Saturday Covers #29

After a fun-filled week which sadly involved no posting at all, it's time for what I predict to be one of the most popular Saturday Covers so far.

So what have I been doing all week that's taken up all the free time I would otherwise have for posting and doing other nerdy activities? I've actually been involved in a production of We Will Rock You. I expect I'll do a post about the actual musical soon, because after being involved in it I've formed some particularly strong opinions about the plot - and they're not positive. And why am I mentioning this? Because after being exposed to Queen's greatest hits about twenty times a day for the last four months, it's the perfect excuse to have one of their most popular on Saturday Covers. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Saturday Covers: The Bohemian Rhapsody Edition.

I must say I have a thing about Bohemian Rhapsody, and you probably won't like it, but here goes. It's ridiculously overplayed.

Come on, it is. I don't know about over in the US, but over here you can't say the words "bohemian," "rhapsody," "Gallileo," "fandango," "Queen," "song," or just about any other word you can think of without the entire population of the surrounding area spontaneously bursting into song. And of course, they know every single lyric. Everyone does. And that's what annoys me. It's no longer viewed as a classic rock track, it's just viewed as something everyone, and literally everyone, knows, like Humpty Dumpty or something. And trust me, Bohemian Rhapsody is not comparable to Humpty Dumpty.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (mp3, 6.9mb)

Well, look who it is! Of all the crazy Australians in the world, it just has to be Rolf Harris who covers Bohemian Rhapsody, doesn't it? This is one of those covers that you either love or you hate. The purists out there will despise this - effectively, Rolf Harris has ruined a classic. But on the other side of the track are those who treat the song just like Humpty Dumpty (see above. It always comes back to Humpty...), and I expect they'll quite enjoy it. Whatever position you stand at, at least give it a try. It's good fun.

The blatant difference from the original is noticeable right from the beginning. Of course, the most obvious change is it's not being sung by several unaccompanied members of Queen - it's being sung by the most stereotypical Australian since the one that we won't mention because he's no longer with us. And of course, the typical Aussie style and humour is with us right from the beginning of the arrangement, with Rolf's cheeky singing and a move straight into Australian folk. In fact, I do have a criticism of Rolf's singing on this track - he's not really reaching his full potential. I think he's compromised good singing just to include as much as the accent as he can.

The song moves on to the "too late..." section, and what's that I hear. Could that possibly be the sweet sound of a wobble board? Oh, Rolf, we knew we could rely on you...

The wobbling is accompanied by some very odd "springing" noises as the song moves into the "Scaramouche fandango" section. This is actually remarkably similar to the original, with near identical singing (well, I say near). The instrumentation's different, but they play the same lines as the original. Oh, and there's a wobble board. Did I mention that? As the section moves on, it just gets ridiculously over the top, and that's where the two different opinions start to form: you either love it or you hate it. Manic laughter introduces us to the traditional loved-by-everyone Wayne's World guitar-crunching heavy metal section. And surprisingly enough, it actually uses proper electric guitars. I was expecting a wobble board.

The rest continues in the same fashion. Overall, it's definitely an impressive interpretation of Bohemian Rhapsody, with somewhat odd vocals and instrumentation, but worth a listen. Is it good or not? That's for you to judge.

Rolf Harris - Bohemian Rhapsody (mp3, 2.4mb)

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