“Murder on the Dancefloor” once had lyrics about bong hits and the Hague, with co-writer Gregg Alexander (of the New Radicals) sharing part of the old demo for the future Sophie Ellis-Bextor hit with The Guardian.
Alexander wrote “Murder on the Dancefloor” in the mid-90s, and the demo snippet definitely bears some hallmarks of the era. Though it still has the big, bright synth stabs and riffs essential to Ellis-Bextor’s version, it’s more pop-rock than disco pastiche, cut with hits of rave and hip-hop that feel very of that moment.
As for the lyrics, they’re fairly similar, save for a few notable exceptions that really lean into the “dance-murder metaphors,” as Alexander told The Guardian. “I’m gonna make us hit The Hague,” he sings at one point, “Once you hit the bong.”
As Alexander previously told the paper, he wrote “Murder on the Dancefloor” after his car broke down and thwarted a night out at a dance club in Detroit. He even considered it for the New Radicals first single, but ultimately went with a different choice instead: Their massive hit “You Get What You Give.”
“I almost flipped a coin between the two songs,” he said. “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.”
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As for his decision to share the demo itself, Alexander said: “I’m an artist at heart, but moonlighting I produced the Strokes to Tina Turner. As Sophie has spoken in interviews of the New Rads’ 90s ‘Murder’ ‘rough cassette’ inspiring our new lyrics, in lieu of my dance-murder metaphors let’s ‘hit The Hague! Then hit the bong!” — as well as Sophie also awesomely retweeting Murder covers — my bandmate Danielle [Brisebois] and I thought why not share a snippet of that cassette ruff track we sent Sophie containing New Radicals’ nearly ‘lost hit’? A song which may have gone unheard, and the world never known, were it not for Sophie’s belief in the song and her pop brilliance! Enjoy — and eternal thank you from New Radicals to Sophie Ellis-Bextor!”
Thanks to its prominent placement in Saltburn, the 23-year-old “Murder on the Dancefloor” has enjoyed a wild resurgence over the past few months. Ellis-Bextor has gotten to perform the song at the BAFTA Awards and on The Tonight Show, and she’ll embark on a short North American tour in May and June.