1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:08,000 This programme contains some strong language 2 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,880 NEEDLE CRACKLES 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,200 # Is this the real life...? # 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,880 We were suddenly in a sort of golden place. 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,000 # Is this just fantasy...? # 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,800 We were sort of getting off on how far can we take this? 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,680 It's nearly 30 years old and still one of the world's best loved songs. 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:35,280 # Scaramouch, Scaramouch... # 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,600 It's the biggest single of the century. 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,440 # Thunderbolt and lightning... # 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,160 I never heard anything like it. 12 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:46,760 For the first time ever, this is the full story behind Bohemian Rhapsody. 13 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,840 We're on a journey of discovery back to the studio with the band. 14 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,720 The man who put it together is going to take it apart. 15 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:04,680 I've lost it. 16 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:06,520 OK, I've lost another Galileo. 17 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,640 # Will not let you go! Let me go!... # 18 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,520 We're going to find out how they made THAT video. 19 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:13,480 And you get this feedback that trails across. 20 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:15,360 # No, no, no, no 21 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,240 # Oh, mama mia, mama mia... # Mama mia, let me go. 22 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:19,480 And we'll be asking 23 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:21,560 some of the greatest literary minds in the country 24 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:23,160 what the song is all about. 25 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,440 Beelzebub does seem to make some sense! 26 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,400 # Me-e-e-e... # 27 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:32,840 # Dun-dun-dun! # 28 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:34,240 Great stuff! 29 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,560 "Mama, I killed a man." 30 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,480 Wow! OK, I'm there! What happened? 31 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,080 "Nothing happened! We all went off singing nonsense. 32 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,800 "Scaramouch, can you do the fandango?" No! 33 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,560 It hurts me now, when I hear the song, it hurts. 34 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:58,040 # Any way the wind blows... # 35 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:05,800 1975. 36 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,640 History is made as the Americans and Russians meet in space. 37 00:02:09,640 --> 00:02:14,640 Saigon falls and Vietnam is finally over. 38 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:18,600 At home, unemployment hits the one million mark 39 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:23,960 as Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to lead the Tory Party. 40 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,520 Jaws is a box-office smash. 41 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,000 And Queen release the single that will catapult them to stardom 42 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:36,080 and provide inspiration for a new generation of rockers. 43 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:41,160 # So you think you can love me and leave me to die? 44 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,640 # Oh, baby-y-y... # 45 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,360 Axl Rose performed the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert 46 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:52,720 after the singer's death in 1991. 47 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,480 He was joined by a host of stars who'd grown up with Queen. 48 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,840 # Your mommy and your daddy gonna plague me till I die... # 49 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,760 1975, I was working in a factory in Sheffield 50 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,200 and daydreaming about wanting to be in a band 51 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,440 that could produce material of the quality of Bohemian Rhapsody. 52 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,040 # All your love tonight... # 53 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:22,520 I was obsessed with getting all the music that band put out. 54 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,560 It was a huge part of my whole growing up. 55 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,320 # Whoa, yeah! # 56 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,280 Even the band of the moment owe a huge debt to Queen. 57 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,400 Bohemian Rhapsody is the Holy Grail. 58 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,280 There's only that. There's nothing else anywhere near it. 59 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,920 If you ask anybody, "Honestly, do you like Bohemian Rhapsody?" 60 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:51,640 if they say no, they're lying. 61 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,640 The release of Bohemian Rhapsody defied all logic. 62 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,960 It was a song that broke all the rules. 63 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,080 For a start, it was six minutes long... 64 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,120 ..and it had an opera section. 65 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,240 # I see a little silhouetto of a man 66 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,640 # Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango...? # 67 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,640 Nothing like it had been heard before 68 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,800 and there's been nothing like it since. But people loved it. 69 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,280 It went to number one and stayed there for nine weeks. 70 00:04:18,280 --> 00:04:20,080 # Magnifico-o-o-o... # 71 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,040 But Queen weren't a new band. 72 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,480 It had taken them almost five years to get there. 73 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,240 The year before, they'd had their first success 74 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:33,720 with Seven Seas Of Rhye. 75 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:35,320 Long lost from the BBC archive, 76 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,400 this Top Of The Pops performance was videoed by a fan. 77 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,120 Freddie's distinctive style was taking shape even then. 78 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,680 # Seven seas of Rhye... # 79 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:46,720 They always were different 80 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,080 to everybody else that was around at the time. 81 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,720 They always projected this image of 82 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,360 being the big, huge rock stars 83 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,840 even when they hadn't got two ha'pennies to rub together. 84 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:03,160 Queen even turned to women's fashion designer Zandra Rhodes. 85 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:08,400 I was well known as doing theatrical-type women's outfits, 86 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:14,560 and I think it showed quite an extraordinary sense of thought 87 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:15,920 that they came to me. 88 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:25,080 But it wasn't just the rock star look that Queen were perfecting. 89 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:27,960 Their unique sound was also beginning to take shape... 90 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,480 ..thanks to their producer, Roy Thomas Baker. 91 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,320 Working with Queen meant, be pure definition, 92 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,280 you were working out of the zone. 93 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:41,080 Being told by Freddie and the guys, 94 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:42,960 "Queen II - we've got nothing to lose, 95 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:44,600 "just put anything in there, 96 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,040 "any idea you come up with, just give it a go." 97 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:53,160 # Once upon a time an old man told me a fable 98 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,360 # When the piper is gone and the soup is cold... # 99 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:01,960 # She keeps her Moet et Chandon in a pretty cabinet... # 100 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,800 Queen camped it up even more for their third single, Killer Queen, 101 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,160 which went to number two in 1974. 102 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,920 # For Khrushchev and Kennedy 103 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,600 # At any time, an invitation you can't decline... # 104 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:17,480 By now, they should have been enjoying 105 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,520 the trappings of a rock star lifestyle, 106 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,560 but they were only being paid £200 a week between them. 107 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,880 # She's a killer queen Gunpowder, gelatin... # 108 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,440 Freddie was making demands, various things he wanted, 109 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,600 and we explained to him that the money wasn't there yet. 110 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:34,720 It would be there. 111 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,080 We could see it coming. 