'Freddie Kept Coming In With More Galileos': Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Explained

‘200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt

Photo byQueen Productions Ltd / EMI Records

“Bohemian Rhapsody” was a №9 hit in 1976 and reached №2 in 1992 when it was re-released after Freddie Mercury’s death and appeared in the film Wayne’s World. Clocking in at almost six minutes, the song is a mix of a cappella, opera, and rock anthem elements.

“I always wanted to do something operatic,” Mercury said in Rolling Stone. “I wanted something with a mood setter at the start, going into a rock type of thing which completely breaks off into an opera section, a vicious twist, and then returns to the theme.

“I don’t really know anything about opera myself. Just certain pieces. I wanted to create what I thought Queen could do. It’s not authentic . . . certainly not. It’s no sort of pinch out of Magic Flute. It was as far as my limited capacity could take me.”

“Bohemian Rhapsody” was recorded at five studios between August and September 1975 and required nearly 200 tracks for overdubs. ”‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was totally insane, but we enjoyed every minute of it,” producer Roy Thomas Baker explained in Mix.

“It was basically a joke, but a successful joke. We had to record it in three separate units. We did the whole beginning bit, then the whole middle bit, and then the whole end. It was complete madness.

“The middle part started off being just a couple of seconds, but Freddie kept coming in with more ‘Galileos’ and we kept on adding to the opera section, and it just got bigger and bigger. We never stopped laughing. It started off as a ballad, but the end was heavy.”

“The vocal harmonies was something we wanted to do from the beginning, as we are always keen to do that kind of thing,’ guitarist Brian May told On the Record in 1982. “We wanted to be a group that could do the heaviness of hard rock, but also have harmonies swooping around all over the place. We thought there was some real power and emotion in that combination.

“The guitar solo was pretty much off the cuff, except I think I had plenty of time to think about that one. I remember playing along with it in the studio for a while when other things were being done. I knew what kind of melody I wanted to play.”

May explained in Rolling Stone that bassist John Deacon asked Mercury about the song’s title. “John said to him, ‘What are you going to call it then, is it called “Mama?”‘ And Freddie went, ‘No, I think we’ll call it “Bohemian Rhapsody.”‘ And there was a little silence, everybody thought, ‘Okaaay . . .’

“I don’t think anybody said, ‘Why’ but there it was. How strange to call a song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ but it just suits it down to the ground and it became a milestone. But nobody knew.”

Frank Mastropolo is the author of the 200 Greatest Rock Songs series and Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever.