If you don't headband during that part of this song, you can't sit with me. 😆 Even my kids, who are 16, 13, and 11, have learned to headbang there. It's such a generational moment for some of us.
I've heard Brian discuss the harmonies maybe in the same interview. Very complicated process that requires near perfection or all is lost. Very interesting , never realize how labor intense the process is.
The first part is not the four of them - it is only Freddie harmonizing with himself - and he is spot on - with the rhythm and he is in tune - no help from autotune or any other things - he was a phenomenon. Somewhere on UA-cam there is two different storys - one where Brian demonstrates how it was done - and the other is the technician that take us through it all - and pulls it apart so we can hear the layers. And Brian demonstrates how odd their "songs" is when they harmonize - and still in tune. Thank you for your reaction.
Rick Beato did a great video on this in combination with an interview with Brian May. Not sure if that's what you're referring to, but it's well worth watching.
there are some lines in the intro that he doesn't sing all the words/notes... some lines he interrupts the singin and continues later on... he intentionally made cuts (no edited) in the notes
You can actually Google Rogers Part . Not sure why people keep saying it’s only Freddie. You can actually listen to Rogers Galileo‘s without backup and without any music. It’s very cool actually
@@pattylisk6170 Yes in "the operatic section" they are all harmonizing (without John I guess). I say that Freddie alone harmonizes in the start because I have heard Brian tell it. And it is rather cool to hear what it sounds like when it is broken down.😉
"Iconic" really is the adjective for Bohemian Rhapsody. Instantly recognisable and people who's music tastes run a truly mind-boggling range of genres absolutely love it, and nobody questions why. A song truly deserving of being branded a masterpiece.
It's hard to describe how I feel listening to music that has had such a huge impact on my life. I was 10 when this came out. I was 8 for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I was 5 for Abbey Road. I was 7 for Thick as a Brick. I was 14 for The Spirit of Radio. I've lived 40-50+ years with all this music and the more time that passes the more it means to me. Some of it is a remembrance of youth. But mostly it's the feeling that comes with any sort of real, long-lasting love. It grows. It's an incredible joy that's one of my favorite parts of growing old.
You expressed that feeling perfectly! I was 12 for this, 7 for Abbey Road and Led Zeppelin III, 10 for Dark Side of the Moon & Fragile....all have been a huge part of the soundtrack of my life.
Totally. This came out when we started buying albums. My friend bought this and we came back and put on the Prophet Song and we were speechless. Was the whole album that good? Oh yes. Then I had to back-fill with all that prog a young schoolboy missed because it wasn't on the radio. You mentioned Thick as a Brick. One of the most amazing albums ever.
I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was an interview with Brian May talking about Freddie introducing Bohemian Rhapsody to the band. Freddie had gone through the intro and rock part and then states “ … and her comes the operatic part”. The band apparently were stunned and probably questioned whether it should be part of the song. Obviously Freddie convinced the rest of the band, and as they say, the rest is history.
Yep, it wasn't the music theory behind the song that made it so unique, but that they somehow managed to mix about three completely different genre's together in a single song and did it beautifully. From the lyrical content, to the vocal harmonies, the melody, the tone, arrangement, mix etc, it's a masterpiece.
This was released when I was in high school. When it came on the car radio, my younger brother and I would sing it at the top of our lungs, just like in Wayne's World. I would keep my Craig portable cassette recorder sitting on the car speaker so I could record songs like this.
Some songs emerge so perfect and iconic that it's hard to believe they weren't already there all along and the musician/s merely provided the conduit for the song to enter our world.
I think this band could be considered true composers. The words, song, structure arrangement and production are all levers they as a band work on and don’t just hand ball it off to someone. I always find it surprising (and this isn’t just Queen ) my daughter is surprised by older music having very distinct left and right channels. Queen, The Beatles, Yes etc were all very conscious of the stereo spacing of their recordings
It's not just this song that's iconic. Queen have penned more than their fair share of songs that have become part of the mental furniture of our culture. From Bohemian Rhapsody, to We Are The Champions, to We Will Rock You, to Under Pressure with David Bowie, to Another One Bites The Dust, etc... So many riffs and melodies that are just embedded in our collective psyche. Queen aren't just a rock band, they're a cultural phenomenon. Their music is iconic, their performances are iconic (their Live Aid performance is one of the most iconic live performances ever recorded, but look at some of the performances from the 70s, they were an absolute juggernaut on stage), and their frontman was iconic, and almost universally recognized as the greatest rockstar there ever was. There was a man made for the stage, made to have tens of thousands of people eating out of the palm of his hand. We can only be grateful for all the joy and beauty he brought into the world while he was here.
*_"From Bohemian Rhapsody, to We Are The Champions, to We Will Rock You, to Under Pressure with David Bowie, to Another One Bites The Dust, etc..."_* You forgot My Fairy King, The Night Comes Down, The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke, The March of the Black Queen, Nevermore, White Queen (As it Began), Some Day One Day, Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist, Lilly of the Valley, In the Lap of the Gods (Revisited...) and many, many more. {:o:O:}
Freddie Mercury was a genius and a fantastic performer. Your analysis Doug, really pointed out to me his use of classical and operatic devices. Very cool analysis man. Thanks.
What impresses me is that Freddie was no doctor of music. He was using his experience and inspiration to make such a special song that it stuck for the rest of time. its as important to the human race as any other stroke of genious. Freddie could not have known what it would become, but he was the singular human unit that was able to pen something that came alive. Bohemian Rhapsody is an entity that connects endless humans on its own plane. Thats something.
You should also listen to Good Company which precedes Bohemian Rhapsody on the album. The section with the jazz band is all played on Brian May's guitar and, once you realise that, is one of the most mind blowing things you'll ever hear.
I'm excited every time it starts, I feel lucky to be listening to it, and when it comes to an end I always wish there was more. It's impossible to say what THE BEST song is, but I don't think there's one better.