112 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,640 If the sales were like they were reported to be, it would flow. 113 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,720 But no matter how much Freddie stamped his feet, 114 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:45,120 there was no money, 115 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,960 so Queen turned to Elton John's manager, John Reid. 116 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:50,760 There was a kind of stalemate 117 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,360 between them and the Sheffield brothers. 118 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:54,800 Nothing to do with me. 119 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,920 All I was concerned with was how to get it sorted out, 120 00:06:57,920 --> 00:06:59,560 how to let them move forward 121 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,600 and let everybody walk away without losing face. 122 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:04,600 So that's what I did. 123 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:13,760 At that time, Freddie lived here, on Holland Road in Kensington, London. 124 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,840 It was here that he wrote most of Bohemian Rhapsody. 125 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:19,680 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY PLAYS ON A PIANO 126 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:38,000 Freddie invited me round to his flat in Holland Road. 127 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,800 I went round and when I went in, the thing that struck me first 128 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:44,720 was that Freddie was listening 129 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,240 to the Liza Minnelli Cabaret soundtrack. 130 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,800 At that time, I thought, "This is a rock group." 131 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,400 This music didn't kind of fit. 132 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:58,720 Then he showed me the flat. In the bedroom, there was an upright piano 133 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,120 with candle arms on it, which was his headboard. 134 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,800 And he said that sometimes during the night, 135 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:15,320 he would think of something musical and flip it back and play it. 136 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:21,880 He was double jointed. His hands could bend back completely. 137 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,760 I think that's where some of the passages 138 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:26,640 from Bohemian Rhapsody started. 139 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:30,160 Playing it backwards. 140 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,840 MUSIC: Sweet Lady by Queen 141 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,960 In the summer of 1975, 142 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:56,360 Queen left London for Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, South Wales. 143 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,400 30 years later, they're back. 144 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:02,800 It's the first time they've visited 145 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,280 since they recorded Bohemian Rhapsody. 146 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:06,680 I think there was a lot of stress 147 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:10,360 and we were very worried about the management situation. 148 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,160 We were away from home, away from our kids and our families. 149 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,000 We had young children. It's not ideal. 150 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,840 We'd just signed up with John Reid, who was Elton's manager, 151 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,360 and John had said, "OK, boys, I'll take care of the business, 152 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:24,360 "you just make the best album you've ever made." 153 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,080 So there was that feeling. 154 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,680 It was like, "We have to go in here and kill." 155 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,520 I actually remember driving here, 156 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,760 thinking, "I think I'm going the right way," 157 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:38,040 and playing Sheer Heart Attack, thinking, 158 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,080 "That was the last one we did. Oh, God, that's good, isn't it? 159 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,160 "It's going to be hard to make a better one than that." 160 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,080 Welcome back after all these years. Thank you. 161 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,640 Must be like a walk down memory lane. 162 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,800 This is where the seeds for Bohemian Rhapsody were sown. 163 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,680 Queen spent two weeks here recording backing tracks 164 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:20,280 for what was to become the most expensive record ever made - 165 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,000 A Night At The Opera. 166 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:28,480 # Yesterday my life was in ruins... # 167 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,800 It's a poignant trip for Queen. 168 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,000 This is where their journey from mediocre domestic success 169 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,920 to international stardom really began. 170 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:43,960 # Got a feeling I should be doing all right... # 171 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,640 The control room. 172 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,600 Yes, this does actually trigger some memories for me, I've got to say. 173 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,240 It's a bit plush. 174 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,200 I think in our day, I remember there was no acoustic treatment. 175 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,360 This is the Bohemian Rhapsody backing track for me. 176 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,560 I can distinctly remember being here and seeing you guys go through it. 177 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:09,760 Our backing tracks were always either bass, guitar and drums 178 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,600 or bass, piano and drums. 179 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,040 This one would be Roger, Freddie and John. 180 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:16,760 They're putting down the backing track 181 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:20,160 and there's lots of spaces in it for the operatic bits. 182 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,200 Lots of gaps and Freddie conducting. 183 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,560 Shall we have a look in the studio? Yeah. 184 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,800 Here, for the very first time, you can hear Freddie Mercury rehearsing 185 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:50,640 the piano parts for what producer Roy Thomas Baker calls Fred's Thing. 186 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,640 These outtakes from the original recording sessions at Rockfield 187 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:55,440 have never been heard before. 188 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:04,200 Take one of mark two version of Fred's Thing. 189 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:07,680 PIANO MUSIC FOR BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY 190 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:24,960 MUSIC STOPS Fuck! 191 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,120 Still too slow! No, that's nice! That's nice. 192 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,080 Bit slower, though. 193 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:34,920 He just said, "Look, I've got this very strange thing. 194 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:39,040 "You have to be patient when we do it cos there'll be lots of gaps." 195 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:42,360 As soon as we'd mapped it out, 196 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,440 we all understood what was happening 197 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:46,880 but it was a bit confusing at first. 198 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,360 It's sort of coming back a bit. Hmm. 199 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,400 I think the piano WAS about there. I think it was. 200 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,280 Like that. Yeah, more like that than like that. 201 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,040 You were over there, but there was no partition for the drums. 202 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,280 Yeah, that's right. It was just all in one room. 203 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,280 Yeah. That was the drum kit. 204 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:07,920 Yeah. Nine AC30s, of course, 205 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,760 but I don't think I would have had the nine in here. 206 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:12,920 We were still saving up for the one, weren't we? 207 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,080 Yeah! I think most likely I would have had three. 208 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,400 I remember the first time I heard the melody, 209 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,760 the main sort of melody, I loved the melody. Yeah. 210 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,880 A lot of our stuff was done, written in the studio, 211 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,760 but this was an exception. Really, as Roger says, 212 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,120 it was all in Freddie's mind before we started. 213 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,600 Freddie was a great person to be in a band with really because, 214 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:46,040 one, he was such a great... rhythmic, rhythmic piano player, 215 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:50,080 and it made the backing tracks very easy to do. 216 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,920 They sort of... It all knitted together. They swung well. 217 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,360 His bony fingers would whack it out. 218 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,760 The backing tracks, if you listen to them now, are immaculate! 