Your honest to god opinion on Bohemian Rhapsody

a decent dramatic track hindered by freddie's inability to make his lyrics not sound contrived
don't stop me now is better

It's quite obnoxious, and it'd be great if I never hear it again.

All these people framing their response in the context of "society" and "normies". It's a YOUR opinion thread, not to what extent people enjoying it makes you cringe.

I personally think it's just a fantastic rock opera song. Well-written, great harmonies, and Brian's guitar performance is climactic and stunning. It also speaks volumes that the song's over 40 years old, has been blasted to death by every radio and sports event in the world, and maintains its freshness when you return to it after a little while. It's aged incredibly well.

I was in the lunch room in my university and it was playing on the radio. At first I smirked Ironically because of how much of an entry level meme it is but then as I listened to all of it I have come to the conclusion it's a really good song.

>It'd be great if I never took a step outside again as long as I live

>disliking pop songs for having contrived lyrics

An opinion is still your own if it's shaped partially by the consideration/ involvement of others

r/music core

It's solid, but hardly their best one.

It's a good song and I used to love it bit it has been so overplayed I can't stand it now.

Can 't stand it.

Stupidly overplayed, but still a great song.

It makes me unreasonably angry when groups of people spontaneously start singing it though

Your guys excited for the new Gorillaz album?

Radio has over played it to the point where it's lost its value maybe on a playthru of night at the opera it would sound better. The only way overplayed pink Floyd tunes still sound good

kinda but i doubt it's gonna be good

this has never happened to me

Unfortunately I think your right

Top cringe level

Queen has much, much better songs. It's just too overplayed for me to like it anymore.

I never thought it was that good. Even worse because in high school my friends would sing it in string class. Probably my least favorite song

Unbearably annoying

"Princes of the universe" and "who wants to live forever" were far better.

The most overrated mainstream song ever. A jumbled mess that doesn't link together well, with cringe as hell lyrics.
Why people praise this song I do not know.

It was always bad.

ITT: contrarians that can't enjoy something because it's "too popular".

I like it in general, but I love the harmony the most, it's absolutely insane.

It's a great song but with the context of their other songs and it's hype by Queen "fans" who never listened to one of their albums and every other rockist, eh.

Thought this was interesting (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody#Composition_and_analysis):

'When the band released a Greatest Hits cassette in Iran, a leaflet in Persian was included with translation and explanations (refers to a book published in Iran called The March of the Black Queen by Sarah Sefati and Farhad Arkani, which included the whole biography of the band and complete lyrics with Persian translation (2000)). In the explanation, Queen states that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil. On the night before his execution, he calls for God saying, "Bismillah" (In the name of God in Arabic), and with the help of angels, regains his soul from Shaitan (The devil in Arabic).'

Anyway, it's an objectively great song and it's stupid to let other people "ruin" a song for you. the attitude ITT is straight-up "The fact that annoying people like something makes me not want to like it." Which is a shitty attitude and can make you miss out on a lot, considering how many amazing things have terrible fanbases who misunderstand the thing itself/appreciate it for the wrong reasons

its great, one of the greatest songs ever written imo hope you love it too

I get physically uncomfortable when it's played because its association with annoying dadrockers (and me being a cringy dadrocker in middle school and listening to this almost every day). Maybe if I wiped all my memories of it and listened to it again I'd enjoy it, but I just don't know.

I think I'd still find the opera parts kind of annoying.

Like all Queen songs it's completely garbage.

Freddy Mercury is proof that even AIDS had its upsides.

>implying It's A Kind of Magic isn't top tier
Rhapsody is pretty garbage though

it's pretty daring for a song so popular ngl. wronggenerationers are right, what's the last time something this ambitious and out there was a hit? Car Radio?

I realized one of the last times I heard it for as popular of a song it is, especially for karaoke or singalongs, its lyrics are pretty nonsensical. Kinda weird.

It's a good song and will remain one no matter how many tools like it. I don't go out of my way to listen to it anymore, I played it out for myself. But it's still good.

If I had to pick though, I'd say Seven Seas of Rhye is still their best song. That or the Flash Gordon theme song.

how old are you guys that the people around you bump this shit regularly? or maybe it's about the type of people cause the people I know mostly play german/us rap electronic or pop shit

objectivity is a spook lmao

There's a BIG difference when the focal point of the song is telling a story. Not all pop music tries to do this

as far as "epic" Queen goes The Prophet's Song is infinitely better and I'm not even much of a Queen fan

The start is great and emotional. The opera section is cool. Then the song derails into cheesiness.