This was their make or break album, they were broke and if this album didn’t make it, they may have had to break up. It didn’t hurt that a famous DJ, Kenny Evert, played it 14 times over the weekend before it was released. Freddie said “songs are like fish & chips,paper, you eat it and throw it away. He never talked about the meaning of songs
I honestly appreciate that approach to songwriting. The lyrics and the song may have a specific meaning at the time that you write it, but once you’ve written it, it’s out there, and you can let go of it. That allows the song to take on different meanings for you over time 🙂❤️
Not to be nitpicky, which I’m now going to proceed to be. But Kenny’s surname was Everett. He also had an iconic imo tv show in the UK. And it was all done “ in the best possible taste “.
Noted as "timeless". Yah, not a time I turn on the radio that it isn't playing. Now that "Queen Mother" has passed, even more so. Let's put it on a loop.
Great analysis it is nice to see you just enjoying a song. Bohemian Rhapsody goes through the 5 stages of grieve. You should check out Freddie Mercury’s collaboration with Montserrat Caballe. The Barcelona album gave Freddie Mercury a chance to experiment more with his classical side. It is a great album.
I heard it for the first time from my father's vinyl, around 1989 and I fell in love with this band ... It was something different, special, unique. Freddy forever ❤❤❤
I was in 10th grade in 1975 and remember clearly my first time hearing RH. At my best friends house, she had the album and we listened to it together. Wow! I will never forget it! One of my favorite songs ever! It’s one of those songs you can’t help but sing along every word. Love the camera set up Dr. Doug! It’s fun to see you play along! Lol, watching the video as we were having our morning coffee this morning, my husband and I were head banging!
Cheers Doug. In a world of discovery reactions to this song (no bad thing) it's interesting to have someone analyse the song. This was my first introduction to Queen way, back in late 1975 and they hooked me into becoming a life long fan and gifted me a thread through my music collection which seemed to embrace a whole collection of styles and choices. I remember my parents wanting me to have a more diverse listening palette since I became obsessed with seeking out a Queen album with every birthday and Xmas gift voucher, but honestly I think I can probably thank them for being a band which managed to use the conduit of rock to give my ear the comfort to journey through a lot of different genres. Each album defied what you might expect from therm, particularly through the seventies, from the bombastic heavy rock of "Stone Cold Crazy", the delicate touch of "Nevermore", the ragtime silliness of "Bring Back That Leroy Brown".. albums which, as individual works of art, were so diverse it actually made it easy to accept whatever they wanted to throw out there and never less than entertaining when they did. I think that was the real magic behind Queen - few outfits are able to condense such a fan base with such a diverse catalogue. Looking to that legendary operatic section, whilst people were arguably quite rightly thrown by that section being planted in the middle of chart pop song with its ballad and heavy rock sections, it's perhaps not so surprising since they were no strangers to wild vocal harmonies at that point. I only came to realise this later on when I dug into the pre-"Night At The Opera" works over the following years. Still a brilliant song for its structural openness and flow.. quite remarkable (as we know anecdotally) that it managed to get released but arguably THE high profile objective lesson in humility to all music executives who might think they know what "it" is. I also remember Brian saying that the overdubs were so excessive that the tape itself began to become see through.. hehe.
I happen to have a copy of the entire multitrack dump from the original tapes here. Importing those tracks into Audacity (or whatever DAW app you prefer) reveals a lot more than you think. It is an amazing listening experience that eclipses the official store bought releases. WOW is an understatement! One thing to note: Due to the massive amounts of overdubs, the original tape is so fragile and started wearing out to the point where the iron oxide particles will detach from the plastic film of the tape. The whole reel of tape now has to be "baked" so often, to prevent the iron particles from being ripped away from the plastic layer every time it's played. As far as the lyrics go, one only has to read between the lines.
Queen presented this album "A Night At The Opera" to Groucho Marx personally (Marx Brother's movie with the same name). There's even a photograph of that.
I suppose having listened to it for so many years what I take from it now, in 2022, is the sheer fearlessness it represents. "Not suitable for radio" at the time still makes me smile.
I heard it as a kid on the radio in the seventies Queen News Of The World was one of my first three vinyl albums that I bought in 77. I was 10. I literally grew up listening to these guys and I can't imagine my life without them.
Freddie could still sing circles around any talent.....while near death. On top of the elevated emotions that Queen has always delivered.....there is the addition of heart piercing lament.
Thanks Doug for another great analysis. Queen has always been my inspiration throughout my life, since I first heard Queen while working the night shift on the radio blasting in the press room of the printing company, my first job out of high school. Today, I call them the "Master Manipulators of Emotions", so much so that I think that's why their music is so timeless, it never gets old because its always eating at your soul... My newest adjective for Freddie's iconic voice is "Eargasm".... such as "You Take My Breath Away," "Love of My Life," or "You and I"... whether he tickling the piano keys or belting out a banger, he's always been the consummate performer always aiming to please. Now, 31 years after his tragic death, his bandmates announce another "new" song to come out any day now (they said in Sept.) called "Face It Alone", which I am quite sure the entire world has been waiting to hear... Blessings to you and yours.
From the UK, back in 2013 my sister, nephew (from other sister) and myself had a holiday in Orlando, after a Universal visit we decided to have a meal at the Hard Rock, there is a person that goes round with an ipad connected to their 'jukebox' so you can select music to play in the restaurant, one of my choices was 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. When it started the whole restaurant stops eating and one by one starts singing along, by the 5th or 6th line the whole place was singing. The look on the servers faces indicated this was not a regular thing (can't have been the first time someone selected it) so must have been a day where all the other diners had really good music taste. With everything else in Orlando from 4 visits (with theme parks) this is still my highlight of all the trips. Great song.
This is part of the soundtrack of my youth. There was so much iconic music released in that era. Bohemian Rhapsody is one of those magical pieces of music that doesn't sound dated at all.
