"All of This and Nothing" is a series of weekly posts, each about one song I really love, by an artist I haven't featured in the previous This Year, Portions For Foxes, or Better Things series. It alternates between Obscure and Famous songs; feel free to argue either way if you're so inclined. See the introduction for more.
It's a two-fer this week - maybe even a three-fer. Two famous artists, with one song that you probably already know.
"How well do you perform under pressure?" they ask.
"Well, I'm OK with the David Bowie part if you can do Freddie Mercury." is what you're required to answer.
Under Pressure was a one-off song, with David Bowie joining Queen - apparently because he lived nearby the studio in Montreux where they were recording - and almost being part of multiple songs on what eventually became the 1982 Queen album Hot Space.
Almost being the important word there.
This one song came together, credited to the four members of Queen and Bowie equally.
And it's been a cultural touchstone every since, a unique amalgam that fits into the work of both artists while having its own quirky specificity.
(It's also one of the great videos from its early era - odd images, smash-cuts, synchronized to the music, with no sign of any of the people who made the music.)
The lyrics are banal and general - this is a song driven by the voices and the sound rather than what they say.
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
Yeah, pressure is tough, isn't it?
People on streets
Ee da de da de
People on streets
Ee da de da de da de da
This song is a major example of how the best songs can have the silliest-looking lyrics, when you write them out. Songs are gestalts, combinations of sound and emotion, and the words are only one small part of it. This is a wonderful one, and I probably don't have to tell you that.
But I do have to ask: How well do you perform under pressure?