Lord wat a savage

it's pretty catchy

>something this ambitious
Not to discredit the song's qualities, but the most ambitious thing about this song is the little rock opera section in the middle. It's really not that mind-blowing.

>or maybe it's about the type of people cause the people I know mostly play german/us rap electronic or pop shit

That's the sort of music you hear when you hang around with faggots.

...

March of the Black Queen > The Prophet Song >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bohemian Rhapsody

I just don't hang with middle class art hipster faggots, it's just what most people put on around others, I rather play new rap than 60s rock, I can still listen to that at home

Nice blog faggot

It is one of those rare, legendary songs that no matter how old and outdated, is still and will always be a work of art that extends to every generation. Anyone and everyone likes this song... Millenials, old farts, 9 year olds and it will remain this way. It is liked by the masses because it is genuinely good.

I usually find old 60's, 70's, 80's music very outdated, bland, too simple and repetitive. but Bohemian Rhapsody is a song that is very fun, intricate and full of life. Its awesome. I really do hate 70's rock but i cant hate Bohemian Rhapsody. Its awesome

Sounds like faggots to me.

In my circle playing that shit will get you beat up.

Nigger detected.

>Niggers
>Listening to 70s rock

Yeah I'm a real nigger alright.

Came here to say exactly this. (Well - the part about The Prophet's Song. I'm a Queen fan.)

It's unfortunate that it doesn't get more attention.

its ok

Rock Operas suck dick and this is no exception.

March of the Black Queen is one of Queen's most underrated songs. People talk about Prophet's Song (hxc Queen fans at least) but virtually no one talks about March of the Black Queen, and it's better.

It's a good song that unfortunately got more airplay than it should.

It's not even my favorite Queen song, though.

This pretty much, the music is kind of insufferable here and there aswell though

Huh, I didn't realize that part about the character selling his soul to the devil.

>when its played at some party and everyone sings along im actually having a pretty good time

lol what kind of faggot sugarfairy gay buttsex pasty white people parties do you attend??

>Freddy Mercury is proof that even AIDS had its upsides.
nice

Was my dads favourite song.

Reminds me of him, so I like it. Too bad normies gota ruin everything.

...

If dubs Queen is Cred Forumscore.

Thank god, Queen is still tolerable.

I don't think it's that good

sure it's a well written and arranged song, with great production, and the musicians are all well beyond proficient at their craft

but I just don't like it

I'm glad I don't attend nigger parties

Tip tip, m'lady

the guitar part towards the end after he says 'just gotta get right outta here' makes me laugh every time

Bohemian Rhapsody?

More like Bohemian Rhapshitty.

ur the type to call any person being carefree and fun a nigger i bet

2nd most overrated song ever made right behind Don't Stop Believing. However, unlike Don't Stop Believing, it's actually okay.

great song. you all are being such forced hipsters

This

solid song, massively overrated but i guess it is pretty consistently catchy so it makes sense

The way we see society and people is something that help us to form opinions.

Shit like this makes me hate that song with a passion.

Bohemian Rhapsody is probably the biggest ever radio and chart triumph of the artistic and "extreme" songwriting across Europe. Don't be fooled: even if it seems fairly logical, one should not explain the incredible chart success (No1 for 9 (+5) weeks in UK) of this (and any) song directly with the undeniable musical values built in it. How then could you explain, say, the only-No11 charting of Bicycle Race, or the No1 charting of tracks like Flat Beat (Oizo, 1999)? Definitely important factors of success were the state-of-the-art promotional video-clip, the heavy airplay, the media-hype, and of course the music that was not just attractive but more extreme in a few respects than any hit song before and ever since.
The piece could not turn the rock-trends upside-down (except in making "modern" video clips), but it still enjoys cultic popularity among "air-guitar" players and bathroom-singers. The US single-market, as so many times in Queen's history, was not too thrilled due to interest in the more dance-oriented singles That's The Way I Like It (KC The Sunshine Band) and Fly Robbin Fly (Silver Convention).

Bohemian Rhapsody is particularly remarkable for several reasons:
-The production was pobably more complex than any hit-record before (read Philipp's article).
-The song covered more styles, including a stylized opera-choir unprecedented on the single-market, maybe also in prog-rock circles.
-The net melody content of the lead melody (see the theory-tutorial for details) is about 165 seconds, which is an all time record among hit-singles. This value is so extremely high (among hit-singles), like a skyscraper in a small town. In the world of progressive music it's not an unprecedented fact, but this genre failed to impress the pop-crowd for some reasons.
- The song is relatively (but not uniquely) long: six minutes.

corny

The band, with their earlier albums (and particularly with songs like "The March Of The Black Queen"), manifested themselves as musical geniuses, and a great effort like this was not very surprising to come, retrospectively looking. Freddie himself had wanted to write a song "like this" for a long time. With its beauty, extremity, and high standard, "Bohemian Rhapsody" represents the whole Opera album perfectly. The composing and recording process took three weeks, and the song went through major changes until the final cut, especially the "opera" section.