Doug. Great video as always! Small constructive feedback: during this time in their career, all four of them were still penning their own songs mostly, bringing them written to the studio and arranging them as a band with the writer implicitly pretty much calling the shots. They wouldn’t go to writing together consistently in the studio and sharing writing credits until later in their career, starting with 1989’s “The Miracle”.
Thanks for this Doug, wonderful insights! A technical note: I have read that to create the very full sounding, lush harmonies, the three singers, Freddie, Brian and Roger, would start by singing the melody line in unison, roll the tape back, and overdub each harmony part in unison, giving the resulting harmonies very full body, and the mix of their three timbres creating a natural chorus effect. Indeed, brilliant.
You've got to understand that this video wasn't released worldwide at that time. In 1975 this played primarily in the UK. We didn't get to see it until MTV was born years later. I bought this album when it came out in '75. It was later replaced with a copy on 8-track then cassette. I had the pleasure of seeing them live twice at Madison Square Garden in 1980 & 1982. It is phenomenal live.
Doug, I have only recently discovered your channel whilst wallowing in Supertramp listings. I am 12 years older than you and my boyhood music was Queen, SuperTramp, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, etc and in the day, I just loved the ‘analogue’ construction and musicality. Now, you have made me realise the brilliant composition and construction of 70’s & 80’s music was; pure brilliance compared to later bands (with many exceptions). Please root out ‘Swing Out Sister” (UK ensemble with strong orchestral influence), you won’t be disappointed.
I was 11, went on my first Boy Scout camping trip in 1975. Bohemian Rhapsody came on the radio, 2 brother (twins) jumped up on picnic tables and sang alternating parts. I was hooked!
We've had a tradition here in the Netherlands in recent (I don't know how many) years of people voting for music to go into the Top2000 of all time. These 2000 songs (all of them) are broadcast on our Radio2 station, leading up to number one just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Bohemian Rhapsody has been the number one for most of the recent years (one exception). So, the Rhapsody is started close to twelve on New Year's Eve so that the final gong sounds at exactly midnight. This has been going on for many many years. So you could say that Queen created a Dutch Tradition.
A great review, Professor. I, especially, like how you've edited in a different frame for when you play the piano. It's a great way to break up the static nature of the reaction video structure. A great review! Best! J
A film character once said of a Mozart composition that if a single note were added or subtracted, the entire piece would fall apart! Freddie and Company recorded a song that just the same, every note was perfect and the song would suffer if anything were to be altered! Great review!
In 2004, Queen made history by releasing one of the first Classic Rock cassette compilations in Iran, something that due to religious conflicts was very rare. In the pamphlet for the cassette, the band actually gave a meaning to the song which makes a lot of sense. The song is a tale of a Faustian bargain that involves a man who sells his soul to Beelzebub (Satan), but then accidentally commits Murder. Before his trial and execution, he confesses to his mother before running away (the ballad). However, he is caught and is sentenced to death. On death row, he pleads with Satan to have his soul back (the Opera) but Satan refuses, and so his fate has ended him up with his own place in Hell. A lot of the specific Operatic lingo in the Opera section was, as Freddie said, a bunch of nonsense.
Please do the entire Jason Becker album Perspective! He struggles with ALS and needs all the attention and sales/donations possible!!!! plus it's incredible music he wrote with his eyes!!! The song Primal has Steve Perry doing vocals for crying out loud! Jason is a true genius composer like Mozart, and in his teens was one of the best guitarists and musicians and composers we've ever seen. He needs support to make more music, and with his condition we don't know how much longer we have him with us - so please do the entire Perspective album!!! All the songs are so different and beautiful!
Love your channel. About Queen, you mostly cover their more heavy sounding songs. I would love for you to do an analysis on the live performance of "you take my breath away" from Hyde Park where Freddies breathy quality and story telling ability really brings the song to a whole new level compared to the studio version. It's just breath taking. Hope you have the time to take a closer look at this piece. All the best from Sweden.
Still love this song as much as when it came out. The whole album is up there too as were the next two albums. It's actually an amalgam of 4 songs they were working on. But once you realise what the lyrics are actually about, it all makes sense. Apart from the Mama Mia bits .
The german band MADSEN released the song "Labyrinth" in 2010 (from the album of the same name). The song is an homage to Bohemian Rhapsody and is constructed in a similar way.
I love your channel. Love, love, love it. I also love the English language. I hesitate to say anything, but iconic, by definition, is something visual. I would say Queen, the band, is iconic, but the song is epic. I hope you take this feedback in the right spirit. I love the intelligence of your channel, so thought...okay, I'll write what I'm thinking. Keep up the great work. I bought this album the day or week it came out.
Yes it's true that Freddie came to the studio each section of the song fully formed in his head. They referred to it as" Freddie's nightmare" Since the song wasn't recorded in sequence, the band didn't really know what they were recording and how it fit into the song until they heard the Final Mix
Greetings from Nebraska Queen in bohemian rhapsody just shows how amazingly diverse their musical talent is. Their range is awesome. The song is like an experiment no chorus and was written as almost like a Mashup showing that range. Creatively amazing.
The operatic section was not just a parody Doug. Watch the review of this song from Virgin Rock and you will get it. But a great video as usual. You can’t go wrong reviewing Queen. Best band of all time.
Have a listen to the title track from their album 'Innuendo'. Another excellent piece of music that not nearly enough people know about. In fact, that entire album is magnificent. The final studio album before Freddies passing. "Bijou" is my favorite from that album.
Like Doug, I was a 90s kid and learned of this song watching Wayne's World. When my Mom heard about it, to my surprise she went to the closet and pulled out her 45rpm single of it. My friends and I would rock out to the head banging part over and over on my Dad's stereo. Great memories!
Thanks, Doug, for that interesting discussion. I think most Americans only became aware of this song in 1992 in that movie. Here in the UK this song was at No 1 for nine weeks. And for me, great thought the track is, it's perhaps been played a few too many times over the years - so much so that it actually is `not my favourite Queen number. "My Fairy King" gets my vote!
