It’s one of rock’s most famous and weirdest songs. His six-minute radio hit begins as a piano-his ballad, becomes a high-pitched opera, and then rolls into a headbanger anthem.Femdom “bohemian rhapsody,” Released in 1975, it sold millions of copies, topped the charts, and helped redefine pop music.
But the track’s history could have been very different, at least in some respects.
An early draft of the song by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury suggests he once considered giving the anthem a different title, “Mongol Rhapsody.”
The draft is among some thousands of Mercury’s properties to be auctioned in September by Sotheby’s on behalf of friend and heiress Mary Austin. who told the bbc She said she decided to sell her collection because she needed to “organize her life”. The collection, which has been in her London home since Mercury died of bronchial pneumonia caused by AIDS in 1991, includes stage costumes and furniture, as well as 15 pages of an early draft of Bohemian Rhapsody. is Mercury wrote the words “Mongol Rhapsody” near the top of one page. She then crossed out the first word and added “bohemian” above it.
The page will be available to the public at an exhibition at Sotheby’s in New York from Thursday through June 8th.
Sotheby’s book and manuscript expert Gabriel Heaton said in a recent interview at the auction house’s London vault that Mercury fiddled with lyrics and swapped similar-sounding words when writing songs. He said it was clear from the draft. “Of course ‘Bohemian’ and ‘Mongol’ have the same rhythm,” he said of the song in question.
Almost all of the lyrics are written on letter paper from the defunct British airline British Midland, with some pages adorned with Mercury’s abstract graffiti. The word ‘Mongolian’ does not appear anywhere in the draft, which is estimated to be worth up to £1.2 million, or about $1.5 million.
There are many songs in rock history that could have been. When the Beatles wrote “Yesterday,” he famously gave it the working title of “Scrambled Eggs.” However, a possible alternative title for “Bohemian Rhapsody” has not been known since the song premiered nearly 50 years ago, nor has it been mentioned in any prominent Queen biographies.
Mark Blake Author of several books on Queensaid in a phone interview that the alternate title was “a bit of a fun fact” but wasn’t surprised. Like most bands, Queen often had “jokey titles” that were later changed. He said the group’s “Under Pressure” with David Bowie was originally titled “People on Streets”.
Jim Jenkins, one of Queen’s official biographers, said he had never heard of the “Mongol Rhapsody” idea, even though he had known Mercury for years. Jenkins added that the singer “never liked to explain” her lyrics or titles. “He left it up to our interpretation.”
Sotheby’s sale includes some of Mercury’s drafts of Queen’s other hits, including “Somebody to Love,” “We Are the Champions” and “Killer Queen.” Both show Mercury searching for words, sometimes trying multiple lines, to make the lyrics sing.
His transformation to “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the most striking. In the final version of the song, the verse begins with the lines:
mom
just killed someone
put a gun to his head
I pulled the trigger, he’s dead.
However, Mercury wrote in an earlier draft:
mom
the war has begun
have to leave tonight
I must stand and fight.
Another page looks like a word cloud, with Mercury scribbling dozens of words and phrases, including “Fandango,” “Lightning and Lighting,” and “Belladonna.” Heaton said the page looks like Mercury is experimenting with options for the operatic portion of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
In an interview, Mercury made it clear that writing Bohemian Rhapsody was difficult. According to his interview excerpts, Freddie Mercury: A Life in His Own Words, Mercury once said, “It didn’t come out of nowhere.” “Some songs call for that kind of pompous taste,” he says. “I had to work like crazy.”
The band’s guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor declined to comment on the draft of “Mongol Rhapsody.” in the 2002 documentaryMay recalled the moment Mercury suggested the title “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “I had no idea if Freddie was joking or what he was saying,” May said. “Some of his ideas turned out not to be serious, but the ideas remained.”
Heaton said there was a certain air of mystery about the final title, but it’s hard to say how important that was to the song’s success and enduring appeal.
There is plenty of evidence of both in upcoming sales. Other items Sotheby’s is auctioning in September include a gold disc of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a plaque recognizing the band’s Grammy nominations for the song, and a posthumous MTV award to Mercury for the song. including awards. Appeared in the movie “Wayne’s World”.
Queen biographer Jenkins said he was confident “Bohemian Rhapsody” would be a hit regardless of the title, but Mercury’s final choice was better.
“When the book came out, I remember looking it up, wondering what Bohemian was,” he said.
