Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody is one of those songs that is instantly recognizable from the first few bars. Its combination of rock, opera and ballad made it stand out as one of the innovative songs of all times, at a time when rock music didn’t mix with any other genre.

When Freddie Mercury wrote this song, Queen were working on the album A Night at the Opera, which in my opinion is one of their most accomplished albums. His vision in creating a song that not only mixed genres, but also broke away from the normal format of having a chorus and broke the song into 3 distinct sections, was nothing short of genius.

While not particularly successful in the USA it became a surprising hit in the UK and was number one for 9 weeks; at the time many bands (including Queen) were beginning to prepare video demos that were used for promotional purposes. Queen took this further with Bohemian Rhapsody produced a full video that not only could be used for promotion, but could also be used on shows like Top of the Pops in the UK. This served two purposes – firstly, due to the complexity of the song, and the fact that parts of it cannot be reproduced live due to the complexity of the dubbing, the band didn’t have to mime on TV – Queen weren’t the kind of band to turn up to events and mime, they were a live band! Secondly, it also allowed the song to be promoted heavily while they were on tour. This essentially became the first music video, and to this day stands out as one of the most original and distinct uses of the video media.

Queen were surprised by the success of this song, and not only has it become one of the best classic rock songs of all time, but it also have become one of the most covered songs of all time – including a recent Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody that somehow captures the essence of the song, while being able to portray the song to a younger audience.

Perhaps on e of the most famous uses of the song is in Wayne’s World – the ‘head banging’ scene is one of the most reproduced scenes from any movie, and I have mirrored this same activity thanks to the wonders of this movie.

Personally, this song is one of my favorites for any reasons. It came at a time in my life when I was a teenager trying to discover who I was and somehow the deep and sad lyrics were appealing, and inspired me – making me believe in myself and not want to waste my life. Secondly, the music inspired me to listen to greats such as Led Zeppelin and Rush, but also explore other music such as Vivaldi, Bach etc – it taught me that I shouldn’t simply stick with one genre due to peer pressure, but should branch out and listen to any music that sounded great.

To this day I continue to listen to this song, and soon will be able to let my new Grandson listen to it.

I’ve searched Youtube and found some of my favorite videos – feel free to leave comments and add links to other great video versions – if I like them I’ll add them!

If you only watch one video  - make it the Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody - it's absolutely amazing!