Meaning of Bohemian Rhapsody

Nowhere in that does it say that "'Galileo' was the name of Jesus Christ in the ancient Rome".

It makes much more sense that in "the ancient Rome" he was called Iesus, so that one would know WHICH Galilean was being referred to.

Perhaps they even called him by his ACTUAL name "Yeshua". What a concept.

 

No need to worry, Grant: it's just (I think) about "history", not religion.

What a... concept. Sure, it doesn't say that "Galileo" was his name in the ancient Rome, but it says Pilate realizes that he is a Galilean. So? What is the point? May the ancient romans have seen him as a simple Galilean or as "The" Galilean (and, then, called him so)? I don't think it's so "unlikely".

But if you are so sure about it, well, I believe you.

Peace.

 

I have long been under the impression that Bohemian Rhapsody is from the perspective of someone who has done away with himself... i.e. suicide. I believe I read this at some point but it has been too long to recall the source. In any case it has always seemed rather obvious to me that he is making reference to himself when he says:

Mama,
I just killed a man,
Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger
now he's dead
Mama... life had just begun,
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mamaaaaa oooh,
Didn't mean to make you cry,
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,
Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

Too late, my time has come,
Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all
the time
Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go,
Got to leave you all behind and face the truth
Mamaaaaa oooh,
I don't want to die,
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

...and the whole middle part started out as a big goof that got more and more elaborate as they went. At least that's what they said in the making of "Night At The Opera" DVD.

 

Mercury is not singing "figuro": he's citing the title of Beethoven's only opera (Figaro), more in the spirit of Warner Brothers "Loony Tunes" cartoons than anything else.

 

"History"?? What do you mean by that??

 

Perhaps so, but it's worth noting that he doesn't actually sing "Mama, I, just killed a man." He sings, "Mama...just killed a man." So it could be taken either way. As for the rest of the lyrics... suicide/murder, death/rebirth, there's a significant amount of colocation here. The fields are fertile with ambiguity.

 

He later says "Life had just begun, but now I've gone and thrown it all away".

 

Galileo was the name of Christ in ancient Rome.
Senator Andrius Lloyd Webberus wrote that somewhere.

 

He threw his old life away when he told her his secret. He indirectly caused her rejection by telling her.

If it were a simple suicide tale, I wouldn't expect it to grow increasingly affirmational in musical tone as it progresses. The music for "Too late, my time has come..." doesn't sound more resigned than what came before it. It's as if it's picking up emotional strength, not succumbing to nothingness.

Can you reconcile the rest of the song with your suicide theory or is the rest of it just random word association--every last word. (?)

 

Have you seen the video with all the naked girls on bicycles? They said they had to change all the seats. Now that has meaning.

 

Beethoven's only opera? That's "Fidelio". A music forum addict? Really?

Galileo, a nice thread!

 

It's Figaro from the Rossini's Opera The Barber of Seville.

 

The point is: "Galileo" was not "in fact" the name of Jesus Christ in "the ancient Rome."

 

Jesus spent most of his life in Galilee, and is referred to as "Jesus the Galilean".

 

I write a lot of songs and used to write a ton of lyrics, and a lot of times my wife would ask what this or that song/line meant, and more times than you can imagine the answer was "the two lines rhymed". Galileo Figaro Magnifico....it might as well be Do Re Mi.

I think Jeighson1 is on the right track; I find it blindingly obvious that if this song has a meaning it's about someone coming out.

 

I know this is mostly about the lyrical meaning but this is an interesting Decca Classical LP that I originally thought would have a 'cover' version of the Queen hit BUT it's just the title of the LP and it was released in 1972, way before Queen! Weird! Did Freddie get the title from this LP?

 

Unforgivable lapse. Thank you.

 

I'm still trying to figure out Fat Bottomed Girls....

 

Unfortunately even the historical sources don't say "the Galilean". For example:

Tacitus Annals 15.44

The Younger Pliny Letters 10.96

Both of these talk about Christus or Christo -clearly because of the people that call themselves Christians.

I'm not a complete expert in Roman sources but I've never seen it mentioned anywhere that in Rome they would have talked of "the Galilean"

 

I think blindingly is a little strong (to criticize myself). Too late to edit the post, but consider the above an edit

 

That would be Senator Timotheus Oryza

 

Well played...

 

There was a BBC documentary about it, and I vaguely remember there was a discussion about the lyrics with a couple of academics.

Bohemian Rhapsody docu

 

Excellent point of view.

Black metaller?

So glad you like it! Thank you!

Well, I really don't know. Maybe...
May I ask you is it something related to Smetana's My Country?

LOL! Let me know when you'll get it...

Yep, a very good one.

Anyway, as regard the "Galilean", I did some research and here and here it says the same thing, namely that between the meanings of Galileo there is also Jesus Christ.

Plus, since I do not trust very much in the online dictionaries, I also checked one of the best Italian dictionaries (Devoto-Oli) and it says: "Epiteto (di solito pronunciato con ostilità) del Cristo: Più non trionfa, poi che un galileo Di rosse chiome il Campidoglio ascese (Carducci)"/"Epithet (usually pronounced with hostility) of Christ: No longer prevails, then that red hair of a Galilean ascended the Capitoline Hill (Carducci)".

Just to say.

 

Figaro must, therefore, be in reference to Gepetto's cat in Pinochio