Get Low: 4 Unforgettable Hits With the Word “Under” in the Title

Sometimes, you have to go low to get high. Or something like that. We’re just trying to find a clever way to say that there is an impressive number of songs throughout history that have the word “under” in the title.

In fact, we could have gone much deeper into the list. But we wanted to come in a little bit “under” our maximum word count to keep up with the theme.

“Under The Boardwalk” by The Drifters

One of the most light-footed songs in pop music history was recorded under the heaviest possible circumstances. “Under The Boardwalk”, written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick, fits right into The Drifters’ wheelhouse with its sleek rhythm and high-arching melody. But Rudy Lewis, who’d been singing lead for the band for several years, died a drug-related death the night before the song was scheduled to be recorded. The Drifters could have cancelled the session. Instead, they pressed on. They chose Johnny Moore to take the lead. Moore’s delicate but passionate performance made all the difference in the ultimate song about beach town nightlife.

“Under My Thumb” by The Rolling Stones

Even in 1966, before the days when the internet or social media might pick something like this apart, Mick Jagger took heat for the lyrics to “Under My Thumb”. Many took umbrage with some of his descriptions of the girl in the song, someone with whom the narrator has been locked in a power struggle. By the time of the events in the song, he’s winning that struggle. In our view, Jagger was playing a role of sorts and not espousing his own philosophy on men and women. Regardless of all that, the track itself is a sleek winner. Keith Richards delivers a quick, shivery solo in the middle of it all. And Brian Jones steals the show with his just-right work on marimba.

“Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie

Queen made their mark as the ultimate crowd-pleasing band. David Bowie tended to take his music into strange areas and let his fans find him there. Those two differing approaches made for wondrous alchemy when they combined on “Under Pressure”. John Deacon’s bass line serves a crucial foundational role, allowing for all the vocal histrionics from Bowie and Freddie Mercury on top of it all. Mercury seems to be almost daring Bowie to stay with him as he scats his way through the song’s connecting sections. Bowie rises to that challenge with some of his most impassioned singing on record, even when he’s delivering the lines with bizarre syntax: “Insanity laughs under pressure we’re breaking.”

“Down Under” by Men At Work

Videos had a way of skewing the meaning of songs in the 80s. No case of that might be more acute than the clip for “Down Under” by Men At Work. Even without the visuals, the meaning of the song can scoot past folks.  Men At Work lead singer Colin Hay intended the lyrics as satire. He was trying to point out the way that the cultural heritage of Australia was being trampled by rampant commercialism. Certainly, the video, with a bug-eyed Hay making his way through comical situations and dancing wildly in the desert, doesn’t quite put that across. Nonetheless, “Down Under” makes the most of the bite in Hay’s lyrics and the exotic flute work of Greg Ham, transcending its novelty song trappings to make a deeper impact.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)