Queen & Bowie’s Impromptu Hit “Under Pressure”

There is a good amount of songs that have a certain genre of film and tv that they are often associated with. Often to the point of the song itself becoming a sort of running gag in the visual media industry. This is also often a case with the comedy genre, with the reuse of songs such as MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”, which has also become a sort of running gag. Another of these running gag songs, has to be Queen’s “Under Pressure” featuring David Bowie.

History

Often considered as one of the greatest songs of all time (and one of the best collaborations of all time), “Under Pressure” was compiled by Rock Legendary band Queen, and the legendary David Bowie. The song was recorded in an impromptu studio session in Montreux, Switzerland in the summer of 1981.

This impromptu session occurred at a time where Freddie Mercury and the band were working on their tenth studio album Hot Space. Coincidentally, Bowie was at the very same studio working on the title track for an upcoming film Cat People, and decided to pay Mercury and the band a session visit. According to band members and those in attendance, they first had a fun session, playing their own songs to each other, but things quickly became more professional when Bowie said “This is stupid, why don’t we just write one?”. 

The song has a very improvised sound, with Mercury’s adlibs and the turn-based vocals. Both Mercury and Bowie having strong and prominent personalities and opinions, allowed for one interesting song-writing session that ultimately spellbinding song.

A notable characteristic of the song is Deacon’s iconic bassline. An instrumental line so iconic, there have been issues of copyright infringement based on the bassline alone. However, none as well-known as Vanilla Ice’s sampling of the bassline in the song “Ice Ice Baby”. 

How is it used?

Like mentioned before, “Under Pressure” has found a safe placement in the comedy genre. Often found in trailers for kid’s films, a contextual funny scene, or a feel-good film. From musical kids films such as Happy Feet Two (2012), directed by George Miller; to an comedic yet feel good film like World’s Greatest Dad (2009), directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. No matter the film, the iconic bassline shining through makes the song incredibly recognizable. The vocals of the two musical legends give the song a feel-good and achieving theme, which was exactly what many film-makers used it for.

 

Some other notable uses:

• Grosse Point Blank (1997) – directed by George Armitage
• Stepmom (1998) – directed by Chris Columbus
• 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) – directed by Michael Lehmann
• The Girl Next Door (2004) – directed by Luke Greenfield
• The Heartbreak Kid (2007) – directed by Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly
• It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010) – directed by Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden
• Minions Trailer (2015) – directed by Pierre Coffin & Kyle Balda
• Sing (2016) – directed by Garth Jennings
• Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) – directed by Bryan Singer & Dexter Fletcher
• Small Foot (2018) – directed by Karey Kirkpatrick & Jason Reisig
• Google Plus Commercial featuring The Muppets (2012)
• Facebook Commercial for Portal (2020)

 

Classic or Cliché? 

Queen and Bowie’s “Under Pressure” has become a sort of theme song for the feel-good family films. Instantly recognizable and iconic in its own right. Not to mention the iconic collaboration that brought this song to life. While it has been used quite often, it has found a new life in family films; introducing new generations to the song and parents reliving the fondness they have for it. An impromptu classic hit.