I don't about you guys, but it always left perplex when I used to see Freddie act like he was an average cultured guy in interview or anywhere else...Freddie was maybe the cultured artist in the whole world...When you can write songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, The Fairy Feller Master-Stroke, Mustapha and the list goes on and on...You need to have, let's say, a little bit of culture. Freddie knew a lot of things, from opera to religion, to ancient myths, etc, etc...so I don't understand why he always downplayed himself by saying "I hardly read books, it's a waste of time"...maybe he didn't read books, but that guy was damn fucking brillant!!!
I was very surprised when I found out he didn't read much.
After all he went to an art college, painted, sang with an opera diva, and he danced with the royal ballet.
How much more cultured can a rock star get?
JamieSureWould wrote: i condsider myself cultured and i hate books more than anything- they really are a big waste of time
sandssavvy wrote: I was very surprised when I found out he didn't read much.
Contrary to popular belief - Freddie was actually VERY well read. You can find the fruits of his reading in the lyrics of his songs.
The inspiration behind "My Fairy King", comes from Robert Browning's epic poem "The Pied Piper".
Here are the lyrics to "My Fairy King".
In the land where horses born with eagle wings
And honey bees have lost their stings
There's singing forever
Lions den with fallow deer
And rivers made from wines so clear
Flow on and on forever
Dragons fly like sparrows thru' the air
And baby lambs where Samson dares
To go on on on on on on
My fairy king can see things
He rules the air and turns the tides
That are not there for you and me
Oooh yeah he guides the winds
My fairy king can do right and nothing wrong
Then came man to savage in the night
To run like thieves and to kill like knives
To take away the power from the magic hand
To bring about the ruin of the promised land
They turn the milk into sour
Like the blue in the blood of my veins
Why can't you see it
Fire burning in hell with the cry of screaming rain
Son of heaven set me free and let me go
Sea turn dry no salt from sand
Seasons fly no helping hand
Teeth don't shine like pearls for poor man's eyes
Someone someone just drained the colour from my wings
Broken my fairy circle ring
And shamed the king in all his pride
Changed the wings and wronged the tides
Mother mercury mercury
Look what they've done to me
I cannot run I cannot hide
Here is a link to the Robert Browning page - where you can see the whole "book" link
Here is a link to the "Fairy King" specific section of the poem. link
230 And when all were in to the very last,
231 The door in the mountain-side shut fast.
232 Did I say, all? No! One was lame,
233 And could not dance the whole of the way;
234 And in after years, if you would blame
235 His sadness, he was used to say, --
236 ''It's dull in our town since my playmates left!
237 ''I can't forget that I'm bereft
238 ''Of all the pleasant sights they see,
239 ''Which the Piper also promised me.
240 ''For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
241 ''Joining the town and just at hand,
242 ''Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew,
243 ''And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
244 ''And everything was strange and new;
245 ''The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
246 ''And their dogs outran our fallow deer,
247 ''And honey-bees had lost their stings,
248 ''And horses were born with eagles' wings;
249 ''And just as I became assured
250 ''My lame foot would be speedily cured,
251 ''The music stopped and I stood still,
252 ''And found myself outside the hill,
253 ''Left alone against my will,
254 ''To go now limping as before,
255 ''And never hear of that country more!''
When he said "I hardly have time to read books" - this meant that he had a very busy lifestyle - NOT that he DIDN'T read books.
At the hight of punk he did say that he hated reading, but that was meant to be ironic - NOT statement of fact!
I've gathered from listening to people (particularly Brian) who knew him, that Freddie had two different mode under which he operated: 1) average guy, unassuming, maybe even shy, and 2) Freddie Mercury: Rock Star
At home and with friends he was average guy (well, rich average guy...), but on stage and in promotional interviews, etc, he was the rock star. I think statements like, "The bigger, the better, in everything, dear" and "I don't read much"/"don't have time etc" (whatever the quote is) are part of the Rock Star persona he donned in order to build up the mythos around him. You say and do flamboyant and controversial things, it shields the Average Freddie from the world.
One thing which struck me from the One Vision commentary (I think that's where I heard it) was Roger saying he and Freddie played Scrabble a lot in the studio's lounge, and that they were fairly well-matched. For that to be true, Freddie would have been very well-read. I play a good deal of Scrabble myself and can attest to the fact that reading often and varied literature *definately* increases your vocabulary.