Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” came out when I was a little kid, waaaaaaaaaay back in 1975. At the time (and for several years), it was a cultural monster; to promote the song, Queen produced what is basically the first modern music video. You could not possibly hope to avoid it. As is the way of things over time it faded. But it never truly disappeared, as “Wayne’s World” amply demonstrated. It’s kinda like “Star Trek:” it has always been there, and it boggles my mind whenever I stumble across someone unaware of it.
And it seems that some youngun’s are unaware of it, assuming these “reaction” videos are honest (and in the era of Smollett… who can say). In a way I kinda envy them. It’s not every day you are introduced to “Bohemian Rhapsody” for the first time.
If you search on YouTube for Bohemian Rhapsody Reaction, there are a *lot* of such videos. So as far as I know, there might be some sort of meme where people are *pretending* to hear it for the first time and be blown away. it’s possible. But another thing to note is that at first glance it appears that the great majority of those being exposed to this for the first time are black folk. I do not recall that in the mid 1970’s Queen was considered particularly exclusive white folk music; perhaps in the intervening decades the segregation of media has cut a lot of people off from *good* music and left them stuck only with hip-hop.
Admittedly, “reaction videos” are about the lowest form of YouTube video… no script, forethought, planning needed. Just sit there and emote. But if these are even halfway honest, I remain shocked that “Bohemian Rhapsody” is *apparently* so unknown. Like it or not, there’s no denying that “Rhapsody” is a *lot* better, technically, than the vast majority of the gibberish that passes for music. While it’s lyrics are essentially nonsensical and taste in musical styles is of course highly variable and subjective… it is craftsmanship.
Feh. Kids these days.
This video makes my eyebrow raise in skepticism…the kid seems to protest ignorance of the song, Queen, even the pronunciation of “Bohemian” a bit too much. I do wonder if he’s acting.