Section-wise, the piece is nearly acyclic; in progressive music they call this type of song-chains a "suite". Having said that, Bohemian Rhapsody is relatively short compared to most prog-rock suites. Similarly to "The March Of The Black Queen" but to a much greater extent we can find distant reprises of some sung/played/lyrical phrases and motifs. Only the "Rock" section is kept out of this game. The "Ballad" section is built up from two verses, the only section-repetition in the song.

The arrangement features the classic "Queen combo": electric bass, drums, piano, double-tracked rhythm guitar, multitrack guitar choirs (only in the Outro), multitrack vocal harmonies (sometimes up to six parts), and twelve tracks. Nothing extra except the special percussion gong and the bell-tree ("...down my spine"). John was not given too much freedom for his bass part as he hardly lets his bass-line "walk away" in this particular song.
Freddie was the only composer (including the famous rock-riff); he arranged the vocal harmonies as well. The solo and the guitar harmonies in the Outro must have been arranged by Brian, though. Freddie's affection for opera became apparent here and peaked with the "Barcelona" album in 1988. What particular composer influenced Mecrury is another interesting question.
Queen used to perform the song on stage without the Intro, and the "Opera" section was played back from tape providing a perfect spot for a light-show.

Literally the worst song ever written.

I liked it the first few dozen times but it's shit now

>having autism

What is it like?

The album version is preceded with a short mysterious multitrack guitar-trill with similar function to the trademark-shots that start big movies and computer games. This trill oscillates between Bm and C#m chords in their first inversion. One possibility is that it comes from the outro of "Good Company".

The "real" intro starts off a-capella: tight harmonies of four parts. The leading part is the second from top, as it is usual in barbershop harmonies. Piano enters in the fifth measure. The harmony during the "easy come..." part is only three-parted, and this is the motif that will show up in the Opera section in both this and an altered form. The intro (without the pre-intro and the pre-verse) is 14 measures long (4+3+2+2+3). The rubato-flavor of the first phrase originates from the syncopations
without rhythmic backing and the 9/8 meter. The latter switches to 4/4 for the second phrase. Except the Spanish guitar section of "Innuendo", this is the only phrase in non-traditional meter in a Queen song.

Beat map of the first phrase:

1 2 3 4 +1 2 3 4 +1 2 3 4 +1 2 3 4 +
**** * ***.-* **** * ********

The basic harmonies:

|Gm7/D| C7 | F7 | Bb |
Bb: vi |V-of-V| V | I |

| Gm7 | Bb7 | Eb |
Bb: vi | I | IV |
Eb: iii | V | I |

| Cm7 | F7 |
Bb: ii | V |

|B Bb A Bb|B Bb A Bb|
.. I .. I .. I .. I

|Eb Bb|Dbdim7 F7| - |
|IV I |iiidim V | - |

>not knowing music theory
What is it like?

The first phrase features a chain of fifths root-motion. Note the heavy use of seventh chords here and throghout the section. Second phrase adds piano, measure 6 features pre-downbeat accent (on the word "see") followed by an on-downbeat entrance of a piano motif that is a shortened version of what will close the first Verse, but also will show up in the Outro (both in Eb-major). The lyric line "doesn't really matter (to me)" in modified form will show up both in the Verse ("as if nothing...") and in the Outro ("nothing really..."). The chromatic oscillation around the tonic in the fourth phrase in a modified form (see exactly how) will recur in the "Opera" section ("I see a ..." and "I'm just a ..."). The progression has a vague "IV > I > V > I" flavor created by the cross relations Eb-D and A-Bb. The open ending is nicely resolved by the opening chord of the next section.

"Ballad"-Spacer
It's a twice played one-measure piano arpeggio, the same that starts the Verse and features appoggiatura on the 6th degree. The first Spacer is overlapped by the closing sung phrase of the Intro ("to-o me"). On the downbeat enters the bass guitar.

"Ballad"-Verse
The first Verse is 15 and half measures long. The phrasing is square except last phrase, which features a half measure.

