Champions? Hopefully Some Day

I went as saw Bohemian Rhapsody this weekend. In a theater. I don't think I have seen a movie in a theater in over half a year. The movie centers on the band Queen and especially it's lead singer Freddie Mercury, who tragically died of complications from Aids in 1991.

Mercury came from a Parsis family that emigrated from Zanzibar to the UK. His parents had earlier emigrated to Zanzibar from India. They practiced the ancient Zoroastrian religion.  In the movie Freddie's father would  advise, "good thoughts, good words, good deeds", a Zoroastrian tenet. Just before Queen played at Live Aid in 1985, Mercury repeated the phrase to his father to show he had indeed listened to the advice.

The movie, although a bit sanitized, was excellent.

It was especially poignant for me as for many years now whenever I hear the opening verse of the Queen song "We are the Champions" I feel a distinct connection.

I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I've come through

I hope someday the last line rings fully true. But no matter what:

Good Thoughts
Good Words
Good Deeds