An early draft of Queen's 1975 anthem "Bohemian Rhapsody" contained lyrics about going to war, a stark contrast to the song's eventual narrative. According to "A Life in Lyrics: The Official Creative Legacy of Freddie Mercury," an early verse read, "Mama, there’s a war began / I’ve got to leave tonight."
The book, compiled from notebooks and musical sketches left by the late Freddie Mercury to his former fiancée Mary Austin, details the extensive revision process behind the band's most famous songs. The publication coincides with what would have been Mercury's 80th birthday.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" began with the line "Mama, just killed a man," which Mercury reportedly conceived in 1968. At one point, he referred to the nascent song fragment as "The Cowboy Song."
The song's sonic direction may have been influenced by Mercury's purchase of a Yamaha grand piano, with Austin suggesting the instrument's grand sound might have inspired the song's operatic leanings. Musical influences cited include Chopin, Mozart, and Joni Mitchell, whose album "Court and Spark" Mercury played frequently.
Alternative titles were also considered. One handwritten page shows "Mongolian Rhapsody" crossed out in favor of "Bohemian Rhapsody." Another discarded opening line was, "Time for goodbyes now/ Is this reality?"
Mercury's notes reveal extensive work on the song's complex vocal harmonies, with words like "Galileo" and "Bismillah" appearing as guides. Austin recalled Mercury waking from dreams with lyrical fragments, leading him to develop a habit of waking himself to jot down ideas.
The creative intensity surrounding "Bohemian Rhapsody" consumed Mercury's attention. Austin described him as being so deeply engrossed in composing the song that he would not notice her presence, a departure from his usual collaborative nature.
This dedication carried into the studio, where the band spent three weeks recording the song. The operatic section alone involved nearly 200 vocal overdubs from Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor. The resulting tape was so worn that light could pass through it.
Initially, record label executives at EMI requested significant edits to the nearly six-minute song, deeming it too long for a single. Mercury refused, briefly worrying he had jeopardized his career. However, London DJ Kenny Everett played the full version repeatedly on Capital Radio over a weekend, generating immense listener interest. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released uncut in 1975, topping the UK charts for nine weeks and becoming Queen's first Top Ten hit in America.
The song experienced chart resurgences following its inclusion in the 1992 film "Wayne's World," reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and again after the 2018 biopic of Mercury, also titled "Bohemian Rhapsody."