(I just wanted to quickly interject and say that Bohemian Rhapsody is popular in part because of how unique and revolutionary it was for its time. You’re right, Josiah, to wonder why it would be popular today, as it would not be very well known if it had been released just this year. However, due to the greater contexts surrounding the song’s release, including the difficulty to produce music in the pre-digital era [it was well before the days of auto-tune], helped its popularity to blossom. It’s still beloved today partly because of the emotional response it elicited upon its release and partly because its uniqueness in some ways still holds up. Many view it as a piece of art rather than a piece of music. The song reached number 1 when released in 1976 and again when it was re-released in 1991 (a full 15 years later), not to mention to music video was praised excessively for being one of the first full-length music videos produced, about a half-decade before MTV became a TV station.
I only heard the full r-e-c-o-r-d-i-n-g of the song this year, but I remember classmates of mine in gradeschool singing the song at the lunch table because it was a fun challenge for them to memorize the lyrics [it was before the days of high-speed internet, so Bohemian Rhapsody was the silly, fun song of choice for my classmates]. The song is over 40 years old, but it doesn’t sound that old, because it was so ahead of its time.
Hopefully my brief attempt to explain some of the logic behind the song’s popularity is helpful. Music can become really messy when some people evaluate it based upon sheer substance and others appreciate it as artwork, including more that just face-value characteristics.)
