Under Pressure Lyrics

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

A duet about how the pressure on our lives makes us nearly crumble. The collaboration emerged from a hectic day of partying and composing by David Bowie and the four members of Queen.

The bass line, performed by Queen bassist John Deacon, was famously sampled by Vanilla Ice in his 1990 song “Ice Ice Baby.” Ice added only one different note, and tried to pass it as an entirely different composition. Things were tense around “Ice Ice Baby”—the song went to #1 but Ice hadn’t credited Queen or Bowie. Queen and Bowie sued and won—they received a settlement and had their names added to the writing credits.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Queen & David Bowie say about "Under Pressure"?
Genius Answer

Absolutely nothing was written, and, in fact, all that we were doing was jamming and David came in one night, and we were just playing other people’s songs for fun and David said, ‘This is stupid. Why don’t we just write one?’ It was originally called ‘People on Streets’, and that was the basis of it, and we took the multi track tapes to New York, and I spent all day there with David and mixed it that night. I remember, we were fiddling about and we got the bass line, and then we went for a pizza! And when we got back, we couldn’t remember it, and somebody thought of it; John did, yes."

– Roger Taylor – 2002

How was the recording process for the song?
Genius Answer

Do Freddie Mercury and David Bowie have any other songs together?
Genius Answer

Unfortunately, they never released anything else. The original demo of “Cool Cat” featured Bowie on backing vocals, but Bowie disliked the final product and asked to be removed from the track for its official release.

What have the other members said about the song?
What certifications did this track receive?
Credits
Produced By
Piano, Hammond Organ
Primary Artists
Performance Rights
Synthesizer
Bass Guitar
Electric Guitar
Recorded At
Mountain Studios, Montreux, Vaud, Switzerland
Release Date
October 26, 1981
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