Bohemian Memories

"A song that reminds you of somewhere."

Bohemian Rhapsody. High School.

And here's the reason why: (originally posted at Momma Needs A Beer on 12/22/10)

When we all stood for the singing of our National Anthem at the first football game of my freshman year in High School I was convinced that they were playing a "tape" (my, how that dates me) of some super fabulous professional singing group when someone pointed to a group of high school aged young women on the field and told me THEY were singing. Convinced this was some kind of Milli Vanilli (also dates me) incident, it took some time for this friend to convince me that it was really them. As it turns out, our school had an elite choir group (Glee-rific singing chops!) called Resounding Harmony. Kelli here at Momma Needs a Beer, was a member--so that should tell you how awesome they were.

Fast forward to either my sophomore or junior year (apparently I'm too old to remember these kinds of things any more) when I had joined the concert choir at school. And, let's be honest, I joined because my school started having musicals in addition to plays and I wanted to hang out more with my drama-geeks and the Choir Director took me out of pity. I was NOT accepted because of any sort of decent vocal stylings.

Cue, my Christmas memory. At this time (late fall/early winter, near Christmas) a local radio station was having some sort of singing contest whereby individuals or groups could call in and sing Bohemian Rhapsody. I'm sure the winner got some sort of fabulous "cash and prizes" --maybe a mix tape. Remember those?

One morning as we waited to start B-List choir class, the A-list (Resounding Harmony) gathered in the Choir Director's (Amy) office and sang Bohemian Rhapsody. Now, just to be clear, I had never heard of Queen let alone Bohemian Rhapsody--my parents listened to Bluegrass and Folk music. So, I assumed that it was a Christmas song, given the season. And, I thought it was a Christmas song well into my 20's when it came on the radio--and I was all, "I love this, isn't it such a good Christmas song???". And, my then roommate was all, "Ummm....Christmas song? Really? Are you serious?". It was then and only then that I began listening to the the lyrics..."oops, my bad!".

Now every time it comes on the radio, she calls up and plays it to my voicemail. She has since that day. My husband on the other hand just shakes his head.

It's interesting how things work though, since I thought for so many years that it was a Christmas song, it still is...to me.