Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (rock)
Queen, in their song “Bohemian Rhapsody”, uses apostrophe, allusion, and personification to reveal the true remorse the speaker feels for his actions in a certain situation. The first few lines of the song show his confusion about what has become of him; he feels there is “no escape from reality”, and this is the song’s first example of personification. He then begins to talk about his own insignificance through a series of clichés, saying that “Anyway the wind blows”, nothing matters to him anymore. From here, the song takes on a narrative tone, as he describes in an apostrophe to his “Mama” exactly what happened. The detailed imagery used reveals to the audience that the speaker has “just killed a man / Put a gun against his head / Pulled my trigger now he’s dead.” He tells his mother to carry on without him, now that he’s “thrown it all away” and ruined the rest of his life. This section of the song continues to build up until he says, “I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all.” This line demonstrates the idea that since the speaker has taken the life of someone else, his own life has become unbearably miserable. The next part of the song expresses the speaker’s confused and disturbed thoughts through a series of allusions and repetition. Many of the allusions, such as “Scaramouche” and “Magnifico” seem to have irrelevant meanings but probably meant something to Freddie Mercury, who wrote the song. “Bismillah” directly translates to “in the name of Allah”, and this Arabic word very well could have been linked to Mercury’s religious upbringing. “Beelzebub” is an alternate name for the devil, and this indicates the imminent doom that the speaker believes he is in for. Mercury never revealed the true meaning behind the song, so all of these ideas are completely open to interpretation. After this section, the song assumes an angry tone as the speaker realizes the injustice of his punishment. He asks, in another apostrophe, “So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye?” He is finally taking a stand and showing his persistence in fighting the law and the authorities. Eventually, the song dies down to the gentle tone with which it began, ending the song with “Nothing really matters to me.” This song uses its devices to make a powerful statement about the theme that taking someone else’s life can leave the culprit void of life him or herself.
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