The original lyrics for Murder of the Dancefloor almost changed the song entirely

Sophie Ellis-Bextor's noughties banger Murder on the Dancefloor had a big revival thanks to its inclusion in the film Saltburn.

The song soared to Number 2 in the UK charts, the position it originally peaked back in 2001 when it was first released, and became a trending sound on TikTok (before UMG removed songs from the platform).

In fact, it was so popular, that Ellis-Bextor performed the tune at the BAFTAs, with the film's star Barry Keoghan seen in the audience singing and dancing away.

But the song could have sounded a lot different to the one we all know and love as the original lyrics were recently shared with The Guardian.

The person behind the song is Gregg Alexander, a former member of the band New Radicals who wrote the catchy hook - "It’s murder on the dancefloor, but you’d better not kill the groove" - when he couldn't go on a night out in Detroit and instead played his guitar while stuck in his car.

“My [New Radicals] 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,'" he told Dave Simpson.

Alexander described the song as "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."

Some of the original lyrics which didn't make the final cut included: "hit The Hague! Then hit the bong!” and “I won’t make us hit the hay / once you hit the bong."

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