What is Queen's song Bohemian Rhapsody about?

Its about him killing a man and being sent to the electric chair for the murder. Bismillah is parsi, indian, muslim or whatever you want to call it. Kind of begging his God for mercy. Beelzebub as you know is one of the 5 princes of hell thus meaning he got protection by selling his soul. In the end he dies anyway. so in a summary:

Freddie killed a man and was sentenced to death by the court. The towns people pray to their god and Freddie instead of receiving mercy from their god he is offered protection from Beelzebub who takes his soul. Which then leads to aggressiveness in which Freddie dies. The only person who gains something is Beelzebub seeing as Hell got a new member.

Its simple, Freddie mercury ( real name Farrokh Bulsara) was of Indian parsi heritage. Now, Parsis are a group of people who migrated from Persia ( which neighbours India) more than 1000 years back, today they have been intermingled however and are part and parcel of the Indian society. they follow a religion called Zorastrianism ( btw, I am a Parsi myself). And, NO the fact is we don't identify ourselves as Iranian, we are truly Indians.

Farrok i.e. Freddie was not a Muslim or Arab, however in Persian, Hindi etc Bismillah is a general term for Godwilling ! It is used alike by Muslims, hindus, parsis and even Christians alike.

The song Bohemian Rhapsody is complex and as Brian May so rightly puts it, no one for sure can decipher its full meaning like Freddie had intended.It could be a plethora of expectations, ideas and an amalgamation of his experiences in life put in one great and outstanding song which is probably the most genius hit ever writen and composed in rock history !

The name "Bohemian" in the song title seems to refer to a group of artists and musicins living roughly 100 years ago, known for defying convention and living with disregard for standards. A "Rhapsody" is a piece of Classical music with distinct sections that is played as one movement. Rhapsody's often have themes.

Freddie Mercury wrote the lyrics, and there has been a lot of speculation as to their meaning. Mercury's parents were deeply involved in Zoroastrianism, and words like "Bismillah" do have a meaning in that religion. His family grew up in Zanzibar, but was forced out by government upheaval in 1964, and they moved to England. Some of the lyrics could be about leaving his homeland behind.

In an interview with Brian May and Roger Taylor on the Queen Videos Greatest Hits DVD, Brian said:
"What is Bohemian Rhapsody about, well I don't think we'll ever know and if I knew I probably wouldn't want to tell you anyway, because I certainly don't tell people what my songs are about. I find that it destroys them in a way because the great thing about about a great song is that you relate it to your own personal experiences in your own life. I think that Freddie was certainly battling with problems in his personal life, which he might have decided to put into the song himself. He was certainly looking at re-creating himself. But I don't think at that point in time it was the best thing to do so he actually decided to do it later. I think it's best to leave it with a question mark in the air."


http://songfacts.forest.net/detail.lasso?id=685

From what I can tell, this entire song is basically a soliloquy from a young man sentenced to die tomorrow. He's given up hope, and expresses the thought that his life doesn't really matter. Anyway, here's my extremely non-lyrical straight-forward translation:

Is this really happening?
Is this all for real?
Caught up in all this,
There's no denying the facts.
I'm insignificant, don't mind me-
What happens doesn't really matter
Anymore to me.

Mama, I killed a man.
I was so young and had so much ahead,
But it's all gone now.
Don't feel bad.
When I die tomorrow,
Keep living as though I never existed.

My time has come.
Goodbye everybody.
I have to leave you all and go face the truth.
I don't want to die,
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all.

I see the silhouette of a figure,
Fool, will you do the hangman's dance?
I am terrified.
Will you spare me my life?
God! Will they let me go?
No, of course they will not let me go.
The devil has reserved a spot in hell for me.

Insert more agitation... and that's the song =]

Gotten from Wiki:

There Queen states that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil. On the night before his execution he calls for God in Arabic, "Bismillah" (Basmala), and with the help of angels regains his soul from Shaitan.

I believe this song is about AIDS. Freddie Murcury was known to have been homosexual, and the line, "just killed a man" is suggesting the transference of AIDS. "pulled MY trigger now he's dead"...

The verse that begins "so you think you can stone me and spit in my eye" are the spoken words of the man "shot" at the beginning of the song. We can only guess that the man being shot is Murcury's partner or lover.

The lyrics also suggest that he didn't wish any mourning for his death or passing because, "nothing really matters" to him.

Ultimately, I think this song is about the guilt Murcury carried for having contracted and passing on the AIDS virus without his partner having known, possibly without having known it himself.

This song can really tear me up... If this is really what he meant by the song, I wonder if anyone close to him realized so before he died. Hmm, very sad.

