Freddie’s religion

Everyone knows Freddie and his family believed in Zoroastrianism, but he probably faded away from it when he became famous (at least a little bit). I don’t know if he still fully believed in it or if he just stopped believing it at all, but I just got a Freddie Mercury Biography that says Freddie’s family said people claimed he became a Christian a few months before his death. I’m now very interested in this topic and wonder if this is true.

He did write many songs that have lines about God and even a song that is called Jesus. I think it’s very obvious that Freddie was interested in the below and above so it’s not like he only wrote about God, but I don’t think it comes from nowhere. Maybe he gave his life to God because he knew he was going to die and was worrying about “afterlife”, who knows. He probably knew there was because he was religious.

Of course we can’t know this for sure but I’m interested to hear your opinions on this. So how strong Freddie’s beliefs were when he became famous and where he actually believed in, especially in the later years.

No idea as to Freddie's conversion status - or even if he held onto his "birth faith" beyond his school days.
However, I will say this: [b]Jesus[/b] was present in more than one faith/religion, so I wouldn't hinge the Christianity thing on one song from 1973. In much the same way as you'd be completely wrong to base any conversion to [b]Islam[/b] based on the song [b]"Mustapha"[/b].

References to "God" are non-specific in context. God is the supreme being/beings in every religion - not solely Christianity. Some religions give their God(s) name(s) - others just refer to God as God (or language equivalent).

If you've a desire to be literal about the God references consider one of Freddie's finest songs to contain the "G bomb"
[b]Was It All Worth It?[/b]

[b][i]We went to Bali, saw God and Dali
So mystic, surrealistic[/b][/i]

Bali's major religion is Hinduism (84%) with Christianity, Islam and Buddhism representing smaller numbers of the the population. If you really wanted to hang you hat on anything - based on one song alone, then [b]Hinduism[/b] may be the better candidate. This thinking could even extend with regard to [b]"The Miracle"[/b] album cover - which could be interpreted as representative of [b]Brahma[/b] the four-headed God - a nice link to [b]Hinduism[/b] and [b]Buddhism[/b].

See? - it's easy to attach meaning where we "see" it. Doesn't mean it's right, though.

My own opinion? I don't think Freddie was ever religious - even at the end. I think he was very intelligent (as far as art and literature were concerned), and liked to base his songs on his acquired learning. This is something that most major rock stars from 60/70s tended to do: "showing their workings" - as it were.

Here's just a couple of examples:
[b]Fairy Feller[/b] - based on [b]Dadd's[/b] painting.
[b]My Fairy King[/b] - has a passage "lifted" [b]Robert Browning's "The Pied Piper"[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]

No idea as to Freddie's conversion status - or even if he held onto his "birth faith" beyond his school days.
However, I will say this: [b]Jesus[/b] was present in more than one faith/religion, so I wouldn't hinge the Christianity thing on one song from 1973. In much the same way as you'd be completely wrong to base any conversion to [b]Islam[/b] based on the song [b]"Mustapha"[/b].

References to "God" are non-specific in context. God is the supreme being/beings in every religion - not solely Christianity. Some religions give their God(s) name(s) - others just refer to God as God (or language equivalent).

If you've a desire to be literal about the God references consider one of Freddie's finest songs to contain the "G bomb"
[b]Was It All Worth It?[/b]

[b][i]We went to Bali, saw God and Dali
So mystic, surrealistic[/b][/i]

Bali's major religion is Hinduism (84%) with Christianity, Islam and Buddhism representing smaller numbers of the the population. If you really wanted to hang you hat on anything - based on one song alone, then [b]Hinduism[/b] may be the better candidate. This thinking could even extend with regard to [b]"The Miracle"[/b] album cover - which could be interpreted as representative of [b]Brahma[/b] the four-headed God - a nice link to [b]Hinduism[/b] and [b]Buddhism[/b].

See? - it's easy to attach meaning where we "see" it. Doesn't mean it's right, though.

My own opinion? I don't think Freddie was ever religious - even at the end. I think he was very intelligent (as far as art and literature were concerned), and liked to base his songs on his acquired learning. This is something that most major rock stars from 60/70s tended to do: "showing their workings" - as it were.

