Monday, November 25, 2013

"Under Pressure" (Queen & David Bowie)

Everyone raise her/his hand who had never heard of "Under Pressure" before "Ice, Ice Baby" sampled unabashedly ripped off the intro and bassline.
...Keep 'em raised.
I'm sure I'm just one of many who, until Kurt Loder brought it up on MTV News (where that infamous clip of Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle saying, "Ours goes ding-ding-ding-da-da-ding-ding..." debuted) had no idea that "Under Pressure" even existed.
I'm a bit ashamed to admit that, because "Under Pressure" is a great song.  And I don't mean "great" in a generic, lazy adjective sense, or merely that it's a good groove.  I mean it's a majestic, larger-than-life composition that actually says something.  
Take a look at the lyrics sometime: it's a plea to humanity to re-examine our priorities and show some compassion toward our fellow man before we implode.
The song speaks directly to the question that I've had hanging over my head numerous times over the years: what the hell's the point of it all?  We get up every day and go to our jobs, where we spend half of our lives doing uncreative, unfulfilling crap that, in the long run, will be forgotten and completely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.  And, in even in the midst of this realization, there's still pressure.  Pressure that's created by manufactured deadlines, unreasonable goals, and arbitrary rules that have nothing to do with our needs as human beings, much less as spiritual beings.  Deep down, we know the answer to the big question is "love."  But our culture creates a disconnect with that truth.
It's a huge topic to tackle, and David Bowie, the late Freddie Mercury, and the boys from Queen do it in 4 minutes flat.
That's why it is a great song.




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