Bb:
| Bb6 | Gm9 | Cm9 | Cm F |
| I | vi | ii | - V |

| Bb6 | Gm9 | Cm* | - |
| I | vi | ii | - |
Eb: vi | - |

Eb:
|Eb Bb/Db| Cm9 | Fm* | Bb |
| I V | vi | ii | V |

half
|Eb Bb/Db| Cm9 Abm | Eb |(Ab...)||Bb...
| I V | vi iv | I |(IV...)||

The harmony is built upon cliches:
1) First phrase features the I > vi > ii > V that is characterized by the chain of fifths root-motion. (See also Love Of My Life and Spread Your Wings). This cliche is spiced up with appogiaturas (the hand-crossing lick, simple but effective), the harmonic rhythm is varied in the last measure, and the "repeat" of the cliche is aborted by another commonplace lick, a line-cliche.
2) This line-cliche (marked with Cm* in the harmony-map) is built upon the Cm chord and a chromatic descending bass-line from C to G (see also Death On Two Legs and The March Of The Black Queen). Similar line-cliche is used in measure 11 with the Fm chord, only the descent is shorter: from F to D.
3) Measure 9 features the I > V > vi progression with scale-wise descending bass. (See also It's A Hard Life and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy). Omiting the Bb/Db leading chord, the third phrase features the same cliche-progression but in a different key.
4) The last measure features a semichromatic line-cliche with two descending lines combined with a fix note on top. This is the motif that appeared in shortened form in the Intro and will again pop up near the end. Although it's a cliche, you can't often find it in pop-songs in exactly this variant.

good song but memed so fucking hard

Having so many cliches compressed into only one section is unusual. Even the drum follows a cliche-like pattern first. The cliches and the square phrasing are the factors that keep the song in touch with the pop-traditions. On the other hand, we can find some special features: modulation, a half-measure, thickening texture, and quickening harmonic rhythm (last phrase).

The similarity between the two halves of the section is easy to see: first phrase of the couples has a more or less straight-ahead progression, and the second one is a variant. The closing of this section is very similar to the closing of the verse in Love Of My Life: the last sung word (BR: "...matters", LOML: "...means to ME" ) is overlapped by a half measure piano-arpeggio motif that introduces another piano-phrase. In spite of the basically identical harmonic shape of both halves of the Ballad, the lead tune shows less similarity. Except the "mama" measures, we can find only one pair of variant phrases: "Put a gun against his head", "Didn't mean to make you cry".

We don't have the feeling of a key-shifting going on, partly because the modulation is executed so smoothly that it's hardly detectable (in contrast with the return to Bb). On the other hand, the gravity center of the tune steps up with the key.

The backing arrangement is quite spare in the first Verse: only piano and bass, no guitars or backing vocals. The entrance of drums is held back until the end of the second phrase, exactly where the double tracked rhythm guitars enter; in the second Verse they mostly double the bass-line one octave above. During the solo Brian plays extra fills. Backing vocals enter on the downbeat of the third phrase: solo and antiphonal solo (probably double-tracked each). The latter ("anyway the wind blows") imitates the piano-line. This bit of lyrics will also close the song. Freddie's vocals showchaseexpressive special effects: vibrato and change of tone measure by measure.

The second Verse is different from the first. Starting from the third phrase:

Eb:
/----------- x2 -----------\\
|Eb Bb/Db| Cm9 | Fm* | Bb |
| I V | vi | ii | V |

|Eb Bb/Db| Cm9 | Fm* | Db... (Bbm)|| A
| I V | vi | ii | chromatic || I

In the fourth phrase the guitar solo starts, backed by the harmony of the third phrase. In the fifth phrase the guitar plays extra counter-melody in the second measure. The last measure continues the chromatic descent of the third one (i.e. F - D), resting for a moment on Db, then reaching A through a dramatic triplet on the downbeat of the next measure that already belongs to the Opera section. The harmony of the last measure is predominantly chromatic-driven, not functional. The closing A-chord is the new tonic of A-major, a key very distant from Eb-major, as you can sense.

The solo itself takes over the leading role from the vocal at its climax. Its tune climbs higher and higher with momentary step-backs while the rhythm guitars play downward figures. Note the short motif appearing in both half of the solo. The solo reaches the peak in the 18th measure, and then descends as the step-backs are longer than the ascending gestures. Long descending scale (with numerous hammer-on / pull-offs) can be found in the 16th measure. Similar soloing approach is applied in songs like It's A Hard Life and You Don't Fool Me. Octave-long ascending Mixolydian scales (here: Bb to Bb' in the key of Eb) are also featured in Bicycle Race.

From start to "Galileo"
Here we have eight measures (2+4+2). The first two measures present a mini-intro exposing the home-key and the doubled tempo. The abrupt simplification of the arrangement is remeniscent of the intro of Death On Two Legs and the middle break of The Millionaire Waltz, also the intro of The Miracle.

