“Bohemian Rhapsody” is not only widely considered the best Queen song, but some think it’s the best song of all time. However, there was a song Freddie Mercury thought was “better” in terms of being “a pure piece of songwriting.”
In a new interview, former roadie and author of Queen Uncovered Peter Hince recalled his time with the band while they were recording “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Mercury’s views on the iconic song.
“The band were recording Night At The Opera and we were going around all these different studios in London and doing bits in each place so I was hearing bits and pieces of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ but I didn’t hear the whole thing for quite some time. I remember hearing the opera bit and thinking it’s going to be an introduction tape for the live show – I had no idea it was a song!” he remembered. “The video is arguably what helped it become so huge in Britain…and the other thing is that, sadly, Freddie isn’t around anymore and it’s one of his legacies that piece of music so is still something people find very emotional.”
“Also, nothing really had been done like it before and probably nothing since – with all the technology now it is easier to get certain studio effects whereas with Queen it was all about spending enormous amounts of time and being incredibly innovative,” Hince continued, “So I think part of [it’s appeal] is in the fact that it took so long to do and it was this real labour of love for Fred.”
Then he dropped the bomb: “Freddie actually said ‘Somebody To Love’ was a better piece of songwriting than Bo Rap. He felt that as a pure piece of songwriting it was better.”
Mercury may no longer be with us, but Queen is still touring with Adam Lambert on vocals. See their current list of tour dates here.