Here's just a couple of examples:
[b]Fairy Feller[/b] - based on Dadd's painting.
[b]My Fairy King[/b] - has a passage from [b]Robert Browning's "The Pied Piper"[/b]

[/QUOTE]

Great post mate.

Some excellent analysis above indeed.

My take was that he was theologically literate, fairly spiritual and optimistic in nature which might have him inclined him towards faith in his last couple of years. But it would have been a general one.

That said I don’t even know how much he was into Paul Rodgers let alone God.

I think he was more of an Anglophile than an Anglican.

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]

I think he was very intelligent (as far as art and literature were concerned), and liked to base his songs on his acquired learning. This is something that most major rock stars from 60/70s tended to do: "showing their workings" - as it were.

Here's just a couple of examples:
[b]Fairy Feller[/b] - based on [b]Dadd's[/b] painting.
[b]My Fairy King[/b] - has a passage "lifted" [b]Robert Browning's "The Pied Piper"[/b]

[/QUOTE]



That's true to a certain extent, especially in the first 2 albums. And you could add Bo Rap and IAHL as examples of a basic knowledge of opera. Aside from that I'm struggling to think of any songs influenced by art, literature etc. Quite quickly, Fred started writing mainly about relationships and never really went back to those early days.

[QUOTE] [b]Holly2003 wrote:[/b]
That's true to a certain extent, especially in the first 2 albums. And you could add Bo Rap and IAHL as examples of a basic knowledge of opera. Aside from that I'm struggling to think of any songs influenced by art, literature etc. Quite quickly, Fred started writing mainly about relationships and never really went back to those early days.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. But I wasn't really arguing the case for/against Freddie's use of art/literature, I was merely citing them as the leanings of most 60/70s bands, Songs like, Ogre, SSOR, Jesus, GKR, MOTBQ, Liar, LoTV and Bo Rhap etc tell stories, so the inspiration is really art/literature - even if there's not an obvious "inspired by".

The late 60s / early 70s were very "proggy" and artists often wrote from a story-telling perspective. Jesus/Bible and other religions were literary props for song-writing.

Of course, bands matured and the moved away from their initial leanings. More reality, less fiction. When all is said and done, my comparison was really about religion being "just another" subject for his writing - and, more importantly - how "anything" can be interpreted from the simple use of "God" in one line of a song.

He wrote a very specific song about the nativity for the first album. I think it is fair to say his 'Zoroastrianism' 'Parsi' upbringing wasn't really that important to him. He was outlived by his mother, hence the funeral he had.

Taking into account the life he lived I think it's a fair assumption that he didn't give two shits about any of that nonsense.

I think he took the general point of Zoroastrianism -good words, good thoughts, good deeds- and tried to live by it, forgetting about the rest.

[QUOTE] [b]Helena Dax wrote:[/b]

I think he took the general point of Zoroastrianism -good words, good thoughts, good deeds- and tried to live by it, forgetting about the rest. [/QUOTE]
wiki is your friend.

Freddie was a Mormon


....an insatiable conviction to "More Men".

Freddie's sister described him as "not religious" in an interview, although he was respectful of his family's traditions.

Jim Hutton described in an interview that near the end of his life he'd hear Freddie whispering, and Jim said "what are you doing?" and Freddie said "saying my prayers".

Montserrat Caballe said in an interview that Freddie believed in God but didn't use traditionally religious terminology for these things. If I can find the source for that interview I will post it here later.

It's probably accurate to say that Freddie was did not adhere to any organised religion but rather had some of his own private beliefs that may or may not have changed throughout the course of his life.

I think the school he attended in India was a Catholic school, but that doesn't mean he was ever a Catholic.

This is an interesting topic, Diehard. Based on the extensive biblical content and references in many of his songs, especially the early ones, it’s easy to see he was quite knowledgeable about Christianity. I would guess that his catholic school upbringing had a big effect on him, where he probably had to learn the biblical principles and history. Whether he took those to heart and adhered to them is the real question. He may have just been spitting out references to things he learned that sounded ethereal and cool when in song. But he also wrote Great King Rat which seems to support the coming of evil and following that. It could just be a young man’s rebellious streak coming out against his catholic upbringing, and maybe applying some shock value as well?