I distinctly remember hearing (and seeing) this song for the first time, in 1975. There was a feast on the high school and on my bicycle I rode to a beautiful classmate to take her to the feast. I was invited inside, being shy, and on the television was TopPoP, a weekly pop music show. And then they showed the Bohemian Rhapsody video. The whole family there and me was flabbergasted, wondering what happened there. No romance that evening, alas, but nevertheless unforgettable.
I remember hearing on the radio in 1975, abd hoping one the FM stations would pick it up so I could record it. My parents had gotten an awesome stereo system that Christmas, I used so many cassette recording off-air. I loved going direct to tape and not having to mic the speakers and catch incidental noises. We didn't have Audacity back then.
Something my comp professor used to say: it's more important to return to the texture of an earlier section than to actually return to the material. I didn't fully agree/understand until I connected it to this song.
From what I heard (a few years after the song first came out) was that Queen never performed this live all the way through - because it was so complex they couldn't and there were parts that were pre-recorded. I have heard that others have found a way to play a cover version live but by 'making a few changes' but nothing could ever match the original!
Doug many years ago I was a DJ in Pubs (Bars) and clubs, I bought this record (45 RPM) the day it was released, that evening I was in 1 of my regular gigs and played it. The whole place went silent, listening to what I was playing. The Land lady (Owner) shouted from the bar What the F**K are you playing, I said across the mic to everybody in the Pub. Maggie next week you will be asking me to play this as it will be #1. Thanks to Kenny Everett & Queen I was right she never questioned my music choices again. Great Times.
It’s funny how, at the time, I was 15 and still art school. Not a big music consumer. When Bohemian Rhapsody went up the charts I heard it, and didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t immediately easy to listen to, with all its stops and starts, and differing movements, A Capella vocals and hard rock guitar. It was completely unlike anything else that had come before it. Chart songs were just the usual verse, chorus, verse, chorus at the time, and this song blew up the traditional notion of chartable records. I’m not a massive Queen fan. I like and appreciate them well enough, but it’s sure hard to imagine the music landscape without this monumental and historic song in it now.
This music has resonance for me particularly as I moved from prosaic Coventry to out-there London in 1975 and this was the soundtrack to a lot of new experiences. This was the music of all possibilities and fun too. Thank you Kenny Everett! (John Peel too.)
You should check out a spontaneous outburst of this song at a greenday concert by an audience of 40,000 plus, it impressed the band they video taped it. It was played before the band came onstage it's amazing really impressive.
There are certain songs that somehow connects to the human condition and this is one of them. There is no way to explain it. Freddies passion, Mays guitar, Taylors drums and Decans bass with the vocals come together and create a magical moment in time. Its like a baseball player going 5 for 5 with 3 homeruns and 8 rbi's. Or a pitcher throwing a perfect game. How do you explain, analyze and then bottle that? You cant. Its amazing to me how these artists conceive and execute their ideas. Where does it come from? Even they cant explain it. This song will be listened to 500 years from now.
Probably the album that introduced me to music as a kid and made me grow into such a music lover and explore more. Freddie is one of my first icons together with Michael Jackson when I was a kid. He has a great statue in Montreux, Switzerland where he lived and wrote some stuff, it was his anniversary not long ago.
![Музыкальное Вскрытие | Богемная Рапсодия [Bohemian Rhapsody]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/77HwUMh13dM/mqdefault.jpg)
Doug's spontaneous headbanging moment was probably UA-cam Moment of the Year =)
💯🥰❤️
Likely inspired from how he said he discovered this song in the first place!
If you don't headband during that part of this song, you can't sit with me. 😆 Even my kids, who are 16, 13, and 11, have learned to headbang there. It's such a generational moment for some of us.
So Wayne's World! Loved it! Most excellent dude!
We may be old but we're not dead. Still head banging, WITH my great grandchildren.
John Deacon is one of my favorite bassists and complements this band perfectly.
Rick Beato interviewed Brian May, they discussed how they layered the vocals on this song. Rick can play isolated tracks, and does in that video.
ok?....
Who’s Rick?
@@michelletammydenney1417 very interesting youtuber. Former music college teacher, former producer etc etc
I've heard Brian discuss the harmonies maybe in the same interview. Very complicated process that requires near perfection or all is lost. Very interesting , never realize how labor intense the process is.
That was a great interview! Rick Beato, Pete Pardo and of course Doug Helvering are my favorites music youtubers! Cheers!
This composition is a timeless masterpiece. A century will pass and it will still be listened to and praised. Thank you, Master Helvering.
The first part is not the four of them - it is only Freddie harmonizing with himself - and he is spot on - with the rhythm and he is in tune - no help from autotune or any other things - he was a phenomenon. Somewhere on UA-cam there is two different storys - one where Brian demonstrates how it was done - and the other is the technician that take us through it all - and pulls it apart so we can hear the layers. And Brian demonstrates how odd their "songs" is when they harmonize - and still in tune. Thank you for your reaction.
Rick Beato did a great video on this in combination with an interview with Brian May. Not sure if that's what you're referring to, but it's well worth watching.
@@GodmanchesterGoblin There's a video of May going through the recording in studio.
ua-cam.com/video/v15oIktGJOo/v-deo.html&ab_channel=QueenOfficial
there are some lines in the intro that he doesn't sing all the words/notes... some lines he interrupts the singin and continues later on... he intentionally made cuts (no edited) in the notes
You can actually Google Rogers Part . Not sure why people keep saying it’s only Freddie. You can actually listen to Rogers Galileo‘s without backup and without any music. It’s very cool actually
@@pattylisk6170 Yes in "the operatic section" they are all harmonizing (without John I guess). I say that Freddie alone harmonizes in the start because I have heard Brian tell it. And it is rather cool to hear what it sounds like when it is broken down.😉
A masterpiece in history of music, brilliant and epic.Eternal.
