Which Queen song contains the lyric 'Mama, just killed a man'?

Which Queen song contains the lyric “Mama, just killed a man”? Bohemian Rhapsody. Freddie Mercury wrote the line for Queen’s six-minute 1975 epic, one of rock music’s most recognizable recordings.

The song moves through contrasting sections: a piano-led ballad, an operatic passage, a hard-rock middle and a reflective ending. Queen recorded it for A Night at the Opera, using extensive vocal and instrumental overdubbing to create its unusually large-scale arrangement.

Mercury had reportedly been developing parts of the song since the late 1960s. His friend Chris Smith recalled an early piano piece known as “The Cowboy Song” that contained lines later incorporated into the finished composition. The song’s narrative and symbolism have inspired many interpretations, but Mercury generally avoided giving a definitive explanation.

A frequent mistake is attributing the lyric to another dramatic Queen song such as “Killer Queen” or “Somebody to Love.” It belongs specifically to the opening ballad section of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which became a major international hit after its 1975 release.