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Poll Question: Bohemian Rhapsody is...
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JD View Drop Down
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    Posted: April 11 2021 at 09:57
Prog, absolutely. Certainly enough comic relief that it may raise the question of parody or not, but there are lots of other examples that cross the line of (for lack of better term) legitimate prog vs humourous or parody prog. I don't see why a band can't bring some fun into the song and not have it be considered straight up progressive.
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there are definitely some elements of parody in the song; how else could something like "Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Figaro", which doesn't make any sense at all, be taken? there is an influence of Albert Camus' novella "L'Étranger" in it too (as in "Killing an Arab" by The Cure). but most of all it is a great song


Edited by BaldJean - April 11 2021 at 09:32


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I'd classify it as operatic rock - probably should have been part of a bigger work, because despite its title 'A Night at the Opera' is not really a concept album, nor is it a rock opera (as e.g. 'Tommy' or 'The Wall' are). It is still an excellent album tho.


Edited by Progishness - April 11 2021 at 10:05
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Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

Parody intends to make fun of its subject or open it up for ridicule. I don't think that was the band's intention with Bohemian Rhapsody (and that's the difference between someone like say, Weird Al Yankovic and Queen)
Bohemian Rhapsody is closer to pastiche which celebrates it's subject rather than mocks it.
 
I never really considered this particular distinction when I started this thread. Perhaps I should have said "Parody or Pastiche" instead of just "Parody", but it's too late now to change the poll options.
 
 
 
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Parody intends to make fun of its subject or open it up for ridicule. I don't think that was the band's intention with Bohemian Rhapsody (and that's the difference between someone like say, Weird Al Yankovic and Queen)
Bohemian Rhapsody is closer to pastiche which celebrates it's subject rather than mocks it.
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Originally posted by The Anders The Anders wrote:

It can never be a parody for me. Sure, there's a lot of exaggeration going on, but it is done in a very tongue-in-cheek way and with a lot of humour.
 
But that's what parody is, isn't it?
 
 
 
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^ I think that plus his rejection of the Zoroastrianism faith in which he had been brought up
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Originally posted by The Anders The Anders wrote:

It can never be a parody for me. Sure, there's a lot of exaggeration going on, but it is done in a very tongue-in-cheek way and with a lot of humour. Combining humour and seriousness is a great acchievement in my world.

I'm not sure I fully understand what the song is about, but that's the great thing about it. It is open for interpretations, and in that respect it is anything by vulgar.

It was Freddie's 'coming out of the closet' song apparently. 'I killed a Man' is the big clue.
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Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Originally posted by The Anders The Anders wrote:

It ticks several boxes:

It abandons traditional song structure.
There are tempo changes.
There are irregular bars (in the opera section)
There are many key changes.
It combines hugely different musical parts in an unusual way.
There is inspiration from classical music (opera).

I'd say it is prog, but it is also something else - like much great art.

I agree with you, I like this song very much....


But....

the beginning, romantic, with the classical piano (which perhaps remains the best part of the piece), is serious, but gradually the music becomes more and more pumped up, and the opera-style choral piece is a parody (albeit with Queen you never know if they want to do the parody or not: I think they often end up doing the parody without wanting it, as happens sometimes to McCartney of the Beatles), and the change of rhythm that after the piece of lyric music leads to a hard rock piece is a parody too. 

That is, some passages, which are typical of prog, are performed here in a very tacky, exhibited way, creating a great sound impact but also the feeling that they want to overdo it, that is to make a parody.

This seems to me a general characteristic of Queen, which makes their music exaggerated.

I could say that their prog is performed in a somewhat vulgar, coarse way, which is what often happens with the approach of heavy metal groups, a very direct approach, not sophisticated because it does not play so much on the nuances.

This is my critical analysis and why I voted for parody, because I see a lot of that element in all of Queen's music, even though Bohemian Rapsody is a great song, perhaps their masterpiece (Innuendo is also close to her).




I agree that much music that appropriates 'highbrow' forms in which the artist has not been formally trained e.g. opera or classical, can come across as unwitting parody but I don't believe Queen are guilty of that here. I've never felt a single moment of Bohemian Rhapsody was tacky, course or vulgar (like Wagner is understated and restrained yeah? LOL) and have long suspected that it's overwhelming popularity, which rendered any habitually pretentious critiques completely irrelevant, sticks firmly in the craw of hipsters and elitists everywhere. Way to go  Freddie and the boysThumbs Up

Because no serious Prog musician would do anything vulgar with classical music, like Keith Emerson having simulated sex with his overturned Hammond while playing a Rondo. LOL
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It can never be a parody for me. Sure, there's a lot of exaggeration going on, but it is done in a very tongue-in-cheek way and with a lot of humour. Combining humour and seriousness is a great acchievement in my world.

I'm not sure I fully understand what the song is about, but that's the great thing about it. It is open for interpretations, and in that respect it is anything by vulgar.