"Iconic" really is the adjective for Bohemian Rhapsody. Instantly recognisable and people who's music tastes run a truly mind-boggling range of genres absolutely love it, and nobody questions why. A song truly deserving of being branded a masterpiece.
It's hard to describe how I feel listening to music that has had such a huge impact on my life. I was 10 when this came out. I was 8 for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I was 5 for Abbey Road. I was 7 for Thick as a Brick. I was 14 for The Spirit of Radio. I've lived 40-50+ years with all this music and the more time that passes the more it means to me. Some of it is a remembrance of youth. But mostly it's the feeling that comes with any sort of real, long-lasting love. It grows. It's an incredible joy that's one of my favorite parts of growing old.
You expressed that feeling perfectly! I was 12 for this, 7 for Abbey Road and Led Zeppelin III, 10 for Dark Side of the Moon & Fragile....all have been a huge part of the soundtrack of my life.
I may be 1 or 2 yrs your junior, but your sentiments are in lock step with mine.
Gotcha Jim - just add five years for me. I completely agree with everything you wrote, especially the last couple of sentences...
Totally. This came out when we started buying albums. My friend bought this and we came back and put on the Prophet Song and we were speechless. Was the whole album that good? Oh yes.
Then I had to back-fill with all that prog a young schoolboy missed because it wasn't on the radio.
You mentioned Thick as a Brick. One of the most amazing albums ever.
Same here !
One of the greatest albums of all time.. every song a masterpiece
I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was an interview with Brian May talking about Freddie introducing Bohemian Rhapsody to the band. Freddie had gone through the intro and rock part and then states “ … and her comes the operatic part”. The band apparently were stunned and probably questioned whether it should be part of the song. Obviously Freddie convinced the rest of the band, and as they say, the rest is history.
Freddie was a force. Just look at him leading the crowd at Live Aid. Off the charts charisma and confidence (if only on the outside).
The White Queen as performed in 1975 at Hammersmith is spectacular too. My absolute favorite by Queen!
Yep, it wasn't the music theory behind the song that made it so unique, but that they somehow managed to mix about three completely different genre's together in a single song and did it beautifully. From the lyrical content, to the vocal harmonies, the melody, the tone, arrangement, mix etc, it's a masterpiece.
This was released when I was in high school. When it came on the car radio, my younger brother and I would sing it at the top of our lungs, just like in Wayne's World. I would keep my Craig portable cassette recorder sitting on the car speaker so I could record songs like this.
When I listened to multitrack version, listening track by track of the 24, more than 20 years ago I realized it is really a masterpiece.
Some songs emerge so perfect and iconic that it's hard to believe they weren't already there all along and the musician/s merely provided the conduit for the song to enter our world.
Great comment
I think this band could be considered true composers. The words, song, structure arrangement and production are all levers they as a band work on and don’t just hand ball it off to someone. I always find it surprising (and this isn’t just Queen ) my daughter is surprised by older music having very distinct left and right channels. Queen, The Beatles, Yes etc were all very conscious of the stereo spacing of their recordings
Yes Doug !! Can't wait for this
💥💥❤️❤️❤️
It's not just this song that's iconic. Queen have penned more than their fair share of songs that have become part of the mental furniture of our culture. From Bohemian Rhapsody, to We Are The Champions, to We Will Rock You, to Under Pressure with David Bowie, to Another One Bites The Dust, etc... So many riffs and melodies that are just embedded in our collective psyche.
Queen aren't just a rock band, they're a cultural phenomenon. Their music is iconic, their performances are iconic (their Live Aid performance is one of the most iconic live performances ever recorded, but look at some of the performances from the 70s, they were an absolute juggernaut on stage), and their frontman was iconic, and almost universally recognized as the greatest rockstar there ever was. There was a man made for the stage, made to have tens of thousands of people eating out of the palm of his hand. We can only be grateful for all the joy and beauty he brought into the world while he was here.
*_"From Bohemian Rhapsody, to We Are The Champions, to We Will Rock You, to Under Pressure with David Bowie, to Another One Bites The Dust, etc..."_*
You forgot My Fairy King, The Night Comes Down, The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke, The March of the Black Queen, Nevermore, White Queen (As it Began), Some Day One Day, Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist, Lilly of the Valley, In the Lap of the Gods (Revisited...) and many, many more.
{:o:O:}
@@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095 um, KILLER QUEEN..just saying
I see that others have added to the list, and I'm a Killer Queen fan myself, but yours is still one of the finest memoriams I think I've ever read.
Hmm… Millionaire’s Waltz!!!! And yes they were so much more than just a band. Freddie was a born superstar.
Freddie Mercury was a genius and a fantastic performer. Your analysis Doug, really pointed out to me his use of classical and operatic devices. Very cool analysis man. Thanks.
What impresses me is that Freddie was no doctor of music. He was using his experience and inspiration to make such a special song that it stuck for the rest of time. its as important to the human race as any other stroke of genious. Freddie could not have known what it would become, but he was the singular human unit that was able to pen something that came alive. Bohemian Rhapsody is an entity that connects endless humans on its own plane. Thats something.
No auto tune. Freddie layering his own voice into a harmony. And let’s not forget he was a kid in his 20’s. ( heard it in a commercial yesterday 😂 )
a timeless classic that will live for the ages!
Right on Doug! Absolute one of the greatest rock songs ever written! The world misses Freddy! One of the true greats!
our generation's Mozart
If there was a universal song, this would be it. Love my Freddie since high school!!!! Thanks
You should also listen to Good Company which precedes Bohemian Rhapsody on the album. The section with the jazz band is all played on Brian May's guitar and, once you realise that, is one of the most mind blowing things you'll ever hear.
Wonderful review. Freddie looked so exotic at this time. I remember there really wasn't anything like him or the rest of Queen.
Rick Beato did a great interview with Brian May. And THE best Sting interview Sting ever did!
Queen has been my all time fav band since the 80's.
