal.
- ChatGPT’s response to the same questions with an opinion on this theory[↩]
