'Pressure pushing down on me, pressing down on you'

Earphones are an exquisite invention.
If you're stuck on a runway in Columbus, Ohio after a gut-punch 4-1 loss Monday night, they give you the chance to escape to some solitude and be alone with your thoughts. They also allow you to do the aural dissection of a song, focusing in on the separate instruments and how they each contribute to a beautiful amalgam that works perfectly together.

I've been going through a run of memorable bass lines lately, and I'm partial to obvious greats like Sting and Paul McCartney, as well as the Eagles pairing of Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmit. I know, old guy music. But I also love Bootsy Collins and think that funk might have the best bass work of any musical genre. I also love what Tina Weymouth did with the Talking Heads, so there's that.
One of the more underrated bass players is Queen's John Deacon, and on Monday, the shuffle fell on the Queen/David Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure." Deacon's bassline is the driving force in the song, but when you listen on the headphones, the tapestry is amazing.
So, it was interesting to wake up Tuesday morning and hear that "Under Pressure" was released on Oct. 26, 1981, 40 years ago today. The story behind the song is fantastic, as Queen was recording in Switzerland, ran into Bowie and the five just started noodling around in the studio. Bowie suggested they write a song, and Deacon came in with the iconic bassline. (It's deeper than that, but this is the Reader's Digest version.)
Then, the artists each added their musical talents, and Bowie started driving the lyrics and vocals, and you end up with one of the great songs of their generation. It was an incredible example of how talent and egos can mix the right way.
Sports teams can be a lot like that.
There sometimes has to be some push and pull, some internal stress, to get the creative juices flowing. There sometimes has to be trial and error. There sometimes has to be stepping up and backing off.
The Stars seem to be going through that right now.
They think they know what they want, but they aren't collaborating. As Rick Bowness said after Monday's game, they get 10 or 12 guys clicking on some nights, but never all 18 skaters. And then the next game, a different 10 or 12 (or eight) will be on. It's frustrating and confusing.
That's one of the reason Bowness has shown some serious emotion the past two days. He blew up at practice Sunday because the players weren't putting shots on net. He blew up in the game Monday because he sensed a lack of passion and desperation.
It's a tense time right now in Starsland, and they have to find a way to make their music sound a whole lot better.
There are fans who believe the team simply plays too cautious, doesn't try to score enough, and spends way too much time chasing the opposition. The numbers say that's true this year. Dallas ranks 30th in scoring at 1.83 goals per game, 25th in shots on goal at 28.7 per game, and 25th in scoring chance differential percentage at 46.4 percent.
They aren't cohesive, they seem to fumble easy plays, and they simply don't seem on the same page. Bottom line, they look like a bad team.
Now, they've been able to get good goaltending and have won three games that have gone past regulation, so they're 3-3-0 after six games, and it's way too early to panic. But it's times like these that fans like to discuss wholesale changes, and they point to a Stars style of play that has historically not created scoring 5-on-5 and leans a lot on creating offense out of good defense.
Is that a smart strategy? Well, last season Dallas ranked 12th in scoring chances for, according to the website Natural Stat Trick, at 1,500 in 56 games. They ranked second in scoring chances against at 1,307, and they ranked sixth in scoring chances for differential percentage at 53.4 percent.
That seems to indicate they did something right - and this was without Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov for much of the year and Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa hampered by nagging injuries.
So why didn't the team make the playoffs? Well, they struggled to get finish on their scoring chances, they frittered points in overtime and the shootout, they received just OK goaltending, and they battled through a very condensed schedule. Excuses, excuses, you say, but the general feeling is these were legitimate reasons, and that the return of healthy bodies, the return to a normal schedule, and the addition of Braden Holtby would help address those concerns, and the Stars wouldn't have any more "reasons" to fall back on this year.
That hasn't been the case so far, but it seems like the blueprint is there for this band to still churn out a hit or two.
If you put the earphones in to your favorite tunes, listen to the layering of the instruments, the voices, even silly things like finger snaps or ooh oohs. Listen to how many things can come together to make one song fantastic. Listen to how everyone plays a part. Of course, you also need the producers and studio guys to make the mix perfect. You often need an outside voice to help make the right choices.
The Stars are the same way. They need the orchestrators to create a plan, and they need the players to trust each other, to find a way to blend. Bands go through all sorts of iterations in their careers. They have ups and downs, they have arguments and reconciliations. Heck, the collaboration between Bowie and Queen was a one-time thing, so this isn't the easiest task in the world to accomplish.
But if you want to take a couple of hours and listen to how many people have done this so well in so many different ways, then put the earphones in and start to believe it's very doable - even for these Stars.
At the very least, it'll calm you down a little bit.
Don't miss your chance to see the Stars battle the Vegas Golden Knights at American Airlines Center on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Get your tickets now!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.