The first song I learned on piano. I love Freddie's composition skills.
“They’ve got opera pegged” 😂😂 that cracked me up!
It's a legendary tune and video Doug. 👍🎶
I'm excited every time it starts, I feel lucky to be listening to it, and when it comes to an end I always wish there was more. It's impossible to say what THE BEST song is, but I don't think there's one better.
This was their make or break album, they were broke and if this album didn’t make it, they may have had to break up. It didn’t hurt that a famous DJ, Kenny Evert, played it 14 times over the weekend before it was released. Freddie said “songs are like fish & chips,paper, you eat it and throw it away. He never talked about the meaning of songs
I honestly appreciate that approach to songwriting. The lyrics and the song may have a specific meaning at the time that you write it, but once you’ve written it, it’s out there, and you can let go of it. That allows the song to take on different meanings for you over time 🙂❤️
Not to be nitpicky, which I’m now going to proceed to be. But Kenny’s surname was Everett. He also had an iconic imo tv show in the UK. And it was all done “ in the best possible taste “.
Kenny was a music, and comedy genius.
Noted as "timeless". Yah, not a time I turn on the radio that it isn't playing. Now that "Queen Mother" has passed, even more so. Let's put it on a loop.
@@Dee-77777 sorry Dee, I did know he had a TV Show and was a friend of Freddie’s and the band
Waited for this, thank you Doug!
You take my breath away , live and then the studio version both need a Doug break down 👌
Simon, I love the Live at Hyde Park
Both versions are fantastic, but the studio one has that incredible intro. Probably my fav Queen song
@@georgesonm1774 it probably has the best intro and outro to any Queen track and yes , probably my favourite studio track along with Prophets Song
Great analysis it is nice to see you just enjoying a song. Bohemian Rhapsody goes through the 5 stages of grieve. You should check out Freddie Mercury’s collaboration with Montserrat Caballe. The Barcelona album gave Freddie Mercury a chance to experiment more with his classical side. It is a great album.
I heard it for the first time from my father's vinyl, around 1989 and I fell in love with this band ... It was something different, special, unique.
Freddy forever ❤❤❤
I was in 10th grade in 1975 and remember clearly my first time hearing RH. At my best friends house, she had the album and we listened to it together. Wow! I will never forget it! One of my favorite songs ever! It’s one of those songs you can’t help but sing along every word. Love the camera set up Dr. Doug! It’s fun to see you play along! Lol, watching the video as we were having our morning coffee this morning, my husband and I were head banging!
Cheers Doug. In a world of discovery reactions to this song (no bad thing) it's interesting to have someone analyse the song. This was my first introduction to Queen way, back in late 1975 and they hooked me into becoming a life long fan and gifted me a thread through my music collection which seemed to embrace a whole collection of styles and choices. I remember my parents wanting me to have a more diverse listening palette since I became obsessed with seeking out a Queen album with every birthday and Xmas gift voucher, but honestly I think I can probably thank them for being a band which managed to use the conduit of rock to give my ear the comfort to journey through a lot of different genres. Each album defied what you might expect from therm, particularly through the seventies, from the bombastic heavy rock of "Stone Cold Crazy", the delicate touch of "Nevermore", the ragtime silliness of "Bring Back That Leroy Brown".. albums which, as individual works of art, were so diverse it actually made it easy to accept whatever they wanted to throw out there and never less than entertaining when they did. I think that was the real magic behind Queen - few outfits are able to condense such a fan base with such a diverse catalogue. Looking to that legendary operatic section, whilst people were arguably quite rightly thrown by that section being planted in the middle of chart pop song with its ballad and heavy rock sections, it's perhaps not so surprising since they were no strangers to wild vocal harmonies at that point. I only came to realise this later on when I dug into the pre-"Night At The Opera" works over the following years. Still a brilliant song for its structural openness and flow.. quite remarkable (as we know anecdotally) that it managed to get released but arguably THE high profile objective lesson in humility to all music executives who might think they know what "it" is. I also remember Brian saying that the overdubs were so excessive that the tape itself began to become see through.. hehe.
I happen to have a copy of the entire multitrack dump from the original tapes here. Importing those tracks into Audacity (or whatever DAW app you prefer) reveals a lot more than you think. It is an amazing listening experience that eclipses the official store bought releases. WOW is an understatement!
One thing to note: Due to the massive amounts of overdubs, the original tape is so fragile and started wearing out to the point where the iron oxide particles will detach from the plastic film of the tape. The whole reel of tape now has to be "baked" so often, to prevent the iron particles from being ripped away from the plastic layer every time it's played.
As far as the lyrics go, one only has to read between the lines.
Queen presented this album "A Night At The Opera" to Groucho Marx personally (Marx Brother's movie with the same name). There's even a photograph of that.
I suppose having listened to it for so many years what I take from it now, in 2022, is the sheer fearlessness it represents. "Not suitable for radio" at the time still makes me smile.
I heard it as a kid on the radio in the seventies Queen News Of The World was one of my first three vinyl albums that I bought in 77. I was 10. I literally grew up listening to these guys and I can't imagine my life without them.
Simply STILL the biggest band on the planet
Freddie could still sing circles around any talent.....while near death. On top of the elevated emotions that Queen has always delivered.....there is the addition of heart piercing lament.
Thanks Doug for another great analysis.
Queen has always been my inspiration throughout my life, since I first heard Queen while working the night shift on the radio blasting in the press room of the printing company, my first job out of high school. Today, I call them the "Master Manipulators of Emotions", so much so that I think that's why their music is so timeless, it never gets old because its always eating at your soul... My newest adjective for Freddie's iconic voice is "Eargasm".... such as "You Take My Breath Away," "Love of My Life," or "You and I"... whether he tickling the piano keys or belting out a banger, he's always been the consummate performer always aiming to please. Now, 31 years after his tragic death, his bandmates announce another "new" song to come out any day now (they said in Sept.) called "Face It Alone", which I am quite sure the entire world has been waiting to hear...