219 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,160 Freddie and Roger and John are just absolutely together. 220 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,320 It's totally live, totally real. There's a feel there. 221 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:08,960 PERCUSSIVE MUSIC PLAYS 222 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,240 As soon as you hit an E flat chord on here, 223 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,360 you think of Freddie. I do, anyway. 224 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,880 It's nearly 20 years since Queen played together. 225 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,480 This performance at Wembley in 1986 saw them bow out on top. 226 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,840 No-one could sell tickets faster. 227 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,160 But if it hadn't been for the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, 228 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,160 they might never have got there. 229 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:49,880 So what's so special about the song that made Queen? 230 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,880 To find out, we have to speak to the man who put it all together. 231 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,480 Capitol Records, Hollywood, Los Angeles - 232 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:11,680 home to some of the most important recordings in the history of music. 233 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,480 Nearly 30 years after he delivered the finished track to EMI, 234 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,440 Roy Thomas Baker has come here to take Bohemian Rhapsody apart. 235 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,720 # Galileo... # I've lost it. 236 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:25,680 OK, I've lost another Galileo. 237 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,600 There's another Galileo missing. 238 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,600 This is the original 24-track tape in its original box. 239 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:38,960 It's now so fragile 240 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,280 that it has to be baked in an oven before it can be played 241 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:43,800 or it will disintegrate. 242 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,240 And here's Freddie's doodles on the sleeve notes, 243 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,200 which he did at the time Bohemian Rhapsody was recording. 244 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,360 # Thunderbolt and lightning, Very, very frightening me... # 245 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,240 The original mix, when we were doing it manually, 246 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,640 it was a case of I was sitting approximately here, 247 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:04,320 controlling the drums, bass, piano, guitars. 248 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:09,320 Then, about here was Freddie, and he had control over the vocals. 249 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,640 He'd be switching vocals on and off and doing it that way. 250 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:15,360 Let me push up the... 251 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,560 # This time tomorrow 252 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,280 # Carry on, carry on 253 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,600 # As if nothing really matters... # 254 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,640 So this is the piano. 255 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:30,520 This is the piano solo. 256 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,760 This was actually done live by Freddie as we were doing the track. 257 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,960 So when you listen to the piano tracks, 258 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,320 you can just about hear some of the drums in the background 259 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,400 because it was all done in one room, it wasn't done in a separate room. 260 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,840 We put covers over the piano to try and deaden down the sound 261 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:50,680 of the other instruments. 262 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,080 But the bass, you can hear the bass in the background, 263 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:54,360 you can hear the drums. 264 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:56,320 The drums... 265 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:57,320 ..then. 266 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,040 This is the drums on their own. 267 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,400 DRUM TRACK PLAYS 268 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,880 # Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango? 269 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:21,920 # Thunderbolt and light... # 270 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:27,120 Now John, who was on bass, we spread the bass over three channels. 271 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:30,040 BASS GUITAR PLAYS 272 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:36,640 We had the...drums and bass together and piano. 273 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:41,160 DRUMS, BASS AND PIANO OF BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY 274 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,240 VOCALS ADDED 275 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:59,720 This is the solo from Brian. 276 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,400 That was also recorded on one track. 277 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,320 It wasn't done on multiple tracks, it was just one track. 278 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,080 I wanted to make a little tune 279 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,720 that would be a sort of counterpart to the main melody. 280 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,600 I didn't want to just play the melody. 281 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,240 It could all have been so different, couldn't it? 282 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:31,960 I can remember singing it to Freddie 283 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,280 and him going, "Yeah, that would be good." 284 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,960 I think, certainly my best stuff is born that way. 285 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,680 It's much better for me to hear it in my head and then try and play it 286 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,600 than sit down with a guitar and let the fingers do it. 287 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,240 The fingers tend to be a little...predictable 288 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,160 unless they're being led by the brain. 289 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:57,680 We were sort of getting off on the...on how far can we take this 290 00:18:57,680 --> 00:18:59,960 and how big can we make this? 291 00:18:59,960 --> 00:19:03,840 "Let's make a wall of sound that really is a wall, 292 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,000 "that starts down there and goes right up." 293 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,240 So, really, we were quite interested 294 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,520 in seeing how far you could actually go 295 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,800 before it became totally ridiculous, 296 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:18,120 or the limits of the technology stopped you. 297 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:22,280 OK, this is the little Galileo section, 298 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:26,440 which is between high vocal from Roger and low from Freddie. 299 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,760 So, this is Roger's track first. 300 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,960 # Galileo, Galileo 301 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,200 # Galileo Figaro... # 302 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,240 We used to joke about pliers under the frock. 303 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,680 We were lucky. We had a very good chemistry when it came to vocals. 304 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,520 I mean, Brian could get down quite low. 305 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,440 Fred had this incredibly powerful voice through the middle 306 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,720 and I was very good on all the high stuff. 307 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,120 So we all sang every part. 308 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:58,720 Also, now you're about to hear the opera section. 309 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,520 Only the vocals, no backing track at all. 310 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,440 # Easy come, easy go Will you let me go? 311 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,120 # Bismillah! No, we will not let you go 312 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,480 # Let him go! 313 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,120 # Bismillah! We will not let you go! 314 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,680 # Let him go! Bismillah! We will not let you go 315 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,120 # Let me go! Will not let you go Let me go! Will not let you go! 316 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:21,200 # Let me go-o-o-o No, no, no, no, no, no, no 317 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,080 # Oh, mama mia, mama mia 318 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:24,600 # Mama mia, let me go 319 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,880 # Beelzebub has a devil put aside 320 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:34,440 # For me-e-e, for me-e-e, for meeee 321 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:48,440 # So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye 322 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:53,320 # So you think you can love me and leave me to die 323 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:57,000 # Oh, baby 324 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,160 # Can't do this to me, baby 325 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:01,960 # Just gotta get out 326 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,680 # Just gotta get right outta here... # 327 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,080 John volunteered not to sing. I don't think he liked his own vocals. 