A:
| A | - |
| I | - |

| D A Adim A | D A Adim A | D A D A | Adim A D A |
|.. I ... |.. I ... |.. I ... | ... I ... |

|C#/G# G#7 | C/G E7 || A...
|chromatic... V || I

The second phrase features the variant of the third phrase of the Intro. This time the oscillating harmony (measure 3 and 4) is closer to IV > I > V > I.

Harmonized vocals enter on the 4th beat of measure 4. Note the lack of syncopation. The last phrase adds extra voices in both the low and the high range, and the rhythm section (bass & drums) kicks in.

Nice essay senpai, too bad nobody will read it.

It's overplayed but I can see why normies hold it in such high regard I suppose.

I hate when people sing it.... they camt sing.....

It's a very fun song to sing but it gets old fast.

It's a really great song, and it's somewhat amazing that someone could write such a complicated, changing piece and have it still be memorable enough that you can expect the average Anglophone to know all of it by heart.

March of the Black Queen feels a bit too directionless, though. There's barely any repeat apart from the short "here comes the Black Queen" bit, which I assume is the point of the song, but isn't quite as well-done as Bohemian Rhapsody (which has a shitloads of subtles foreshadowing/repeats or variations of phrases, etc)

I do love it, though. Queen II in general is an amazing album.

>"I hate this thing because of what other people say about the thing"
How much of an unconfident retard do you have to be.

Fast Food Song is probably the biggest ever radio and chart triumph of the artistic and "extreme" songwriting across Europe. Don't be fooled: even if it seems fairly logical, one should not explain the incredible chart success (No2 for a week in UK) of this (and any) song directly with the undeniable musical values built in it. How then could you explain, say, the only-No11 charting of Bicycle Race, or the No1 charting of tracks like Flat Beat (Oizo, 1999)? Definitely important factors of success were the state-of-the-art promotional video-clip, the heavy airplay, the media-hype, and of course the music that was not just attractive but more extreme in a few respects than any hit song before and ever since.
The piece could not turn the rock-trends upside-down (except in making "modern" video clips), but it still enjoys cultic popularity among “Hamburger” eaters and bathroom-singers. The US single-market, as so many times in The Fast Food Rockers’ history, was not too thrilled due to interest in the more R&B-oriented singles In Da Club (50 Cent) and Ignition (R. Kelly).

Fast Food Song is particularly remarkable for several reasons:
-The production was pobably more banal than any hit-record before (read Philipp's article).
-The song covered one style, including a fast food-chant unprecedented on the single-market, maybe also in circles.
-The net melody content of the lead melody (see the theory-tutorial for details) is about 3 seconds, which is an all time record among hit-singles. This value is so extremely low (among hit-singles), like a grain of sand in a small town. In the world of grindcore music it's not an unprecedented fact, but this genre failed to impress the pop-crowd for some reasons.
- The song is relatively (but not uniquely) short: three minutes.

>I don't understand it, so no one will read it
The harmony of the last phrase has some built-in chromatic cross-relations.

Sketch:

Top: F F# G G# A BTW, Freddie also used to notate his home-arranged
: F D# E E E vocal harmonies in this format (matrix of letters).
: C# C C D C#
Bottom: G# G# G E A

Besides the five-piece chromatic ascent (six if we add the preceding A chord) in the top vocal part, we can find four more chromatic steps omitting the C-B cross-relation of C > E7 as the latter chord seems to drop the B (5 of E), at least in the vocals. The functional analysis of this chromatic-driven harmony would result in a mess except the V > I closing. Note the lack of minor chords, and the soprano voice added in the last measure.

"Galileo-Figaro-Magnifico"
The metric structure of this subphrase is hard to follow because:
- there's no rhythm track guiding.
- the opening "Galileos" enter on a fourth beat. The strong beats also get some emphasis ("Gali-LE-o"), by a melodic spike.
- the "Magnifico" puts accents off-beat.
- the subsection is four an a half measures long.

beat-map:

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 1
**** **** ******* I'm just ...
**** ***********
***** * **

Arguably we could use different division to measures, but I'm afraid, the disorienting flavor of this phrase cannot be eliminated. The first two measures feature echo/hocket-like vocal arrangement with Roger singing one octave and a fifth above Freddie. They go into harmony in the third measure, very unusual parallel twelves. There's no chord support; the piano only doubles the open fifths. Note that before this sub-section we were in A-major and soon we find ourselves back in Bb-major. In pop-music the normal way for such a modulation is to simply shift the key. Freddie provides something more adventurous this time.
Looking at the pitch-set, Roger's part (five neighbour notes) is moving along the a-minor/C-major scale. The minor flavor is stronger especially when compared to the "mamma mia" phrase yet to come. So the first step was a "weak" modulation to the parallel minor key (granted we can't speak about proper modulation in a scalar enviroment like this) and its relative major. Freddie's part moves along the neighbour scale of the d-minor/F-major key, with a touch of Bb-major as Freddie (cleverly or incidentally) closes his "Figaro" on E-flat instead of E-natural (played by the piano). And here we are again in the key of Bb-major: the "magnificos" create an unusual downward chord build-up on Bbadd6 spiced with alternate panning.

