Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s hit song ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ originally included a lyric about hitting a bong, co-writer Gregg Alexander has revealed.
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Alexander, who is a member of New Radicals, is credited as a co-writer and co-producer of Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 song, which has recently enjoyed a huge resurgence after soundtracking an already-infamous nude scene in Saltburn.
‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ was almost New Radicals’ debut single, the band’s frontman Gregg Alexander has revealed in a recent interview with The Guardian. Alexander explained that the song was initially intended to be New Radicals’ debut single, instead of their 1998 anthem ‘You Get What You Give’.
“The record company wanted something urgently and I didn’t have the time or the budget to finish both. I felt like ‘Murder’ was a monster but ‘You Get What You Give’ was a masterpiece. It was everything I’d always wanted to say inside five minutes.”
Additionally, Alexander also shared a snippet of their original ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ demo, which includes the line: “I’m gonna make us hit the Hague / Once you hit the bong“. When the song was given to Ellis-Bextor, she decided to cut out the lyric, replacing it with “I’ll take you all the way / Stay another song“.
You can listen to a 41-second snippet of the ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ demo here via The Guardian.
‘You Get What You Give’ appeared on New Radicals’ sole studio album ‘Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too’, and hit Number Five in the UK. In 2021, the band reunited for the first time in 22 years to perform the song during a virtual event celebrating president Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Speaking to NME at the start of this year, Ellis-Bextor discussed the unexpected experience of achieving success in America this late into her career.
“That’s what’s been quite extraordinary,” she said. “To them, [‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ is] a new song, and that’s bonkers. It didn’t do anything there the first time around, and I’m fine with that. If I’ve learned anything along the way it’s that you’ve got to go where the momentum is.”
The singer continued: “The glamour of being big in America would have meant a lot of time away, and I’d rather go where there are already things happening. I had an absolute ball with the first record in Latin America, South East Asia and all these places – but if this ends up being something that takes me there now then let’s see what happens.”