Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen SongfactsAs a songwriter, if you really are only writing about your own experiences, you'll run out pretty fast.Freddie Mercury wrote the lyrics, and there has been a lot of speculation as to their meaning. Many of the words appear in the Qu'ran. "Bismillah" is one of these and it literally means "In the name of Allah." The word "Scaramouch" means "A stock character that appears as a boastful coward." "Beelzebub" is one of the many names given to The Devil.Mercury's parents were deeply involved in Zoroastrianism, and these Arabic words do have a meaning in that religion. His family grew up in Zanzibar, but was forced out by government upheaval in 1964 and they moved to England. Some of the lyrics could be about leaving his homeland behind. Mercury claimed the lyrics were nothing more than "Random rhyming nonsense" when asked about it by his friend Kenny Everett, who was a London DJ. (thanks, Jonathon - Clermont, FL and Jonathan Horgan - Cork, Ireland)***PEOPLE ARE SERIOUSLY COMING TO THE WRONG CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THIS SONG SUGGESTING IT IS ABOUT AIDS*** What I am telling you here is possible for you to find out for yourselves if you wish to look into it - Freddie did NOT have HIV or AIDS in 1975! He was diagnosed as HIV positive in the spring of 1987. Aids hit the New York scene in the early 1980's, where Freddie had begun clubbing. AIDS was known as the "Gay plague" at that time by the media, as it was mainly gay people dying from it. It's extremely highly doubtful that Freddie would have even heard of the disease before it broke out, like many others. The song was certainly not about AIDS or anyone dying from it. Now, after his death, and in hindsight, the lyrics are hauntingly fitting as to how he died, also when you consider that he claimed that the lyrics "just came to him." (out of thin air) ....