Blessings to you and yours.
The most beautiful song ever composed.
A great song from Queen to review would be “My melancholic blues”
From the UK, back in 2013 my sister, nephew (from other sister) and myself had a holiday in Orlando, after a Universal visit we decided to have a meal at the Hard Rock, there is a person that goes round with an ipad connected to their 'jukebox' so you can select music to play in the restaurant, one of my choices was 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. When it started the whole restaurant stops eating and one by one starts singing along, by the 5th or 6th line the whole place was singing. The look on the servers faces indicated this was not a regular thing (can't have been the first time someone selected it) so must have been a day where all the other diners had really good music taste. With everything else in Orlando from 4 visits (with theme parks) this is still my highlight of all the trips. Great song.
This is part of the soundtrack of my youth. There was so much iconic music released in that era. Bohemian Rhapsody is one of those magical pieces of music that doesn't sound dated at all.
Doug. Great video as always!
Small constructive feedback: during this time in their career, all four of them were still penning their own songs mostly, bringing them written to the studio and arranging them as a band with the writer implicitly pretty much calling the shots. They wouldn’t go to writing together consistently in the studio and sharing writing credits until later in their career, starting with 1989’s “The Miracle”.
Thanks for this Doug, wonderful insights!
A technical note: I have read that to create the very full sounding, lush harmonies, the three singers, Freddie, Brian and Roger, would start by singing the melody line in unison, roll the tape back, and overdub each harmony part in unison, giving the resulting harmonies very full body, and the mix of their three timbres creating a natural chorus effect. Indeed, brilliant.
Queen
You've got to understand that this video wasn't released worldwide at that time.
In 1975 this played primarily in the UK. We didn't get to see it until MTV was born years later. I bought this album when it came out in '75. It was later replaced with a copy on 8-track then cassette.
I had the pleasure of seeing them live twice at Madison Square Garden in 1980 & 1982. It is phenomenal live.
One of your most descriptive breakdowns of how a iconic song was constructed which is why it will last for ever.
Doug, I have only recently discovered your channel whilst wallowing in Supertramp listings. I am 12 years older than you and my boyhood music was Queen, SuperTramp, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, etc and in the day, I just loved the ‘analogue’ construction and musicality. Now, you have made me realise the brilliant composition and construction of 70’s & 80’s music was; pure brilliance compared to later bands (with many exceptions). Please root out ‘Swing Out Sister” (UK ensemble with strong orchestral influence), you won’t be disappointed.
I was 11, went on my first Boy Scout camping trip in 1975. Bohemian Rhapsody came on the radio, 2 brother (twins) jumped up on picnic tables and sang alternating parts. I was hooked!
We've had a tradition here in the Netherlands in recent (I don't know how many) years of people voting for music to go into the Top2000 of all time. These 2000 songs (all of them) are broadcast on our Radio2 station, leading up to number one just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Bohemian Rhapsody has been the number one for most of the recent years (one exception). So, the Rhapsody is started close to twelve on New Year's Eve so that the final gong sounds at exactly midnight.
This has been going on for many many years. So you could say that Queen created a Dutch Tradition.
A great review, Professor. I, especially, like how you've edited in a different frame for when you play the piano. It's a great way to break up the static nature of the reaction video structure. A great review! Best! J
Great reaction and analysis! Thanks, Doug. Happy to say that I still have the 45 rpm single that I bought almost 47 years ago.
A film character once said of a Mozart composition that if a single note were added or subtracted, the entire piece would fall apart!
Freddie and Company recorded a song that just the same, every note was perfect and the song would suffer if anything were to be altered!
Great review!
Great observations at the end. Thanks Doug
People of a certain age just can't help but headbang to the breakdown. The type of people who question getting a gunrack for their birthday.
This is an amazing song and the album is one of my favorite albums of all times, it’s the first vinyl record I’ve ever bought.
Album #3 - Sheer Heart Attack... I believe to be their best album.. It has to be listened to all the way through.
Sheer Heart Attack is great but the best album overall in my opinion is A Day at the Races. Perfection.
Danke! One of my favorite songs, greetings from Berlin.
Every time I see your University of Kansas diploma I think you should have a little button you can press where Carry On Wayward Son starts playing.
Glad to enjoy this rock masterpiece with you Doug
"We will rock you!" From the Album "News of the World", is also very famous!
Watching you enjoy this song was awesome. Listening to you analyze it, even more so. First time reactions are great but this was even better.
In 2004, Queen made history by releasing one of the first Classic Rock cassette compilations in Iran, something that due to religious conflicts was very rare. In the pamphlet for the cassette, the band actually gave a meaning to the song which makes a lot of sense.
The song is a tale of a Faustian bargain that involves a man who sells his soul to Beelzebub (Satan), but then accidentally commits Murder. Before his trial and execution, he confesses to his mother before running away (the ballad). However, he is caught and is sentenced to death. On death row, he pleads with Satan to have his soul back (the Opera) but Satan refuses, and so his fate has ended him up with his own place in Hell. A lot of the specific Operatic lingo in the Opera section was, as Freddie said, a bunch of nonsense.
Please do the entire Jason Becker album Perspective! He struggles with ALS and needs all the attention and sales/donations possible!!!!
plus it's incredible music he wrote with his eyes!!!
The song Primal has Steve Perry doing vocals for crying out loud!
Jason is a true genius composer like Mozart, and in his teens was one of the best guitarists and musicians and composers we've ever seen. He needs support to make more music, and with his condition we don't know how much longer we have him with us - so please do the entire Perspective album!!! All the songs are so different and beautiful!
Love your channel. About Queen, you mostly cover their more heavy sounding songs. I would love for you to do an analysis on the live performance of "you take my breath away" from Hyde Park where Freddies breathy quality and story telling ability really brings the song to a whole new level compared to the studio version. It's just breath taking. Hope you have the time to take a closer look at this piece. All the best from Sweden.