328 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,320 He wasn't going to get an argument from any of us, including the band, 329 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,520 so, basically, it was the three guys, 330 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,480 it was Freddie, Brian and Roger who would sing. 331 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,520 This is going to be a rare scenario. 332 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,320 We're going to be playing the instrumentation 333 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,680 of the opera section without the opera. 334 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:27,680 Just purely the track, 335 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:32,400 and the track consists of drums, bass, Freddie on piano 336 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,880 and Roger's overdub of a timpani. 337 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,800 There's a few...stumbled notes here, 338 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,440 which obviously weren't supposed to be heard. Now you might hear them. 339 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,800 INSTRUMENTAL TRACK PLAYS 340 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:11,800 # So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye... # 341 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,560 The thing about Freddie was he was far more organised than he lets on. 342 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:17,880 He'd have little scraps of paper everywhere 343 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,680 with little things and Galileos here, 344 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,360 so it was all written down just on paper and pencil. 345 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,000 It seemed like it was a bit haphazard, but it wasn't. 346 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,640 There was times it wasn't easy, it was very, very hard, 347 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,880 but we didn't mind because we knew we were setting certain trends 348 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,160 that then eventually technology caught up with us, 349 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:46,680 so that was pretty good. 350 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,600 Four hours into their visit to Rockfield 351 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,480 and Brian and Roger can't resist striking up in the studio. 352 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:03,080 Yeah... That note without the bass. 353 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:13,960 Right, then. To the living quarters. 354 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:18,760 # Seaside whenever you stroll along with me 355 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,200 # I'm merely contemplating what you feel inside... # 356 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:26,800 This is Roy, this is...Freddie, I think. 357 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,560 And I think this is me. 358 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,320 Welcome to my luxurious apartment. 359 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,960 It wasn't just coming in to make Bohemian Rhapsody. 360 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,400 It was like we had to make the album which was gonna, I guess, save us. 361 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,040 If I'd realised Brian's room 362 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,480 was this much bigger than mine at the time... 363 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,120 There would have been hell to pay! 364 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:48,320 Yes, this was bigger than Roger's room, yeah. 365 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:52,480 # Fantastic, c'est la vie mesdames et messieurs... # 366 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,640 It really was a job of work. 367 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,120 I remember we utilised the various rooms 368 00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:59,600 about what is basically an old farmyard. 369 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,720 # Duh, duh, do-do, do-do do, do, do, do, do... # 370 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,840 This is definitely not on a par with Brian's. 371 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:17,880 One of the key memories I have is 372 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:21,400 we were all sitting up one Saturday night with nothing better to do 373 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,480 than watch A Night At The Opera by the Marx Brothers. 374 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,520 We were big Marx Brothers fans. 375 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,320 I think it's a nicer room. Relatively opulent, his was. 376 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,520 Kitchen... It's got a door and everything! 377 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,680 We'd been thinking of things to call the album, etc, etc. 378 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,800 Then suddenly it was there right in front of us - A Night At The Opera. 379 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,200 # As a matter of fact So tres charmant, my dear 380 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,000 # Underneath the moonlight... # 381 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:49,960 This is in a rather sad state. 382 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,120 This is the desk, actually, Bohemian Rhapsody 383 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:54,360 and the rest of A Night At The Opera was recorded on. 384 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:58,360 Missing its guts, some of which are still in use in the studio. 385 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:01,400 I still enjoy hearing 386 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,280 A Night At The Opera as an album all the way through, 387 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,600 cos that's the way it was designed, 388 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,720 and Bohemian Rhapsody is the jewel in that crown, if you like. 389 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,400 # Sensational seaside rendezvous... # 390 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,920 Years before The Darkness were even born! 391 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,440 After two weeks, Queen left Rockfield and went to London, 392 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:29,440 where they finished Bohemian Rhapsody and the rest of the album. 393 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,520 You know something special's going on. 394 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,120 I've got this little phrase 395 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:36,400 where there are two feelings in your body - 396 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,840 you've got a feeling in your head and a feeling in your tummy. 397 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,440 The feeling in you head is the one 398 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,640 that fools you all the time and teases you. 399 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,560 But there's a feeling in the pit of your stomach that you know 400 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:51,320 when something's right or wrong, and this was just something fantastic. 401 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:53,400 Absolutely fantastic. Seminal. 402 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,320 When the album was finished, they had to decide on a single. 403 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,840 At six minutes long, though, Bohemian Rhapsody was a huge gamble. 404 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,200 # Is this the real life...? # 405 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:11,360 I remember Brian brought a rough mix of Bohemian Rhapsody 406 00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:13,600 round to my flat in London. 407 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,600 He says, "This is going to be the new single." 408 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,080 And...he put it on. 409 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,200 And, I think as everybody else he must have played it to said, 410 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,080 "You ain't got a hope in hell of getting this played on radio!" 411 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:27,480 Seven minute long! 412 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,800 # I'm just a poor boy... # 413 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:36,320 I had an acetate of it and I played it to a couple of people, 414 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,200 one of whom was Elton John. 415 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,200 And I played it to him and he said, 416 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,120 "Are you fucking mad?" 417 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,880 But Queen had a powerful ally. 418 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:55,800 We invited Kenny Everett along, and he listened to it, 419 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:57,960 and he said, "That's wonderful, that's great! 420 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,040 "They should have a new position. 421 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,000 "It shouldn't be one, it should be a position above that, like half. 422 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,200 "And that's where it should be. It should be half." 423 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,200 And we gave him a copy and we said, 424 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,440 "Whatever you do, you can't play this." And he said, 425 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,880 "OK, I won't play it," and winked. 426 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,040 And them that following weekend, he played it, like, 14 times 427 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,360 on his radio, Capital, show. 428 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,400 The choice was made 429 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,440 but Queen were about to go on tour 430 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,120 and, anyway, they couldn't perform the opera section live, 431 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,520 so they had to make a video. 