"(De-)Analyzing" BoRhap taking "Waiting for Godot" into account

Here I am writing this entry, after HOURS of fighting against Blogger and my internet server (thank you both!) Last class, when Mr. Villa was talking about Beckett's Waiting for Godot, I couldn't help remembering Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." As many of you may know, I am a H U G E Queen fan, and I know that this song in particular has called the attention of a lot of people (if not of everyone that has ever listened to it because, let's be honest, the song is too cool to be true.) This is primarily because the song begins with a well-remembered set of words--the "is this just real life? is this just fantasy?" (Mercury, 1975) has rised up a lot of cuestions. Afterwards, insanity dominates this "killer's mind" and he starts to sing opera with his insanity and the judges. Finally, there comes a rock part and the smooth "anyway the wind blows" followed by a gong. Yeah, it totally makes sense (and, dude, if you come to think about it, the video gives the song even more sense. YEAH, RIGHT!)

Of course, when in presence of SUCH a puzzling song, many fans, music critics, and journalist have wondered the following: WHAT IN THE HEAVENS IS THIS SONG ABOUT? It has been claimed that the song may be about Freddie's sexual orientation (yeah, he was gay. HUGE BUMMER!) or that it may be about Freddie leaving his home and boarding school to go to the UK. Well, when people tried to ask Freddie Mercury, the author of this masterpiece, this question, he just answered that Bohemian Rhapsody was "random rhyming nonsense." Just as when Beckett was asked about Waiting for Godot's meaning: "it is what it is."

The previously mentioned idea makes me remember the ideas that we dealt with during last session, yet one idea is way more salient than others: the human necessity of finding meaning in things that are meaningless to avoid collapsing. Personally, I wondered millions of times about the meaning of "Bohemian Rhapsody" because it is not a mystery that the lyrics can be understood in an allegoric way! The words Mercury uses, the lack of connection present in the song, make me lose my mind, and it seems that I, and all the ones that have heard the song and have looked for its meaning, needed a basis to try to understand what the author meant, what the author intention's was, and what the song represents.

But, then again, BoRhap is like the Universe: it is something that cannot be explicable. Yes, it is a very beautiful song, the lyrics choice is nice, and the melodies and different musical textures that Freddie added to the words is simply fantastic, but the named choices are as random as Family Guy's clips that appear after a character gives a special emphasis to some arbitrarily chosen statement, word, or anecdote. Approximately two years ago, I stopped wondering about the song's meaning and I set myself the goal of enjoiying it! I have no longer asked myself--or Yahoo! Answers--about what the song is about.

Believe it or not, leaving the "understanding the mystery" of the song aside, I started to admire it for WHAT IT IS, not for WHAT IT IS OR MEANS TO ME. Do you know why? Because the latter changes from one person to another--being influenced by cultural, psychological, experiencial biases--and reshape the intention or meaning (or lack of it) of the author of something (of the song, in this case.) Plus, due to the fact that it is quite insane trying to find the essence and meaning of a particular thing all the time. So, when you have come to the point when you run out of ideas and cannot decipher a puzzling song, poem, story, book, or whatever you want to find meaning to, stop trying to reveal its core and enjoy its mystery.


Best,


Marta Francisca Miranda Soto =)

PS: Please, if any of you has an interesting idea to be shared regarding this topic, please, do not hesitate commenting on this post! =D