“The Prophet’s Song” belongs to one of the glorious milestones in the history of rock music: Queen’s album A Night At the Opera. Upon release, this album received great success: it topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks and peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200. “The Prophet’s Song” is the first epic of the album’s second side. Aided by many metaphors related to the Great Flood of the Bible, this song is considered a groundbreaking new style of rock music.
Queen guitarist Brian May wrote this song after a dream he had about the Great Flood. According to Genesis 6, reflecting on man’s wickedness, God decided to “blot out from the earth the human beings [he] [has] created.” Noah is the only one who found grace in the eyes of God and his lineage was selected by God as human ancestors. What is perhaps most striking about May’s account of the Flood is how he emphasizes the reactions of humans who were left behind by God. The restart of whole things in May’s dream pushed him to consider whether selective salvation is “a direction to mankind.” May describes the anguish of abandoned humans by saying,
“in the dream, people were walking on the streets trying to touch each other’s hands, desperate to try to make some sign that they were caring about other people.”
In contrast to the Bible, May was trying to argue that humans by nature are good since those “wicked” humans realized their benevolence and cared about others when encountering the disaster. The different interpretation of Noah’s Ark leads to a question: should these humans be left behind? May might answer no. He said, “If there is a direction to mankind, it ought to be a coming together” instead of giving up on some groups of people.
There is a noticeable reflection of the “direction to mankind” in “The Prophet’s Song.” For instance, May questions the position of the Seer by giving him very different names. In the Intro, May calls the Seer "wise man," while in the outro, he calls him the "madman."
Oh oh people of the earth
Listen to the warning
The Seer he said
Beware the storm that gathers here
Listen to the wise man
The Outro
Oh oh children of the land
Love is still the answer, take my hand
The vision fades, a voice I hear
Listen to the madman
Oh, but still I fear and still I dare not
Laugh at the madman
According to May, He deliberately conveys an ambiguous message putting the Seer in an uncertain position:
“in the song is this guy [the Seer] who also appeared in the dream. I don't really know whether he was a prophet or an impostor, but anyway, he's standing up there and saying, 'Look, you've got to mend your ways.' I still don't know whether he's the man who thinks he's sent from God or whether he isn't. The song asks questions rather than gives answers."
May’s interpretation of the biblical story helped to present his questions to the original Noah’s legend as opposed to telling a story about God’s punishment and selective salvation. It is as if the great rock musician is holding God accountable for his actions.