432 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,640 I have to say, the main reason we made it was cos 433 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,360 we didn't want to go on Top Of The Pops. 434 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,920 Not because we didn't like the programme, 435 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,840 but we didn't feel comfortable standing around sort of...miming 436 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,960 in a rather unfamiliar situation. 437 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,400 We wanted to make our own vehicle. Plus we knew we'd be on tour 438 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,000 and if it was in the charts, we wouldn't be able go in there anyway. 439 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,160 We were actually signed to a company called Trillion 440 00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:00,200 that was an independent outside broadcast unit for sports for ITV. 441 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,000 And we suddenly thought, "Why don't we use one of their trucks, 442 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,400 "get their cameras into Elstree?" 443 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,520 where we were rehearsing, and we'd film it. 444 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,760 "We'll put it on this video tape stuff." 445 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,400 # Now I'm here, now I'm here... # 446 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,280 The band called in Bruce Gowers, 447 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:21,280 who directed a film of Queen's 1974 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre. 448 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,040 He didn't know then, but making the Bohemian Rhapsody video 449 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:28,840 would change his life forever. 450 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,000 He's now the director of America's biggest show, American Idol. 451 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,720 There was a call from the band, from Freddie and the group, 452 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:42,920 and we got together and talked about making a video, 453 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:44,880 which weren't called videos in those days, 454 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,080 it was called a pop promo. 455 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,840 We had the idea of bringing the cover of Queen II to life. 456 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:56,280 That was our favourite image of us. 457 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,480 # And the light of the night burned bright... # 458 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,800 This cover shot was taken by photographer Mick Rock 459 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:04,640 18 months before. 460 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,000 He'd been inspired by a picture of the actress Marlene Dietrich, 461 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,080 which he'd showed to Freddie. 462 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,040 He loved it immediately. 463 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:16,360 He then went and worked on the group and, OK, cool, Marlene Dietrich. 464 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,520 Freddie wanted to be Marlene 465 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,360 and he was determined that should go down. 466 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,480 The whole band was always involved 467 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,120 in the discussion and the end result 468 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,160 so it was a co-operative to that extent, 469 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:29,840 but there was but one leader. 470 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:38,680 Just sit there for a sec. Which one do you want? 471 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,280 Try being Freddie for the moment. 472 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,440 So how did they actually achieve the Bohemian Rhapsody look? 473 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,920 There. That's good. 474 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:53,160 How's that? Down again. 475 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,160 OK and up again. That's it. 476 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,040 We tracked down the team who shot the video. 477 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,720 Cameraman Barry Dodd and floor manager Jim McCutcheon 478 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,320 were sent to Elstree Studios to shoot the video. 479 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:11,320 They had no idea they were about to become part of pop music history. 480 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,240 They'd been in there rehearsing their tour. 481 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,720 And what a better to rehearse a tour than in a film studio 482 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:21,240 which is the size of a hangar and soundproofed, 483 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,840 where the roadies come in, build the stage, 484 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,440 build the lighting rig, build the sound rig? 485 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,800 But then they wanted to create a video 486 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,920 of one of the numbers that they'd done. 487 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:33,320 Get the boys in, shall we? 488 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:39,920 They had a very analytical approach to everything. 489 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,480 They knew exactly where we were going with what we were doing. 490 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,520 Take your positions, please. 491 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:47,280 Stand by with the smoke. 492 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,520 Here, using the Queen tribute band GaGa, 493 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,280 Barry and Jim show us how they did it. 494 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,920 I got to Elstree about 7.00 in the evening. 495 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,520 Everything was lit, everything was organised and ready to shoot. 496 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,000 We started shooting about 7.15. 497 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,520 Ready, Barry? I think so, James. Let's have a took at it. 498 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,080 Lose the top lights, please. Back lights up. 499 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:10,560 Let's have some smoke, please. 500 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,400 And roll the track, please. 501 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:20,680 Five, four, three, two, one, music. 502 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,520 # Is this the real life...? # Stand by, cross fade. 503 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,200 # ..Is this just fantasy? 504 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,480 # Caught in a landslide 505 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:35,280 # No escape from reality... # Cross fade. Up you come. 506 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,960 # ..Open your eyes... # 507 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:42,600 And we lit the four faces and we put the cameras on them. 508 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:46,280 That was all done beforehand 509 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,520 in one corner of this big studio, this big stage. 510 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,080 It was later that we got on to the rock and roll thing but 511 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:54,000 what a lot of people probably don't know is 512 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:55,560 it was all shot in the same area. 513 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,280 # I see a little silhouetto of a man 514 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,960 # Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango? 515 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,680 # Thunderbolt and lightning Very, very frightening me 516 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:13,320 # Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Figaro... # 517 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,800 What we did to get the echo effect on the "magnifico", 518 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,360 we have a second camera looking at a monitor, 519 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,800 and you get feedback, just the same as audio feedback, 520 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,280 you get video feedback. 521 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:28,160 So the vision mixer just opens the fader as he sings that line 522 00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:30,680 and you get this feedback that trails across. 523 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:32,880 # I'm just a poor boy... # 524 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:34,960 In those days, the technology was good, 525 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,560 but a lot of the effects, we had to create ourselves. 526 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:38,840 We used a thing like this. 527 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,360 This is similar to the one we used. It's a multi-facet lens. 528 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,560 We held this in front of the camera 529 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,240 to achieve the multiple images that we see. 530 00:34:46,240 --> 00:34:49,640 # Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening me... # 531 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:54,200 In those days, that was special effects. Sort of laughable now. 532 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:56,360 It was make it up as you go along. 533 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,200 # Spare him his life from this monstrosity... # 534 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,080 BRUCE GOWERS: We finished shooting around 10.30. 535 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,560 That was the choral element and the rock and roll element. 