Mongolian Rhapsody? First draft to Queen hit reveals rejected title

Early drafts of Queen hit song had original title of Mongolian Rhapsody.

A draft of Queen’s smash hit Bohemian Rhapsody has revealed Freddie Mercury’s original title for the song was Mongolian Rhapsody.

The song drafts, along with other belongings of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury are going on sale at Sotheby’s.

As well as the alternative title, the draft reveals some new lyrics.

The now famous song lyrics are “Mama, just killed a man / Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.” 

However, they originally read: Mama / There’s a war began / I’ve got to leave tonight /I’ve got to stand and fight.

Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor have not commented not the discovery of the new lyrics and title.

Other hit song’s first drafts are included in the auction lot, including Somebody to Love, We Are the Champions and Killer Queen, they are expected to fetch over £1 million.

Bohemian Rhapsody remains the UK’s third biggest-selling single of all time and was ranked No 17 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

The song was the lead single from Queen’s album, A Night at the Opera. It spent 9 weeks at UK No 1 and reached No 9 in the US charts.