PROFESORA LUGONES

CENS 454 – 3°C

Name: ___________________________________________

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Freddie Mercury and Queen probably defined the

generation of the 1980′s with this song. The 60′s
were known as the hippies and free love
generation. The 70′s was the “Me” generation and
the 80′s were ready to break free to find their
own musical expressions.

Bohemian Rhapsody mashed almost every genre

and time period available into one magnificent
epic for a generation to say, “anything goes!”
There has been a lot written about the hidden
meanings of this song. It can be thought that the
main value of the song is in its ambitious
composition. Queen, with this one composition,
aspired to the heights of the masters. It cannot
be said whether they were worthy of such a
claim. But we can say that they introduced a generation to some wonderful
orchestration and musical styles that would not have been considered without them.

This song, for the English learner, will be challenging. For a thinking music lover, this
song is perfect. Not only can you share your English with another, you can share the
nuances of some really great musical styles and literary references! And, above all,
it can be enjoyed by anyone.

I. Take a look at the lyrics, complete the missing words with the ones
you hear on the song

Is this the real life? Pulled my trigger, now he's __________

Is this just ________________?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from ________________
Open your _________
Look up to the skies and see
I'm just a __________ boy, I need no
sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy
_____________
A little high, little low
Anyway the ________ blows, doesn't
really matter to me, to me
Mama, just ________ a man
Put a gun against his head
Mama, life had just begun
But __________ I've gone and thrown it
all away
Mama, ooo
Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time
____________
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing
___________ matters
Too late, my time has come
Sends shivers ________ my spine
Body's aching all the _______
Goodbye _______ - I've got to go

Gotta leave you all behind and face the
________
Mama, ooo - (anyway the wind blows)
I don't __________ to die
I sometimes wish I'd never been
________ at all
I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do
the fandango
Thunderbolt and lightning - very very
frightening me
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo Figaro - magnifico
But I'm just a poor boy and nobody
_________ me
He's just a poor boy _________ a poor
family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come easy go - will you let me
__________
Bismillah! No - we will not let you go -
let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let
him go
PROFESORA LUGONES
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let
me go
Will not let you go - let me go (never)
Never let you go - let me go
Never let me go - ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no -
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia
let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me
for me for me
So you think you can stone me and spit
in my eye
So you _______ you can love me and
leave me to die
Oh baby - can't do this to me ________
Just gotta get out - just gotta get right
outta _________
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Nothing really matters
Anyone can ______
Nothing really matters - nothing really
matters to me
Anyway the wind _________...

II. Look at the words written in bold on the introduction paragraph.

Find their meaning and write a sentence with them.

1. Break Free: __________________________________________________________________

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2. Mashed: ____________________________________________________________________

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3. Heights: _____________________________________________________________________

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4. Claim: ______________________________________________________________________

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5. Nuances: ___________________________________________________________________

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 PROFESORA LUGONES
III. This is a chart explaining the different sections on the songs and
the musical style that they portray and the meaning we can infer
from them. Look at the chart and then answer the questions

SECTION LISTENING STORY GUIDE

SECTION
ONE

close harmony questioning

Opening
(multi-tracking) reality

main melody
murder
Middle solo singer
committed
piano accompaniment

End guitar improvisation

SECTION choir vs. solo singer generally

debate
TWO faster, use of multi-tracks

SECTION heavy metal, solo singer,

anger, escape
THREE guitar riff, loud backbeat

Similar to Section One

SECTION
gentler and slower, return of piano calmer, resigned
FOUR
accompaniment

1. On section one we can divide the song in three parts, opening, middle and end.
Why do you think the musicians made this for? How does this part of the song affect
the main story?
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2. On the Opening part of section one, what is the main character of the song
questioning himself?
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 PROFESORA LUGONES
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3. What did he do? Did he do something wrong?

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4. On section two, which part of the song can make you identify that he is debating
something?
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5. On section three, what musical instruments represent the anger?

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6. On section four, how can we identify that the main character is more clamed and
resigned?
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