536 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:11,000 Then we all hightailed down to the pub. 537 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:14,040 When we came to edit, there was a rush to get it completed 538 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,360 because we were trying to get it aired, I think, 539 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:18,320 the week of shooting, on Top Of The Pops. 540 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,800 # No, no, no, no, no, no... # 541 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:25,920 So we cut it in maybe four hours, five hours, something like that. 542 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:28,640 And as soon as it was done, it was shipped off to the Beeb. 543 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:34,640 # For me, for me, for meeeee... # 544 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:40,000 Stop the tape, please. 545 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,920 I remember distinctly seeing the first rough cut that Bruce brought 546 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:47,440 to show us when we were on tour, 547 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,560 sitting around this little telly watching it. 548 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,440 We all laughed very heartily, 549 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,840 saying, "It's really funny, it's really great." 550 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,320 Slightly kitsch... 551 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,160 ..but it seems to bring the song to life. 552 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:05,360 The video took less than four hours to film and cost just £4,500. 553 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,600 # Is this the real life? 554 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:10,400 # Is this just fantasy...? # 555 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:14,360 It aired on Top Of The Pops for the first time in November '75. 556 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,720 It was unforgettable, a seminal moment in music history. 557 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:24,400 I remember the Bohemian Rhapsody Queen thing being, like, a rarity. 558 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:30,280 Something that, "Oh, my God, stop everything! It's the Queen video!" 559 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,520 # I'm just a poor boy 560 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:35,720 # I need no sympathy... # 561 00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:37,920 I remember watching the video 562 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,800 and thinking, "Oh, my God! What is this?!" 563 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,280 # A little high, little low 564 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:47,080 # Any way the wind blows... # 565 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,840 It just shocked people. "Wow, look at this!", 566 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:51,440 especially those multi-images 567 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,600 when the big choir was singing and all that. 568 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:55,560 Nobody had ever done anything like that before. 569 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:56,600 It was just brilliant. 570 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:03,120 The video turned Queen and Freddie Mercury into household names, 571 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:06,240 much to the delight of their families. 572 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:11,000 Well, it was completely a different thing for us to watch. 573 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,720 In those days, they used to perform live on Top Of The Pops, 574 00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:19,840 but this video came out and everybody was excited about it. 575 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:24,440 And the way he sang, especially his costumes! 576 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,240 I remember when Freddie came to visit us 577 00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:33,360 for a few days and stayed over. 578 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,680 We thought we'd take him to York for the day. 579 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:41,160 All we saw was a crowd of these schoolchildren 580 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:44,200 coming faster and faster towards us and in the end 581 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,360 we had to run the opposite way. 582 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:50,480 And then I realised, "My God, he's being recognised by just everybody!" 583 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,160 I went to the shops and I was very excited. 584 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:01,280 They were all round the shops, Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen. 585 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:06,640 I got one and I was so pleased with myself 586 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:13,400 that I'm buying my son's first number one record. 587 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,720 # Goodbye, everybody... # 588 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:21,040 We were in Southampton, playing a concert in our tour. 589 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:24,600 I remember my mother was there visiting. 590 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,640 I got a phone call in the morning saying we were number one. 591 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:32,040 I just remember going down to breakfast and going, 592 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,600 "Guess what, Mum. We're number one!" 593 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,200 It was great. It was fantastic! 594 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:45,680 Of course, it hurts me now when I hear the song. It hurts. 595 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,920 # Any way the wind blows... # 596 00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:56,640 Bohemian Rhapsody went on to sell 597 00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:59,080 more than two million copies in the UK alone. 598 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:02,560 It sold millions more all over the world. 599 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:06,600 It's highly collectable. Get your hands on one of these, though, 600 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,000 and you're sitting on a small fortune, 601 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,040 just like Queen's longest-serving roadie, Peter Hince. 602 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,600 This is number 195 and, yeah, 603 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:19,120 the most collectable record in the world, apparently. Very valuable. 604 00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:22,680 What's it worth? I think it's about two and a half to three grand. 605 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:24,880 Given to me by my mate Fred. 606 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,600 Thank you, Fred. It'll probably buy a hearing aid which I'm sure, 607 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,680 after listening to all that bloody noise all those years, 608 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:34,280 I'll need quite soon, so thank you very much. 609 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,120 Some of the music press, however, 610 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,320 didn't think Bohemian Rhapsody was worth a single penny. 611 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:46,280 In Melody Maker, they decided the song had all the demented fury 612 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:48,160 of the Balham Amateur Operatic Society 613 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:50,080 performing The Pirates Of Penzance. 614 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:59,480 Meanwhile, in America the song only reached number nine in the charts. 615 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:02,680 Most people there didn't know what to make of it. 616 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,600 There's a sense with Bohemian Rhapsody, 617 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:06,640 it's almost the quintessential example 618 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:10,880 of the kind of thing that doesn't exactly go over well in America. 619 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:16,760 It may have captured the hearts of the record-buying public, 620 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,120 but it had also captured their imagination. 621 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,360 What on earth did it all mean? 622 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,280 "Is this the real life? 623 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,440 "Is this just fantasy? 624 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:31,760 "Caught in a landslide No escape from reality 625 00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:35,400 "Open your eyes Look up to the skies and see 626 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:38,160 "I'm just a poor boy I need no sympathy 627 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:41,880 "I'm easy come, easy go A little high, a little low 628 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:44,560 "Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me." 629 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:49,400 So does anybody know what the lyrics are about? 630 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:51,440 We went to Oxford University 631 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:55,640 to ask some of the most brilliant literary minds in the country. 632 00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:58,040 At the start, it says, "Is this the real life? 633 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:02,360 "Is this just fantasy?" Finding out what the fantasy is about and means 634 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:06,400 is one of the problems in understanding the whole thing. 635 00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:10,560 The more you know about the personality of who wrote it... 636 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:12,800 ..a man, I think, between cultures... 637 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:16,920 ..between, if you like, selves, presiding over several selves 638 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:20,080 several kinds of sexual identities and proclivities and habits, 639 00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:24,400 and also, Africa, India, London... 640 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,600 It's a story that no matter how many times you tell it to yourself, 641 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,560 you think, "What on earth is it about?" 