Perhaps as he aged and the consequences of his hedonistic lifestyle registered he reflected back on his catholic roots and returned to a level of Christianity. His funeral was not traditionally Christian, but that does not mean much, as he may have just wanted to honor his parent’s faith, which could also be considered a branch of Christianity anyway. One interesting thing is his discontinuing any manner of physical relationship with Jim Hutton. Obviously his deteriorating physical condition was mainly responsible, but was there an element of regret and review of his sexuality? Most likely not, but interesting to consider. Sadly it was between him and God as to whether he repented and came to know Jesus so we’ll never know for sure. As a Christian myself, I really hope that he did! : )

[QUOTE] [b]MyHumanZoo wrote:[/b]Perhaps as he aged and the consequences of his hedonistic lifestyle registered he reflected back on his catholic roots and returned to a level of Christianity. His funeral was not traditionally Christian, but that does not mean much, as he may have just wanted to honor his parent’s faith, which could also be considered a branch of Christianity anyway.[/QUOTE]He did not have Catholic roots. He may have been taught in a Catholic school - but that is NOT the same thing. I was born catholic and attended Catholic schools - but there were plenty of kids there who were NOT Catholic - they were schooled there because the school was deemed the most successful locally. Who considers Zoroastrianism a branch of Christianity? It's roots and establishment pre-date Christ by 500 years! His family were Parsi - which are part of the traditionalist school of thought.

[QUOTE] [b]MyHumanZoo wrote:[/b]Sadly it was between him and God as to whether he repented and came to know Jesus so we’ll never know for sure. As a Christian myself, I really hope that he did! : )[/QUOTE]Why is it "sad" that "it was between him and God to as to whether he repented? You make it sound as if it's "sad" that everyone did not know this...but it was his business - and his alone.
And, if you're not coming at it from the "nosey fan/Christian do-gooder" perspective...well that makes it worse (in my book). Because the ONLY other meaning of your statement is that "if he didn't then he's damned for eternity". Who are you and your God to judge? - That's if YOUR'S - or anybody else's God actually exists.

[QUOTE] [b]MyHumanZoo wrote:[/b]

This is an interesting topic, Diehard. Based on the extensive biblical content and references in many of his songs, especially the early ones, it’s easy to see he was quite knowledgeable about Christianity. I would guess that his catholic school upbringing had a big effect on him, where he probably had to learn the biblical principles and history. Whether he took those to heart and adhered to them is the real question. He may have just been spitting out references to things he learned that sounded ethereal and cool when in song. But he also wrote Great King Rat which seems to support the coming of evil and following that. It could just be a young man’s rebellious streak coming out against his catholic upbringing, and maybe applying some shock value as well?

Perhaps as he aged and the consequences of his hedonistic lifestyle registered he reflected back on his catholic roots and returned to a level of Christianity. His funeral was not traditionally Christian, but that does not mean much, as he may have just wanted to honor his parent’s faith, which could also be considered a branch of Christianity anyway. One interesting thing is his discontinuing any manner of physical relationship with Jim Hutton. Obviously his deteriorating physical condition was mainly responsible, but was there an element of regret and review of his sexuality? Most likely not, but interesting to consider. Sadly it was between him and God as to whether he repented and came to know Jesus so we’ll never know for sure. As a Christian myself, I really hope that he did! : )[/QUOTE]

MyHumanZoo, I find this topic fascinating too. I think that his religious upbringing definitely had a role in his songs especially the earlier ones. It seems that Freddie was very spiritual by nature and personified it through his music. I don't know too much about Zoroastrianism, but as I understand it, it's one of the oldest religions in the world and may have had an influence on Christianity and other religions as far as judgement after death, heaven/hell, etc.

It seems probable that Freddie may have had regrets as he was always feeling guilty about his sexuality, and generally, as we get older and toward our end of life, we reflect on our lives. And it is interesting that he stopped his physical relationship with Jim. Didn't he tell Jim that he could leave toward the beginning of his illness?

As far as his funeral, I would think he would want to have a Zoroastrian funeral either for himself or to honor his parents especially if he grew up in that faith.

Freddie is such an interesting person and I only wish he were still alive and gracing us with his presence and music.