Bohemian Rhapsody Thesis

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” a song by the British rock band Queen was written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera. The song became an instant success in the United Kingdom. It was the most costly song release of that era because the editing to create the sound that Mercury was after was time-consuming. Mercury died of aids in 1991; further substantiating rumors regarding his homosexuality. One can imagine the music that may have been produced if he were still alive today with the technology that is available. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a work in progress since the middle of the 1960’s. He put a lot of his own energy into the song to make it a success. Mercury confronts the hypocrisy regarding homosexuality by religions

The voices almost become a wall of sound which is impenetrable. In his essay, “The Rebel,” Albert Camus discusses the importance of a person knowing who he is and what he is worth when he writes, “He demonstrates, with obstinacy, that there is something in him which ‘is worth [-] while …’ and which must be taken into consideration” (Camus 12). Mercury is finding himself and becoming self-confident in who he is. There is a self-respect building in him that will not again be extinguished by the moral values of others. The music becomes urgent as it comes to be operatic, and when compiled with the voices listeners cannot distinguish specific sounds. The wall of music exhibits that they will stick together and each member of the band is worthwhile; no one or nothing will infiltrate to destroy them. Each member is being protected from outside influences by the other members. They are a team and they will stand together against even unfair and unbalanced ways of thinking. It seems as though there were forces that would hold Mercury hostage because later he sings, “Bismillah! We will not let you go” (32). In Arabic, bismillah means in the name of God; therefore, he is demanding to be let freed from the bonds that are holding him, but in the name of God he is being denied that freedom. Camus touches on this when he writes, “[T]he metaphysical rebel protests against the condition in which he finds himself as a man” (23). Mercury cannot deny himself any longer and will not pretend to be something that he is not to pacify those that would call him cursed because of lifestyle. He has found out who he is and will no longer allow the church and this can be in any religion to define him in their own