Still love this song as much as when it came out. The whole album is up there too as were the next two albums.
It's actually an amalgam of 4 songs they were working on. But once you realise what the lyrics are actually about, it all makes sense. Apart from the Mama Mia bits .
The german band MADSEN released the song "Labyrinth" in 2010 (from the album of the same name). The song is an homage to Bohemian Rhapsody and is constructed in a similar way.
I love your channel. Love, love, love it. I also love the English language. I hesitate to say anything, but iconic, by definition, is something visual. I would say Queen, the band, is iconic, but the song is epic. I hope you take this feedback in the right spirit. I love the intelligence of your channel, so thought...okay, I'll write what I'm thinking. Keep up the great work. I bought this album the day or week it came out.
Yes it's true that Freddie came to the studio each section of the song fully formed in his head. They referred to it as" Freddie's nightmare"
Since the song wasn't recorded in sequence, the band didn't really know what they were recording and how it fit into the song until they heard the Final Mix
Greetings from Nebraska
Queen in bohemian rhapsody just shows how amazingly diverse their musical talent is. Their range is awesome. The song is like an experiment no chorus and was written as almost like a Mashup showing that range. Creatively amazing.
Gees Louise, Doug. I BOUGHT this album in high school when it was released. Now you’re making me feel old. 😮
You looked really happy in this video
The operatic section was not just a parody Doug. Watch the review of this song from Virgin Rock and you will get it. But a great video as usual. You can’t go wrong reviewing Queen. Best band of all time.
Have a listen to the title track from their album 'Innuendo'. Another excellent piece of music that not nearly enough people know about. In fact, that entire album is magnificent. The final studio album before Freddies passing. "Bijou" is my favorite from that album.
Like Doug, I was a 90s kid and learned of this song watching Wayne's World. When my Mom heard about it, to my surprise she went to the closet and pulled out her 45rpm single of it. My friends and I would rock out to the head banging part over and over on my Dad's stereo. Great memories!
I really enjoy your videos. Feels like I am listening with a friend
Thanks, Doug, for that interesting discussion.
I think most Americans only became aware of this song in 1992 in that movie. Here in the UK this song was at No 1 for nine weeks. And for me, great thought the track is, it's perhaps been played a few too many times over the years - so much so that it actually is `not my favourite Queen number. "My Fairy King" gets my vote!
I distinctly remember hearing (and seeing) this song for the first time, in 1975. There was a feast on the high school and on my bicycle I rode to a beautiful classmate to take her to the feast. I was invited inside, being shy, and on the television was TopPoP, a weekly pop music show. And then they showed the Bohemian Rhapsody video. The whole family there and me was flabbergasted, wondering what happened there. No romance that evening, alas, but nevertheless unforgettable.
I remember hearing on the radio in 1975, abd hoping one the FM stations would pick it up so I could record it. My parents had gotten an awesome stereo system that Christmas, I used so many cassette recording off-air. I loved going direct to tape and not having to mic the speakers and catch incidental noises. We didn't have Audacity back then.
Thanks, Doug!
hoping for some altesia in the near future? preferably their epic track exit initia
This makes me happy.
Thanks for doing this one, Doug. Very culturally significant.
Doug, if you've not experienced it, then check out the Green Day audience performance (in Hyde Park, London I think).
Something my comp professor used to say: it's more important to return to the texture of an earlier section than to actually return to the material. I didn't fully agree/understand until I connected it to this song.
From what I heard (a few years after the song first came out) was that Queen never performed this live all the way through - because it was so complex they couldn't and there were parts that were pre-recorded. I have heard that others have found a way to play a cover version live but by 'making a few changes' but nothing could ever match the original!
Doug many years ago I was a DJ in Pubs (Bars) and clubs, I bought this record (45 RPM) the day it was released, that evening I was in 1 of my regular gigs and played it. The whole place went silent, listening to what I was playing. The Land lady (Owner) shouted from the bar What the F**K are you playing, I said across the mic to everybody in the Pub. Maggie next week you will be asking me to play this as it will be #1. Thanks to Kenny Everett & Queen I was right she never questioned my music choices again. Great Times.
It’s funny how, at the time, I was 15 and still art school. Not a big music consumer. When Bohemian Rhapsody went up the charts I heard it, and didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t immediately easy to listen to, with all its stops and starts, and differing movements, A Capella vocals and hard rock guitar. It was completely unlike anything else that had come before it. Chart songs were just the usual verse, chorus, verse, chorus at the time, and this song blew up the traditional notion of chartable records. I’m not a massive Queen fan. I like and appreciate them well enough, but it’s sure hard to imagine the music landscape without this monumental and historic song in it now.
This music has resonance for me particularly as I moved from prosaic Coventry to out-there London in 1975 and this was the soundtrack to a lot of new experiences. This was the music of all possibilities and fun too. Thank you Kenny Everett! (John Peel too.)
You should check out a spontaneous outburst of this song at a greenday concert by an audience of 40,000 plus, it impressed the band they video taped it. It was played before the band came onstage it's amazing really impressive.
There are certain songs that somehow connects to the human condition and this is one of them. There is no way to explain it. Freddies passion, Mays guitar, Taylors drums and Decans bass with the vocals come together and create a magical moment in time. Its like a baseball player going 5 for 5 with 3 homeruns and 8 rbi's. Or a pitcher throwing a perfect game. How do you explain, analyze and then bottle that? You cant. Its amazing to me how these artists conceive and execute their ideas. Where does it come from? Even they cant explain it. This song will be listened to 500 years from now.
Probably the album that introduced me to music as a kid and made me grow into such a music lover and explore more. Freddie is one of my first icons together with Michael Jackson when I was a kid. He has a great statue in Montreux, Switzerland where he lived and wrote some stuff, it was his anniversary not long ago.
Who wants to live forever is my personal favorite Queen song. Really shows how amazing Freddy Mercury was