Three Rhapsodic Decades

My local classic rock station mentioned this morning that today is the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", although Wikipedia credits October 31 1975 as the date. The radio station may have been a bit off, or possibly the earlier date was the British release, and today was the US release. If so, the two weeks' head start had an enduring impact, as BR is invariably #1 in British lists of the all-time greatest rock songs, just as on most US classic rock stations it always (and inexplicably, to me) seems to be "Stairway to Heaven". Either way, BR definitely made rock history in at least one regard, as it's credited with having the very first music video.

BR was my favorite song when I first became interested in rock music. Though I've much diversified my rock tastes over the subsequent three decades, hearing BR today still brings back those days of teenage reformation. I remember taping the song and playing it for my parents, hoping they'd like the operatic middle portion. Instead, I succeeded in worrying them that I related to the earlier lyrics, which sounded depressive/suicidal. Oh well, so much for bridging the musical generation gap.

I did learn something new about the song just today. The famous "Bismillah!" refrain is from the Arabic and means roughly the same as the Jewish expression "Im Yirtzeh Hashem", "with the help of God". Funny, in high school my friends and I thought "Bismillah" was somehow related to the Yiddish "ich vill nisht" [I don't want]. Though we were obviously incorrect, I still think our interpretation fits better with the way "Bismillah" is used in the song!

While I'm on pop culture I must acknowledge that yesterday was also an important historic date in TV land. Of course, I'm referring to the fact that...

"On November 13th, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. This request came from his wife..."

All you ever want to know about my very favorite comedy TV show here.