"Bismillah" is an Arabic word meaning "In the Name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful", and used by observant Muslims. Freddie was not a Muslim but a Parsi (Zoroastrian) -- the religion predates the Islamic conquest of Iran, and survives mainly in India to which Parsis fled around 1000 A.D. and where they survive as a distinct community. Freddie likely picked up this term from India (with a large Muslim minority) or Zanzibar (majority Muslim island).

The song appears to be about a poor young boy facing the death penality for killing a man.

Bismillah is from Arabic meaning in the name of Allah or God. Freddie Mercury aka Farrokh Bulsara was of Indian muslim origin.

The use of bismillah is commanly used in Arabic speech, especailly in formal situations to place an emphasis on an answer- consider "Bismillah! no-,we will not let you go-let him go-"

This appears to be a dialoge between the boy and the justice system. The justice system also appears to be middle eastern "So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye"

Anyway, could go on and on but I think i will stop here. the rest you can work out from yourselves...

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,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..

Great song that I take as a ballad about a guy who killed someone.

The song isnt about aids, homosexuality or some poverty-ridden kid in some 3rd world country but actually about Freddie Mercury's self ego, and our self ego is the destruction of all mankind...

Lines, such as:
Mama,just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head,
Pulled my trigger,now hes dead,
Mama,life had just begun,

Means:
hey mom, i just killed my self ego
killed it with (something)
MY LIFE HAS JUST BEGUN!!!

see... now you see...

Freddy put that song together with no idea of it's meaning! What a cleaver artist he was!

Freddie, having just returned from a "Craft" ritual in the "Grove". Invited by a friend and member of the Royal Family. Was deeply moved by what he witnessed. So much moved that his conscience was overwhelmed with guilt/shame and having sworn an oath of silence could not speak of the events of the "Gathering". It was at this time he wrote lyrically(as to why he wrote of it this way only Freddie knows)in hopes that the members would accept his song and not find it too disclosing of the events.

Share your answer...

Since 'Bohemian Rhapsody" came out in 1975 long before HIV or AIDS was discovered(and long before Freddy Mercury became infected) there's no way the song could be about AIDS.

It's quite possible the song is about a young man who committed a murder and has been sentenced to death. It's equally possible the song has no definite meaning at all. There has been many songs with nonsensical lyrics that became quite popular. It adds to the mystic of a song if it's meaning is difficult or impossible to determine. I just listen and enjoy. :D


Postscript--
According to the article on Wikipedia:
"However, when the band released a Greatest Hits cassette in Iran, a leaflet in Persian was included with translation and explanations (refers to a book published in Iran called "The March of the black Queen" by Sarah Sefati & Farhad Arkani, which included the whole biography of the band & complete lyrics with Persian translation [2000]). In the explanation, Queen states that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil. On the night before his execution, he calls for God in Arabic, "Bismillah", and with the help of angels, regains his soul from Shaitan."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody

About six minutes long.

i think its about him turning gay

Don't think it can be about AIDS as I doubt anyone other than some very clever scientists would have known the term in 1975 (and I'm not even sure it had even been identified then).

I really believe it's about him coming to terms with his homosexuality and what it meant to him and others close to him. Now, it's all conjecture on my part, and if this is what it's all about, then it's obviously dressed up in all the imagery of the lyrics etc, but I really believe at the core, it's about him realising he is gay and will have to "kill" something/someone in some people's eyes to become who he must be etc.

I kind of side with the song being a mix of both his religious beliefs which become highly manifested in any person with any illustration of death in their life, and an expression of obvious past experiences and current problems of his life. Some people are saying there is no correlation between HIV, his contraction and passing of the virus to his lover in this song due to year of release. The truth doesn't matter just as much as nothing really does matter as stated in the song but I find uncanny relationships between lyrics and the story of him and his lover contracting HIV. Also, strangely one of the doctors who was accredited for the discovery, is Dr. Robert Gallo.. which i found had a strikingly high resemblance to the name Galileo. I haven't done much research on the topic but I find a lot of high correlations between ideas and real life events of Freddy. I just wanted to add my two cents and say people try not to claim you know meaning to unknowns, all we can do is speculate which was most likely the intension of Freddy.

i think that its him killing a man himself beacause he got ads that he cant take back what he did so he thinks he shoud go to hell and then he realizes that he gay so he wants out and dosint care that is family doesnt like him bieng gay

This is actually one of the great mysterys of Queen. No one knows. Freddie DID NOT take the answer to this question to the grave. He told Roger Taylor (Queen's drummer), but Roger can no longer remember it.

Some have said itss about Freddie's sexuality. But again, no one really knows.