Starts off amazingly but progressively gets slightly worse as it goes on. It aint bad at the end though. I would rate it 8/10

This six-measure subsection cleverly uses elements heard previously in the song. Note: no syncopation. The lead vocal in the first phrase speaks in first person, and the choir, like it does in ancient Greek tragedies, comments in the third person (see also Somebody To Love).

Bb:
|B Bb A Bb|B Bb A Bb|
| I - | - - |

|Eb/Bb Bb Bbdim Bb|Eb/Bb Bb Bbdim Bb|
|(IV) I ("V") I | I - |

| Ab Eb/G | F7 Bb |
|IV-of-IV IV | V I |

In the first four (2x2) measures we can hear the two already familiar variants of the third phrase of the Intro next to each other. The first two measures repeat the melody of this third phrase, while the first measure takes the lyrics from the second phrase of the Intro. This time the lead vocal is not harmonized, but the piano plays the same chromatic chord progression; the tempo is doubled. The second two measures feature the transposed (A > Bb) progression of the first sung phrase of the "Opera" section ("I see a..."). The recitative fixed note on bottom (Bb) is doubled on the top of the harmony. One of the the inner voices is also octave-harmonized, and each part is sung by more voices (or doubletracked? Read Philipp's article for details!). Note the "vivace" vibrato applied in the voices ("...famiLY"), and the drums and bass' backing.
The last two measures feature a pattern-driven rhythm, a special IV-of-IV chord, a cliche IV > V > I cadenza, and a descending scale in the bass (last measure).

The next subsection is preceded by the same one-measure piano figure (in double time) that we heard at the end of the first Verse.

"Easy come... - ...no no no!"
This subsection starts similarly to the previous one,

Bb:
|B Bb A Bb|B Bb A Bb|
| I - | - - |

The following choir part is completly different, though. The rhythm is disorienting to an extent where we can't speak about syncopations at all. Before speaking about measures and phrases, let's look at the beat map first (from "BISmillah"):

4 1 2 3 ? 1 ? ? ? 1 ? ? ? 1 ? ? ? 1 ? ? ? 1 ? ? ? 1 ? ? ? 1 ? ? # ?
* * * * * * * * * *
****** ****** ****** ***** *****_
*** *** *** ***
***********

continued from "never LET me go" at "#".

# 1 ? ? ? 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
**** * ** *****...
* * * * * * *

The first "no" marks the first more or less clear downbeat. Until this point the downbeats cannot really be located, although retrospectively we can find them: "let me GO" and "WILL you let...", but going back further in the middle part the whole thing is very baffling: off-beat starts and stops, only the Bismillah-s are on beat (save the first Bismillah starting on a fourth beat); some downbeats get no accent. On the other hand the 4/4, 8/4 periodicity is clear to see most of the time throughout the subsection.

The vocal harmonies of the first measures are built upon simple I and V chords (ie. Bb and Eb). Except "let me/him go", the sung phrases are backed with drums, bass, and piano. The harmonies are four- or five-parted, each double-tracked (probably). The Bismillah's are unisono. The "never, never..." (m.7) phrase (stereo floated left to right) follows the pattern: step down, third up. The chord build-up uses the same syncopated rhythm as the first Magnifico-o, but the chord is different: Gb7/Db. The "no-no" harmonies are among the craziest that Freddie ever arranged:

Top: Gb G A B E F G octaves are indicated with '
Middle: D E Gb Ab Bb Db' Eb'
Bottom: B, A, D Db Gb Bb, Eb A7 and Db7 omit their 3rd,
Chords: Bm A7 D Db7 Gb7 Bbm Eb3 Gb7 omit its 5th degree.

Just play each of these parts separately on an instrument! Crazy, isn't it? It's incredible how these three insane tunes go into one nice polished harmony. Also surprising is that each chord of the harmony is in root position. The bottom part is doubled by the bass and oscillates. Note that the middle and the top parts cross at the 5th beat.This harmony is non-functional, but it's not driven by a straight chromatic line, either, like we saw in the "thunderbolt" harmony. On the other hand, the middle part is dominated by successive whole steps playing major role in the unusual feel. The Bbm chord deceptively sounds like it had a major third (D instead of Db) giving the last two chords a flavor of V > I progression similarly to "frightening me". Indeed the Eb chord turns out to be the new tonic.

