Analysis of Bohemian Rhapsody Essay Example

When discovering oneself, in this glorified society, people find their identity and will either embrace it or reject it. In some cases, it's both. It is a journey filled with highs and lows and in "Bohemian Rhapsody", written by Freddie Mercury and composed with the band Queen, Mercury's time finding his identity was full of struggles of coming to accept who he is. Freddie Mercury was bisexual before he had passed away on November 24, 1991, and in his time and day, before any progressive movements were put in a positive light, being gay was more commonly considered to be atrocious (Freddie Mercury 3). It was treated as a crime and a sin to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and when realizing that someone is queer in a time where it is alienated, that sense of their identity vanishes. Freddie Mercury used songwriting to show his struggle with his sexuality and that part of his identity. His hit song, "Bohemian Rhapsody", when he was in the rock band Queen, was very symbolic in a sense of finding who a person is, especially in the sense of him finding himself. "Bohemian Rhapsody" alludes to a number of things varying from religion to Shakespeare literature and in between those lines of allusions, Freddie Mercury discovers his identity and struggles with his self-hatred towards himself due to his identification.

Freddie Mercury's lyrics are heavy on meaning and that means what is stated never really actually means what is conveyed. At the near beginning of the song, Freddie Mercury mentions killing a man, when in fact that man is himself, "Just killed a man,/ Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger,/ Now he's dead/Mamaaa, life had just begun,/ But now I've gone and thrown it all away" (Mercury lines 12-17). From lines 12-17, they discuss Freddie Mercury killing someone, but in the 16th and 17th line he says how life began then he threw it all away, Freddie refers to himself and how he had thrown it all away by being bisexual (Freddie Mercury 3). He was young and successful and had a whole life ahead of him. Being gay is considered heinous by people who are often close-minded and in 1975 when "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released, being lent more conservative and was not as progressive. When he found his identity, it is felt as if he threw his shot at a nice life away by his sexuality, which is a part of how a person identifies.

Spiraling is often a reaction to anxiety, stress, and doubt, and when Freddie Mercury realizes a part of his identity, he seems to spiral and calls himself a clown. He views himself as foolish and dishonorable for being gay. Freddie Mercury mentions Scaramouch in his song in the following lines, "I see a little silhouetto of a man,/Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango!" (Mercury lines 30-31). Scaramouch is a stock clown character that shows up in plays usually made by Shakespeare and in the 31st line, Freddie Mercury asks if Scaramouch could do the fandango (Scaramouch Definition and Meaning 1). The fandango is a fast Spanish dance or a way to get hanged, commonly referred to as the "hemp fandango" (Fandango Definition and Meaning 1). Freddie Mercury seems to refer to himself as Scaramouch and asks him to hang himself, ashamed of his identity, and he tends to refer to himself in a third person tense. He is talking to, and about himself, feeling vile about his disposition.

Throughout the song, religion has been mentioned a multitude of times, and by all means, does it have a deeper meaning than what is set at the forefront. When Mercury alludes to religion he is confessing for what he deems as sinful. Being gay is credited for being a sin in some religions and people of high faith follow their religion to the print, whether it was true in the first place or not. "Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me,/ For meee" (Mercury lines 48-49). Here Freddie says that Beelzebub, the devil or Satan, has a devil set specifically for him, and Bismillah is also another religious figure in his life when he was younger living in a South Asian household. Bismillah means in the name of Allah (Bismillah Definition and Meaning 1). They both are religious in a context and he mentions them in a way of either "purifying" him or setting his "sins" in stone. Freddie Mercury says how he has a devil for him and it is as if he is committing some evil sin for his sexuality that he identifies himself with because of religious pressures on him. 

The beginning and the end of the song can be symbolic in some way and it is the very first and last thing a person hears when listening to songs. The importance lies at the beginning and the end as it is the first and the final thought. Freddie Mercury, the lyricist, shows his first thought of his identity, this solemn opening wondering if his identity was real or not, marking the start of his journey of hostility towards himself to finally accepting himself. He repeats some phrasing in in last stanza from the first stanza being, "Nothing really matters, Anyone can see,/ Nothing really matters,/ Nothing really matters to me/ Any way the wind blows…" (Mercury lines 54-57). The last few lines of this song state how nothing matters to him and it does not matter how the wind blows. When used in the context of the first stanza, he is in a state of shock and discovery, how there is no escape from reality and he says the phrase of how the wind blows does not matter to him. Meaning, no matter how Freddie Mercury wishes to identify himself as, whether it be the truth or it be false, the wind shall not sway how he originally saw himself as. The last few lines of this song state how nothing matters to him and it does not matter how the wind blows. The first stanza is of Freddie trying to decipher if his identity is real or not but in the end he has come to the terms that he is who he is and it cannot be changed, not even by himself. Even though he faces animosity from his own self, he cannot rid of his character's individuality that defines him for who he is. No matter the direction of the wind, it will not change how he is as a person at truth.

Freddie Mercury, struggling with figuring out and confirming his identity, shows him finding it through the process of poetry and allusions. Discovering oneself is proven to be complicating and baffling. It hurts many in the long run, either due to self resentment or hatred from people outside their own jurisdiction. When coming to terms with Freddie Mercury's own identity, there were trials and tribulations but the eventual outcome was him eventually being able to accept himself for who he is.