Original title of Queen song found in Freddie Mercury's drafts
Miscellaneous / / June 02, 2023
Rhapsody was not Bohemian at all.
The cult song Bohemian Rhapsody by the British rock band Queen was originally called Mongolian Rhapsody - "Mongolian Rhapsody". This variant was shown in Freddie Mercury's drafts, which exposed up for auction at Sotheby's.
The singer sketched the lyrics of the song with the name Mongolian Rhapsody on the letterhead of the British Midland airline, on which you can see the calendar for 1974, while the track was recorded in August 1975. Mercury first wrote "Mongolian Rhapsody", and then crossed out the first word and added "Bohemian" on top.
Another page of working drafts presents an alternative to the well-known second verse.
Dr. Gabriel Heaton, specialist at Sotheby's Books & Manuscripts, noted:
Early drafts like these are easily lost or thrown away, so the rare surviving manuscripts give us a fascinating insight into how his songs were developed and composed, as well as reminding us of their musical complexity and sophistication.
The revelations in these pages include an extensive revision that was part of the writing process. songs, and his amazing attention to the plans of vocal harmonies that have become a hallmark of the sound queen.
The 1975 hit Bohemian Rhapsody was the lead single from Queen's fourth album, A Night at the Opera, and became the UK's third best-selling track of all time. It is distinguished by a very unusual musical form of six parts of different style, which are not divided into verses and choruses, but represent separate musical styles: opera and ballad, a cappella singing and rock.
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