Under Pressure f.t Freddie Mercury (From Queen Album Hot Space – 1982)
The hand claps and finger snaps. Those piano chords. That bassline. All of them come together to form one of rock music’s most iconic song introductions, performed by two of rock’s most iconic artists. Though ’Under Pressure’ may not belong solely to Bowie, that’s part of what makes it so celebrated – who else but Queen would be able to do an artist like him justice? There’s too many reasons to love this song. Never mind the infectiousness of its rhythm or how gloriously catchy its melody is, the fact that it was never even planned in the first place and was born out of a spontaneous jamming session is remarkable enough given how technically perfect the whole thing turned out to be.
Both Bowie and Freddie Mercury’s vocals mix beautifully together, and while the track certainly has a triumphantly surfaced euphoria to it, its lyrics still punch hard: “It’s the terror of knowing / what this world is about, / watching some good friends / screaming “Let me out!”” Indeed, the song fits a whole range of different emotions, and that’s what makes it one of Bowie’s greatest contributions to music.
Here’s hoping wherever he and Mercury are now, they’re enjoying another good jam session together.
Words by Samantha King
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpn8MANhdLU&w=740&h=422]