The "Mamma mia let me go" motif is familiar: it's the major variant of the "Galileo" with different arrangement and in different key (Eb-major), Note Freddie's rough voice here.
The three-eight upbeat is very disorienting, but the melodic peak (mammaMIa) marks the downbeats, like we saw with the Galileos. The "let me go" part is harmonized. One of the parts goes againts the descent, and the following "Beelzebub" phrase also has some walking tones among the six parts (twelve voices, as Roger mentioned in an interview). The harmony features an unusual tritone leap (Ab > D), strict root-following bassline, and a chromatically ascending middle voice:

Eb:
| Eb | Eb Bb |
| I | - V |

middle
voice: G Ab A Bb
| Eb Ab | D Gm | Bb7 | - | - |
| I IV |V-of-iii iii| V | - | - |

The dramatic climax is articulated by the ascending-desending lead part, and the rhythm guitars fading in. The sustained dominant seventh chord and the crescendo drum figure raise the tension that explodes on the downbeat of the next coming "Rock" section. Again, simple but most effective. Note Roger hits the high Bb note, in close contest it is the highest sung note in the Queen-catalog.
The drum part changes the meter to triplet driven 4/4 (12/8).

The intro-riff subsection is four measures long (phrasing: 2+2 AA'). Double-tracked guitars and bass play the tune and somewhere in the background piano provides backing chords.

Eb:
| Eb | Eb | Eb | F |
| I | I | I |V-of-V|

The rhythm of the riff features triplets (more accurately: hemiolas) in sympathy with the soon to enter lead vocal. Hemiolas dominate the lead vocal throughout the Rock section and create a strong feel of a 6/4 meter, while the drums play a steady 4/4 backbeat. This is an example, although not a great one, of polyrhythm (see also "The March Of The Black Queen"), where the "common denominator" (12/8 beats) is present.
The fourth measure is the shifted version of the second measure. The closing V-of-V chord and the much air-time given to the Bb chord create a feel of modulating to the key of Bb-major for the next phrases, but note the b7th appoggiatura in the lead vocal with a modal flavor in context of Bb-major key.
The "body" of the section (with lead vocal) is 12.5 measures (3.5+3+4+3) long with AA'BC phrasing where the B segment has an AA' (2+2) inner structure.
The guitars play mostly power chords (i.e. no thirds), but the piano or the lead vocal (like in the third phrase) makes it clear whether we have a major or a minor chord. The guitar figures that fill the space between the sung phrases (and half-phrases) seem to be in the hemiola-driven 6/4 meter.

half
| Bb | Bb Eb | Bb | Db* | The Db* chord is articluated by a triadic
Eb: V | V I | V |bVII | figure and emphasized stop on the root.
Bb: I | I IV | I |bIII |

| Bb | Bb Eb | Ab |
Eb: V | V I | IV |
Bb: I | I IV |bVII...

Eb:
| Fm | Bb | Fm | Bb |
| ii | V | ii | V |

| Fm Bb | Fm Bb | intro riff
| ii V | ii V | I...

Yet you call people being carefree and fun faggot sugarfairy gay buttsex white people.

The last measure of the first phrase is a mini-break with syncopated rhythm and a chord borrowed from the parallel key.
The ii > V progression of the last two phrases converge to the homekey (Eb), especially the last phrase with its doubled harmonic rhythm. This dilated resolution is reminiscent of this section's introduction - with a sustained dominant chord (although that was more effective). The figures of the lead vocal converge to F, then finally resolve to Eb.

The section closes similarly to how it started. The fourth measure is now the shifted version of the first/third measure of the riff. This riff expands into a connector filled with scale-wise ascending figures, in the triplet-driven rhythm. The first measure of this expansion (m.5) still belongs to the riff-phrase in terms of rhythm and melody development:

m.4 m.5
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 : drums and piano chords in 4/4
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 : triplet beats
* * * * *** *** *** *** : guitar figure in measure 4-5

The tonality of the connector part is ambiguous throughout.
Measure 5 is backed with piano chords F# > G# > A, while the guitar uses the pitch-set of G# Mixolydian major (C# major).
Measure 6 is backed with B5 powerchord and the pitch set of B-Mixolydian
Measure 7 is backed with Ab5 powerchord and the pitch set of Ab-Mixolydian
Measure 8 is backed with Bb5 powerchord and the pitch set of Bb-Mixolydian or Eb-major.
These scales are still triplet-driven (1/12).

