The imagined intersection of revolutionary pop and politics has traditionally been the city street. However, by 1981, it became apparent that the metropolitan street could no longer be taken for granted as the central location for the march of history. The emerging pop anthems, with “Under Pressure” at the vanguard, raised a crucial question: In a landscape where all streets seemed more or less uniform, where did the most significant events unfold? The answer provided by “Under Pressure” is both elusive and thought-provoking: anywhere. The song transitions away from referencing any specific street to embracing a broad, generic concept of “streets.” The manner in which Bowie and Mercury navigate through various scales of perspective on street life, ranging from the microscopic to the bird’s-eye view, implies that the solution was then historically unavailable.
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