642 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:33,960 You can listen to it over and over. 643 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:37,800 It's like a sweet lady woman because you try to fathom it... 644 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:39,240 But you'll never understand it. 645 00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:41,200 Yeah, and you'll never need to understand it. 646 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,240 The bottom line is you love it. 647 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:46,080 "Mama, just killed a man 648 00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:50,240 "Put a gun against his head Pulled my trigger, now he's dead." 649 00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:52,560 Just killed a man? No, you haven't. 650 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:55,080 Put a gun against his head? No. 651 00:41:55,080 --> 00:42:00,080 What you've done is taken a nice sounding rhyme from a Beatles song - 652 00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:04,400 "Got up outta bed Dragged a comb across my head..." 653 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:08,200 That's what you're doing. You're inhabiting a world of, 654 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:09,960 actually, in some ways, rather... 655 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:15,320 I did read somewhere that you were the only person that knew what 656 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:18,120 the song was about and you'd carry that secret to the grave. 657 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:21,840 I read that as well! Not true? 658 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:24,240 Well...I know what it means. 659 00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:26,880 I don't think it's that difficult. 660 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:30,120 I think it's fairly self-explanatory. 661 00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:32,040 There's just a bit of nonsense in the middle. 662 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:36,240 "Too late, my time has come 663 00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:38,200 "Sends shivers down my spine 664 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:41,760 "Body's aching all the time Goodbye, everybody 665 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:43,600 "I've got to go." 666 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:49,680 Shivers, aching, all sorts of more or less sexual sensations going on. 667 00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:56,160 Indeed, the structure of the lyrics traces a kind of sexual rhythm. 668 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:00,800 It ends up post-coitally, not in some nihilistic position, 669 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:05,760 but simply in a state of careless, indifferent, post-coital exhaustion. 670 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:07,520 "I see a little silhouetto of a man 671 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:09,880 "Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango? 672 00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:12,600 "Thunderbolt and lightning Very, very frightening me 673 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:16,680 "Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Galileo, Figaro, magnifico 674 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,320 "I'm just a poor boy Nobody loves me..." 675 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:24,440 "Scaramouch, Scaramouch. Do the fandango." Brilliant words! 676 00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:27,720 Who'd use Scaramouch in a pop song? 677 00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:31,720 Galileo. Renaissance scientist, astronomer. 678 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:34,160 There's no reason for Galileo to be here. 679 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:38,200 Figaro - The Marriage Of Figaro, perhaps. Mozart? 680 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:41,040 Magnifico - it's there because it sounds like Figaro, 681 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:43,080 which sounds like Galileo. 682 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:45,840 "Mama, I killed a man." Wow! 683 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:47,720 OK, I'm there. What happened? 684 00:43:47,720 --> 00:43:50,480 "Nothing happened! We all went off singing nonsense! 685 00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,440 "Scaramouch, can you do the fandango?" No! 686 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:55,960 "Easy come, easy go Will you let me go? 687 00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:58,560 "Bismillah! No, we will not let him go! 688 00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:02,160 "Let him go! Bismillah! We will not let him go! Let him go! 689 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,200 "Bismillah! We will not let him go! 690 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:06,800 "Let him go! Will not let you go!" 691 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:11,120 Here you have a grab-bag of cultural allusions that may link together. 692 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:13,120 We can make them link together, 693 00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:16,040 but if we do, that says more about us than the song. 694 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,360 I think so. It may be just sound. 695 00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:22,080 What would Freddie think of us saying all this about his poem? 696 00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:23,560 He wouldn't mind. "Fuck off." 697 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:25,880 He'd be absolutely delighted that Oxford University 698 00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:27,480 are talking about it. Fucking delighted! 699 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:40,160 Presenting A Night At The Opera, ladies and gentlemen, this is Queen! 700 00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:41,600 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 701 00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:47,160 # We are what we are... # 702 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:50,920 As the world pondered the meaning behind Mercury's lyrics, 703 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:54,440 Queen crowned their year with their single and album at number one 704 00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:57,440 and a Christmas Eve concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon. 705 00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:14,720 I just loved this band. I thought they were terrific. 706 00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:16,320 They were fantastic live! 707 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:18,440 They were amazing live! 708 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:20,840 They could really play and they were dynamic 709 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,000 and they had fabulous energy on stage. 710 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,160 # When you shook my hand... # 711 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,520 That fabulous year they had, 712 00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:35,280 culminating in the Whistle Test special at Hammersmith Odeon. 713 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:38,040 Again, this is celebration time. 714 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:48,360 Now we're gonna do a nice, tasty little medley for you. 715 00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:50,720 Just like the one we did the other day, yes. 716 00:45:50,720 --> 00:45:56,320 We'll start with a segment from a number called Bohemian Rhapsody. 717 00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:57,680 CROWD CHEER 718 00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:05,880 # Mama... # 719 00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:07,960 Bohemian Rhapsody stayed at number one 720 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:11,720 until the end of January the following year. 721 00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:14,680 It was to take an extraordinary song from an extraordinary band 722 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:17,160 to knock it off the top. 723 00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:18,880 # Mama mia 724 00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:20,480 # Here I go again 725 00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:23,880 # My, my, how can I resist you? 726 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:27,600 # Mama mia Does it show again...? # 727 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,480 We never suspected we'd nudge Queen off the top, 728 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:34,720 but to release Mama Mia was an obvious thing 729 00:46:34,720 --> 00:46:38,680 because it had been such a big hit in other territories. 730 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:42,240 The fact that the words "mama mia" 731 00:46:42,240 --> 00:46:45,360 are included in Bohemian Rhapsody as well... 732 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:48,800 ..it's...just coincidence. 733 00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:52,200 # Just one look and I can hear a bell ring... # 734 00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:56,640 When I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio, 735 00:46:56,640 --> 00:47:01,120 I thought it was pretty phenomenal and fantastic. 736 00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:03,960 I loved it from the word go and so did Benny and the girls. 737 00:47:07,040 --> 00:47:10,800 Bohemian Rhapsody went on to top virtually every relevant poll 738 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:13,240 and continues to do so to this day. 739 00:47:13,240 --> 00:47:15,440 Queen picked up many other awards too. 740 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:17,600 Perhaps the most impressive was this one - 741 00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:19,400 The Brits Special Award 742 00:47:19,400 --> 00:47:23,440 for an outstanding contribution to British music, in 1990. 743 00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:25,320 Thank you, good night. 744 00:47:26,720 --> 00:47:29,360 The following year, after Freddie Mercury's death, 745 00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:31,240 the single was released again. 746 00:47:31,240 --> 00:47:33,200 And guess what... 747 00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:36,000 16 years later, it's number one again, and here it is. 748 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,120 This is Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody at number one. 749 00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:41,520 It sold an awful lot around the world. 750 00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:44,800 I think as much again as it had done the first time. 751 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:50,320 I suppose I'm not gonna tell you I'm surprised. 752 00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:53,440 It's a great track. 