Eb:
| Eb | Eb | Eb | F | Gb Ab A|
| I | I | I | II... |

half
| B | Ab | Bb | - | - |
| bVI | IV | V | - | - |

The missing thirds can be found in the lead-part. Note the unusual chain of major chords: Eb > F > Gb > Ab > A > B. The chord progression of the fifth measure is not "functional"; it seems to shift along the ascent of the guitar figure. The chords in the second phrase support the step-wise moving lead guitar figures using the Mixolydian scale upon the root of the actual chord (see "Bicycle Race" for the same gambit). Still, the second phrase seems to have a functional chord progression, and the closing Bb-Mixolydian scale can be interpreted as a regular Eb-major scale. For the last two measures the piano takes over the lead with parallel-octaves (foreshadowed by the parallel octaves guitar harmony in measure 8) and slows down to the beat of the Verses (half-time feel), creating a high-level ABA tempo-structure.

Outro
The first measures reprise the harmony of the second half of the Verse, but it changes very soon. The quick harmonic rhythm does not reinforce the half-time feel I talked about, but toward the end of the section it settles down. The first phrase is just instrumental:

Eb:
| Eb Bb/D | Cm G/B Cm|G/B Cm Bb Eb | D Gm | Ab Eb |
| I V | vi * vi * vi V I V-of-iii iii | IV I |
V-of-vi -

...

The G > Cm > G > Cm progression creates a feeling of half-measures applied but also a touch of a modulation to the relative minor key. The fanfare-like ascending guitar fills go into a (two-part) harmony in the second measure (third beat) for the first time in the song. The last beat of the third measure adds three-part guitar harmonies in the treble range featuring bent notes and vibrato. The fine parts are picked with finger as Brian often does when he wants to aviod the noise of the sixpence (used as plectrum) attacking the strings. The arrangement features piano, drums (the pattern is reminiscent of the Verse), bass (note the downward run in measure 3), "ooh" vocals, and guitar harmonies. The "ooh" vocals (omitting some octaves) go in parallel third with the descent of the bass in measures 1 and 2. Lead vocal enters in measure 6:

Eb:
m.6
| Cm Gm | Cm Gm | Cm Abm | Abmaj7/Bb |
| vi iii| vi iii| vi iv | IV - V |

The lyrics reprise the familiar "nothing really matters" line. The guitar harmony in measure 6 is mainly the repetition of measure 5, but the backing chords are different. The rhythm slows down a bit (rubato) in measure 8. Drums stop permanently just before measure 8.

Measure 9 features a five-piece chord with strong dominant flavor. The major 7th (that also sounds as 6th of Bb) and the 3rd degrees are provided by the lead vocal. The last word of the sung phrase marks the downbeat of the next phrase.

m.10-14:

inner line: G Ab G Gb F F | E
inner line: Eb Eb D Db C
inner line: Bb A Bb Ab G
chords: | Eb Ab/Eb | Eb Ebdim7 | Bb/D Db6 | C add7,#8 | C F |
Eb: | I IV | I idim7 | V
F: IV (bVI)| V (bvidim)| V I |

The piano figure of measure 10 is taken from the 7th measure of the Intro, but this time it's developed differently from what we saw in the first Verse, where it was followed by the same semi-chromatic line-cliche that will re-appear soon in measure 15 (this time in F-major). The harmony of mesaures 10-14 is built upon chromatic lines, providing a smooth modulation to F-major where the song finally closes.This key was not used until this point of the song. Note Freddie's fine volume and tempo control (rubato). Brian joins in with finely picked guitar fills from the third beat of measure 12, partly doubled by the piano (built-in tune).

The very last phrase features the line-cliche that ended the first Verse where the last resolving step was missing; this time it's complete. The lead vocal picks up three notes of the chromatic descent (shades of "I'm just a poor boy") then jumps up to F instead of slipping down to the lower F. The lyrics as mentioned before appeared in the second Verse section.

|(Bb F Fdim ...)| F |

The final note is supported by a gong. Its sustaining sound leads to the album's grand finale: God Save The Queen.

Repeated/reprised/foreshadowed motifs

In a hardly-cyclic song like this the use of reprises is a crucial element to unify the number and make it "virtually" more appealing. I belive this is a factor that subtly made BoRhap work as "pop-song", in contrast with say "The March Of The Black Queen" and many other suites of the progressive rock genre.

"I'm Just a poor boy"/Intro : lyrics re-appear in "Opera"

"Easy come easy go"/Intro: both lyrics and melody re-appear several times in the Opera section in double time. Variations include altered harmonization and different lyrics like "I'm just a poor boy".

all this techno-wank is neither impressive nor does it make bohemian rhaspody a good song. what are you trying to achieve?