First draft released 48 years ago
It has been revealed that the original title of the famous song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by the British rock band ‘Queen’ was ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’.
According to a report by the New York Times (NYT) on the 31st (local time), the first draft of “Bohemian Rhapsody” kept by Queen’s vocalist Mary Austin, heir to the late Freddie Mercury’s legacy, will be released in London in September. It was put up for auction at Sotheby’s.
It is said that this draft was at the London home of Mercury, who died of bronchial pneumonia caused by AIDS in 1991.
The first draft of the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody is 15 pages long. Mercury wrote the phrase ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ at the top of one of these pages. Afterwards, he put an X on the word ‘Mongolian’ and wrote a new word, ‘Bohemian’.
It can be inferred that Mercury initially conceived the song under the title of ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ and later modified the title to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
It was also revealed in this draft that the introductory lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody, which begins with “Mama, Just killed a man,” were originally “Mama, There’s a war began.”
Photo = Sotheby’s website“Bohemian and Mongolian are both words that have the same rhyme and rhythm,” said Gabriel Heaton, a document expert at Sotheby’s.
“It’s no surprise that Mercury contemplated the phrase ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ for the title,” Queen expert Mark Blake told the NYT. Like other rock bands, Queen often put on playful titles in the process of making songs.”
Jim Jenkins, one of Queen’s biographers, commented, “I’m sure Bohemian Rhapsody would have been a hit regardless of its title, but Mercury’s final choice was better.”
Meanwhile, Sotheby’s is estimating the successful bid price for this first draft with the phrase ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’ at 1.5 million dollars (approximately 1.99 billion won).
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.