753 00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:57,720 I'm sure it will have another lease of life in another few years! 754 00:47:57,720 --> 00:47:58,960 In America, though, 755 00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:01,360 it would take something other than Freddie Mercury's death 756 00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:03,440 to send it to the top of the charts. 757 00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:05,760 Queen's career there had nosedived 758 00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:09,080 ever since they'd released a video which Americans just didn't get. 759 00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:13,840 I remember Freddie saying, 760 00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:18,920 "I suppose I'll have to fucking die before we're big in America again." 761 00:48:18,920 --> 00:48:22,320 America had resisted from the days of I Want To Break Free video, 762 00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:25,840 where we dressed up in drag, which was unforgivable. 763 00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:28,280 # I want to break free 764 00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:32,920 # I want to break free... # 765 00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:38,440 But America's love affair with Queen was eventually rekindled 766 00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:42,280 and Bohemian Rhapsody became a hit again thanks to Hollywood. 767 00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:44,240 Remember this? 768 00:48:44,240 --> 00:48:46,760 I think we'll go with a little Bohemian Rhapsody, gentlemen. 769 00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:48,000 Good call! 770 00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:51,960 I think that scene in that movie masculinised that song. 771 00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:55,840 You know, I think it made it OK for people. 772 00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:59,680 Even though the song was a hit the first time, it wasn't a number one. 773 00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:05,840 But it became a much bigger deal when Wayne and Garth made it OK. 774 00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:10,720 # Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me-e-e... # 775 00:49:10,720 --> 00:49:14,680 I shot this thing probably for a good ten hours. 776 00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:16,680 And did it over and over and over again. 777 00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:18,480 # For me-e-e... # 778 00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:22,600 And all the perfect energy came together at the perfect time. 779 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:26,360 # For meeeee... # 780 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:28,600 It's like we all got struck by lightning. 781 00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:33,080 # Dun-dun-dun! # 782 00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:35,680 Great stuff, love it! 783 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:37,680 I've been in that car, trust me, 784 00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:42,080 with a couple of mates of mine in Sheffield, I have so been there! 785 00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:43,000 It's classic! 786 00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:49,000 When the heavy bit kicks in and their heads go up and down... 787 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:51,040 ..I nearly wet my pants. 788 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:54,920 Mike was asking for aspirin because his head hurt so bad! 789 00:49:57,720 --> 00:50:00,400 It's great hearing your own tracks on the radio. 790 00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:03,120 If it happened and we were in the Winnebago on tour or something, 791 00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:05,440 and it came on the radio, we'd all be head-banging to it, 792 00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:08,280 and just sort of enjoying the moment. 793 00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:13,080 I guess Wayne's World were closer to the mark than even they realised. 794 00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:17,480 Hello, everybody. Feeling good? 795 00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:21,240 Are you ready to rock? 796 00:50:21,240 --> 00:50:25,720 AUDIENCE CHEER Ready to roll? OK, let's do it! 797 00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:28,880 Even today, Queen's music lives on. 798 00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:33,120 More than a million people have seen the band's musical We Will Rock You. 799 00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:35,120 And the centrepiece of the show, 800 00:50:35,120 --> 00:50:39,240 the one generations of Queen fans want to hear more than any other... 801 00:50:39,240 --> 00:50:42,520 Why, do you really need to ask?! 802 00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:44,920 # Mama 803 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:48,200 # Just killed a man... # 804 00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:50,760 I was four years old and it was my mum's favourite song 805 00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:52,360 and I thought it was brilliant. 806 00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:54,360 # Held a gun against his head 807 00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:56,520 # Pulled my trigger, now he's dead 808 00:50:56,520 --> 00:50:58,760 # Mama 809 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:02,640 # Life had just begun... # 810 00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:06,600 "But now I've gone and thrown it all away, Mama, ooh." 811 00:51:06,600 --> 00:51:08,960 What can you say?! It's unique! 812 00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:19,080 I think it was probably... 813 00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:21,560 We wondered when it was going to finish, didn't we? Yes! 814 00:51:28,760 --> 00:51:32,160 I was quite young, but I remember the video. Very cool video! 815 00:51:33,360 --> 00:51:35,960 # Sends shivers down my spine 816 00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:40,000 # Body's aching all the time... # 817 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:42,880 Goodbye, everybody. 818 00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:47,160 I've got to go. 819 00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:52,960 # Got to leave you all behind and face the truth... # 820 00:51:54,400 --> 00:51:57,480 What I remember is Wayne's World and the two guys singing it in that 821 00:51:57,480 --> 00:51:59,320 and I'll always remember that. 822 00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:05,800 # Mama, oo-oo-ooh... # 823 00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:06,920 Brilliant! 824 00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:11,240 First time I heard it was on the Live At Wembley video in '86. 825 00:52:11,240 --> 00:52:14,120 She was playing it and I walked in and I was like, whoa! 826 00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:17,200 # I don't want to die 827 00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:21,640 # I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all 828 00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:56,600 # Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango? 829 00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:00,080 # Very, very frightening me 830 00:53:00,080 --> 00:53:03,200 # Galileo, Galileo 831 00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:13,000 # He's just a poor boy from a poor family 832 00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:15,800 # Spare him his life From this monstrosity... # 833 00:53:17,320 --> 00:53:20,440 "Easy come, easy go Will you let me go?" 834 00:53:20,440 --> 00:53:23,440 # Bismillah! No! We will not let you go...! # 835 00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:29,640 Let him go! # Bismillah! We will not let you go... # 836 00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:31,880 Let me go! # Will not let you go... # 837 00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:33,560 Let me go. # Will not let you go. Never! 838 00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:37,400 # Let me go-o-o-o-o-o! # No, no, no, no, no, no, no 839 00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:40,480 # Oh, mama mia, mama mia... # Mama mia, let me go 840 00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:44,120 # Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me... # 841 00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:04,320 # So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? 842 00:54:04,320 --> 00:54:09,320 # So you think you can love me and leave me to die? # 843 00:54:09,320 --> 00:54:10,680 I've had moments thinking, 844 00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:13,400 "Oh, God, I'll never get away from Bohemian Rhapsody," 845 00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:16,320 but when I hear the thing I still smile and I still feel proud, 846 00:54:16,320 --> 00:54:17,880 and it doesn't really date. 847 00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:20,960 # Just gotta get right outta here... # 848 00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:24,440 You can't guess that something will grab the country, 849 00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:28,200 and eventually a lot of other countries, as much as that did. 850 00:54:28,200 --> 00:54:33,600 We were surprised at the longevity of the record... 851 00:54:33,600 --> 00:54:35,880 ..but delighted, 852 00:54:35,880 --> 00:54:40,000 hence our infinite faith in the taste of the public. 853 00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:55,360 And that's it. All you ever wanted to know about Bohemian Rhapsody, 854 00:54:55,360 --> 00:55:00,000 and more, save for some choice words from the man who wrote it. 855 00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:02,200 FREDDIE: As far as our music is concerned, 856 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,560 people should just listen to it and discard it. 857 00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:07,800 That's what people do. Wait for the next one. 858 00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:09,680 Bohemian Rhapsody always comes back, 859 00:55:09,680 --> 00:55:12,120 but, as far as I'm concerned, all those days are over, 860 00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:15,160 that era's over, that type of music is now over 861 00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:18,800 and I don't wish to even think about it or write about it. 862 00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:23,880 # Nothing really matters 863 00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:30,680 # To-o-o-o meeeee 864 00:55:46,200 --> 00:55:50,840 # Any way the wind blo-o-o-ws. # 865 00:56:16,280 --> 00:56:19,120 That's it. I don't know any more chords!