Edited by The Anders - April 06 2021 at 17:00
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^Exactly why I prefer the word pastiche to "parody" on this one.
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Originally posted by jamesbaldwin jamesbaldwin wrote:

Originally posted by The Anders The Anders wrote:

It ticks several boxes:

It abandons traditional song structure.
There are tempo changes.
There are irregular bars (in the opera section)
There are many key changes.
It combines hugely different musical parts in an unusual way.
There is inspiration from classical music (opera).

I'd say it is prog, but it is also something else - like much great art.

I agree with you, I like this song very much....


But....

the beginning, romantic, with the classical piano (which perhaps remains the best part of the piece), is serious, but gradually the music becomes more and more pumped up, and the opera-style choral piece is a parody (albeit with Queen you never know if they want to do the parody or not: I think they often end up doing the parody without wanting it, as happens sometimes to McCartney of the Beatles), and the change of rhythm that after the piece of lyric music leads to a hard rock piece is a parody too. 

That is, some passages, which are typical of prog, are performed here in a very tacky, exhibited way, creating a great sound impact but also the feeling that they want to overdo it, that is to make a parody.

This seems to me a general characteristic of Queen, which makes their music exaggerated.

I could say that their prog is performed in a somewhat vulgar, coarse way, which is what often happens with the approach of heavy metal groups, a very direct approach, not sophisticated because it does not play so much on the nuances.

This is my critical analysis and why I voted for parody, because I see a lot of that element in all of Queen's music, even though Bohemian Rapsody is a great song, perhaps their masterpiece (Innuendo is also close to her).




I agree that much music that appropriates 'highbrow' forms in which the artist has not been formally trained e.g. opera or classical, can come across as unwitting parody but I don't believe Queen are guilty of that here. I've never felt a single moment of Bohemian Rhapsody was tacky, course or vulgar (like Wagner is understated and restrained yeah? LOL) and have long suspected that it's overwhelming popularity, which rendered any habitually pretentious critiques completely irrelevant, sticks firmly in the craw of hipsters and elitists everywhere. Way to go  Freddie and the boysThumbs Up


Edited by ExittheLemming - April 06 2021 at 07:47
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It's obviously prog rock.

Queen weren't a prog rock band overall, of course. They were 'Queen' Which meant they would make whatever music they wanted to at the time, be it pop, metal, rock 'n' roll, classic rock, prog rock, jazz, ragtime, funk/disco or whatever. They weren't constrained by genre's and labels, they just got on with making music, which is probably why they had so many. They weren't understood.
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I'd go with pastiche as opposed to parody.
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well stated Lorenzo, not just about the song but about Queen in general.  I think Queen gets away with a lot of tackiness and crassness that we wouldn't stand for in big P prog groups, whom we would accuse of sell out if they did anything half as vulgar.
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Originally posted by The Anders The Anders wrote:

It ticks several boxes:

It abandons traditional song structure.
There are tempo changes.
There are irregular bars (in the opera section)
There are many key changes.
It combines hugely different musical parts in an unusual way.
There is inspiration from classical music (opera).

I'd say it is prog, but it is also something else - like much great art.

I agree with you, I like this song very much....


But....

the beginning, romantic, with the classical piano (which perhaps remains the best part of the piece), is serious, but gradually the music becomes more and more pumped up, and the opera-style choral piece is a parody (albeit with Queen you never know if they want to do the parody or not: I think they often end up doing the parody without wanting it, as happens sometimes to McCartney of the Beatles), and the change of rhythm that after the piece of lyric music leads to a hard rock piece is a parody too. 

That is, some passages, which are typical of prog, are performed here in a very tacky, exhibited way, creating a great sound impact but also the feeling that they want to overdo it, that is to make a parody.

This seems to me a general characteristic of Queen, which makes their music exaggerated.

I could say that their prog is performed in a somewhat vulgar, coarse way, which is what often happens with the approach of heavy metal groups, a very direct approach, not sophisticated because it does not play so much on the nuances.

This is my critical analysis and why I voted for parody, because I see a lot of that element in all of Queen's music, even though Bohemian Rapsody is a great song, perhaps their masterpiece (Innuendo is also close to her).




Edited by jamesbaldwin - April 05 2021 at 14:02
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Originally posted by siLLy puPPy siLLy puPPy wrote:

Nope, true progressive rock in every sense of the word. This is the track that most likely got Queen invited to the prog related club here.

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Kinda-Sorta Proggy. Like a lot of stuff recorded around that time it lifted elements of prog while still staying somewhat mainstream/ accessible to the masses. 
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Id say its a prog song but timewise its condensed to meet radio play constraints.

It works like a play and it doesnt follow simple song structure (intro, verse, chorus, verse chorus, verse, chorus, chorus, outro, end of song), instead it goes in and out of different emotions and takes you on a journey.   But songs that do this tend to last longer than what Bohemian Rhapsody does.  Most exceed 10 mins.

I think the Savatage song Chance took huge influence from this song.
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