Rock opera. That's what they call "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Me, I've never been to an actual opera. (Unless you count Phantom of the Opera, which I don't think you should because I think it is a play and not an opera. Even though it has the word "Opera" right there in the title.)
This song is, of course, a big bombastic blast from the past. I remember, as a kid, hearing Casey Kasem on his "American Top 40" program, say that this was the most expensive song ever recorded. (That was a long time ago, though. I'd bet that these days it probably costs more to get Beyonce's fishnet wrangler into the studio than it cost to make "Bohemian Rhapsody.")
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| Just four guys, singing a little tune. |
The thing that makes this song so good is that, well, it is so darn GOOD. For Christmas this year we got a karaoke machine. The kids love it. We got them some kid music for the machine (including the obligatory Frozen karaoke disc.) And, The Wife got me some 80s music and big four-disc set of party favorites, not by the original artists. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is on one of those discs. And, as soon as the kids heard the song, they glommed right onto it. They gravitated right towards "Bohemian Rhapsody!" Because it is such a great darn song! Even when sung by the "Karaoke Express Singers" or whoever the heck it is that sings the song on the karaoke disc. (I feel I must expose them soon and often to the real version by Queen, so they can enjoy the song in its full greatness.)
The song also follows the many-different-songs-in-one format that I like so much. There is:
1) The "No Escape from Reality" beginning.
2) The "Mama, I Just Killed a Man" ballad.
3) The "Scaramouch Fandango" opera part.
D) The "So You Think You Can" guitar rock-out part.
and E) The "Nothing Really Matters" ending.
Great, great stuff. I can't believe it only made it to #9 when first released back in 1976. (Songs that did make it to #1 in 1976? "Convoy." "Theme from S.W.A.T." "Theme from Welcome Back, Kotter." "Afternoon Delight." All wonderful songs, but come on, seriously?)
Of course, the song had a major renaissance when it was used in a scene from the movie Wayne's World, with the characters from the movie singing along whilst driving in their car. That scene, of course, reminded me of a time several years earlier when a couple of doofuses sat in the back seat of the high school band tour bus and sang this song into a tape recorder. We were Wayne and Garth long before Wayne and Garth were.
Party on, Garth! (Any way the wind blows.)
COMING UP NEXT: A song for the Vikings and the Jazz. (Someday.) (Maybe.)
Of course, the song had a major renaissance when it was used in a scene from the movie Wayne's World, with the characters from the movie singing along whilst driving in their car. That scene, of course, reminded me of a time several years earlier when a couple of doofuses sat in the back seat of the high school band tour bus and sang this song into a tape recorder. We were Wayne and Garth long before Wayne and Garth were.
Party on, Garth! (Any way the wind blows.)
COMING UP NEXT: A song for the Vikings and the Jazz. (Someday.) (Maybe.)
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