Under Pressure | Monarch Rooftop | Hudson & Co | Smith’s Bar | YouTube Rabbithole
Season’s Greetings @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Under Pressure by Queen because it was on in the background at one of these fine drinking establishments so it was an easy choice for Pint&Pen&Paper Week 51 (Vol I). This is the 400th Week to Week Notes post. Kind of wild. Also kind of wild that I haven’t used a Queen or David Bowie song until today.
First on to the pints…
#GuinnessChallengeSeason
@Kids don’t try this at home. Not just because you’re underage and will have plenty of pints to drink if that ends up being your thing when you’re older but also because Guinness is actually best served in a pint glass from a tap. A pint of Guinness varies depending on the drinking establishment. If the keg it sits in is rarely poured, it can lead to some underwhelming taste. Rather than stealing gimmicks, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. My grandfather from Connemara, whom I never got the chance to meet, Thomas Davis, used to drink pints and by all accounts was a self-taught thinker. The one rule I’ve imposed on myself is that I will only have 1 pint per sitting from each establishment I review, so @AnyoneWorrying, don’t worry about my drinking habits. The Guinness Challenge is to “cut the G” on your first sip (more like a gulp and a half). If this is your first time hearing about it, I didn’t come up with the fun challenge @YouTheReader can try the next time you have a Guinness. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extraordinarily nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan ever to give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Wow! So this is where the Illuminati hangs out? Look, Ma, I made it! Rooftop bar on 35th with an excellent 18th-story view of the Empire State Building where you’re up close but not too close. Just the right amount of closeness. The chicken tacos are recommended with their truffle fries. “Don’t Be Salty” drink is also recommended, it’s their twist on a margarita. “Seize the night” sign hanging up. A TON of networking going on right now around me, everybody is dressed to the nines.
The spacious extravagant penthouse lounge boasts both an indoor and outdoor bar. They have an open bar for New Year’s Eve so if you’d like to party with some of the Illuminati while entering ‘24, you can book tickets here. The rooftop offers a nice corporate and social atmosphere with a terrific view of the Empire State Building. I look forward to grabbing another drink at Monarch Rooftop again soon!
Song On In The Background: 3 Nights by Dominic Fike
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: On the water. This is in Jersey City so I messed up including it with the New York City bars, but if you’re ever on this side of Hudson, it’s a beautiful view of The City! Henry is the bartender and he’s a big fan of the French mustard marinated skirt is recommended. Espresso Martini Bar, the Irish Espresso is the move. Fantasy football talk going on with Chargers and Phins fan insiders. The Little League World Series is on TV with Texas vs North Dakota. I got $700 on the Texas Little League Team. Frose bar.
My bad again for lumping Hudson & Co in with the New York City bars and pubs. I’ll be making my way over to Jersey City again soon, still have a handful of them on the list. The Hudson & Co waterfront has a gorgeous view of the Freedom Tower. I skipped out on dinner because Texas Little League didn’t cover, but the fellas went with the Seafood Tower for Two and said it was excellent. Established in 2016, Hudson & Co has good food, drinks, and views. I look forward to grabbing another drink at Hudson & Co Bar and Grill again soon!
Song On In The Background: Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: “Good beer. Good friends.” Sign hanging up on the walls. “If you’re drinking to forget, please pay in advance” sign behind the bar. Canada vs Mexico Little League World Series on TV. I got $450 on the Mexican run line. Built in 1954, Smith’s Bar is one of the oldest bars in NYC. They are a sports bar that draws a tourist and theater crowd. The Smith’s Burger is recommended. Absolute Seduction is one of their popular cocktails. Irish-owned bar, they are from right outside of Dublin. Shaun is the owner, he’s behind the bar. Old school NY feel. Good pint!
The old-school bar that dates back to 1954 is just 2 blocks from Times Square. They regularly have live music performances to go with great burgers, beers, and cocktails. Fun fact, they also have shot a bunch of scenes of Showtime’s Ray Donovan in the bar so the vintage spot may look familiar. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness at Smith’s Bar again soon!
Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie came out in 1981. It was Queen’s 2nd top-charter #1 hit on UK Singles, their first since “Bohemian Rhapsody." It peaked at #2 in Ireland and reached #29 on the US Billboard Hot 100, which I’m kind of surprised considering it has since made Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Freddie Mercury would famously oftentimes do his improvised vocal warmups at concerts with the crowd. This could be him playing that bit as these were improvised in the studio recording and never written down on paper.
Simply put, this song is about the pressure we all face every day. While nobody necessarily asks for stress, everybody is going through their own form of stress. The pressures of everyday life can split homes and leave people out in the cold.
More Freddie Mercury freestyle jibberish. It’s a nice touch to the tune.
Man, I never realized the lyrics to this tune are pretty dark. The world can certainly be a terrifying place and watching friends suffer through problems of their own is never easy, sometimes all you can do is hope for a better tomorrow.
More Freddie Mercury jibberish mixed with “chipping around, kicking my brains around the floor.” My guess is it could be somebody chipping away at their thoughts while kicking rocks on a street… Just like 50 Cent said, “When it rains, it pours.” Followed by more Freddie Mercury jibberish.
The 2nd chorus verse is the same except Freddie Mercury adds another “high.”
Sidenote: Freddie Mercury and David Bowie clashed quite a bit about the lyrics to this song. Queen’s lead guitarist, Brian May, told Mojo magazine, “It was hard because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. David took over the song lyrically. Looking back, it's a great song but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce battle over that.” In another interview, May said of Bowie’s involvement in the Queen’s writing process, "Suddenly you've got this other person inputting, inputting, inputting... he (David) had a vision in his head, and it's quite a difficult process and someone has to back off... and eventually I did back off, which is unusual for me." (Source: SongFacts)
Since this is where the iconic beat (that Vanilla Ice would later steal) ends, could it represent the breaking point to the build-up under pressure… that love is the answer?
The only time Freddie Mercury drops the jibberish bit is when he belts out Verse 3, pleading for the love in the world to drown out the pressure putting people on the streets. To which David Bowie comes in with a haymaker of why that can’t happen…
I think Bowie is saying that the word love has lost some of its meaning. Saying that if you’re going to claim that love is the solution to the world’s problems then you have to show compassion for everybody, even those people on the streets, which we ignore because we have our problems. It’s not that we want to ignore those less fortunate, it’s that we’re all under pressure with our problems and stress that we each face every day…
…Jeez, I might need a pint of Guinness after thinking about this…
While Bowie may have a fair point, that’s a bit too cynical for me to end on. There is plenty of love out there if you give it a chance. People have always been under pressure with problems and stress. Life’s about hanging in there, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and how you handle being Under Pressure.