Meta-Rhapsody

[deckardcanine]

Is this the Queen smash? No, just a parody,
Making up new words to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Boy, what a song; it’s six minutes long, whoopee!
Who wrote this gamble? Why, Freddie Mercury;
He made the whole thing up in his head;
That is what Brian said.
Anyway, the hit sounds unlike any other to me, to me.

After the intro’s done,
Freddie sings alone a while in a ballad type of style,
Playing grand piano keys
As a bass provides dramatic underscores.
Freddie’s croon
Soon becomes a plaintive cry.
His octave reaches almost to soprano—
What a voice, what a voice—
As not many men can master.

Once more, things simmer down.
You might call this the third stanza; “verse” is not the word.
Looking at the lyrics, you’d think it’s sad,
But I’ve never known a listener to sob.
Freddie’s tune
Somehow must defy
The common means of making us mourn at all.

Then comes the operatic section of the suite.
Other voices join in, using words that sound random.
Suddenly, they’re shrieking, veritably freaking me—
Why so squeaky? (Don’t be cheeky!)
Why repeat it? (Can you beat it?)
Why use old and famous names (and foreign words)?

Ah, on to Freddie’s clipped arioso—
No, now the group must shout him down, don’t you know,
Claiming to hope they will lessen his woe!
Freddie still keeps his head, soft and low instead.
(Bass growling)
Whoa! Do you know what they said? (Let me check!)
“Bismillah”? Whatever could that mean? (Let me check!)
Bismillah: a word in the Qu’ran? (You don’t say!)
“In the name of God”? (You don’t say!)
Here I thought I’d read (Be careful!)
He’s of Parsi stock. (Yes, he is!)
So—so—so—so—so—so—so—
So he’s a fan of the exotic; let ‘em sing it if they like!
It’s clear enough that the plotline’s not supposed
To be so plain to see!

That guitar’s reestablished the genre as rock!
Freddie’s tone has grown angry, with meter to shock!
Oh, Freddie, how’d you think this up, Freddie?
All this is far out; nobody comes anywhere near!

Now the song’s concluding, oh so peacefully,
Like an ending park ride.
What a great performance to me!
(Ending on an F chord?)