Chris Roberts in Melody Maker described the song as "a big Berlin ballad (of Heart, Roxette, etc)" with "several thousand epic heartbreaking refrains" of the chorus hook "Are you living for love?" noting Eldritch's "restrained guitar foreplay" and "fiendish subliminal rant", while comparing it to "the melodrama of Bowie's 'Sweet Thing/Candidate".[11]
The song is mostly a cover of "Two Worlds Apart", a song written by Hughes and Seeman and released on Hughes' album Welcome to the Edge.[12] It appeared earlier as a love theme for the characters of Michael & Julia in the television series Santa Barbara.[13]
“Under The Gun” was originally planned for inclusion on The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack release. After the accidental death of Brandon Lee during production, the filmmakers dropped The Sisters of Mercy’s “Under The Gun”.[14]
Critical reception
Karen Holmes, The Network 40 praised the song: "Nunn rounds out Andrew's talent for finding incredible females voices to collaborate with. Andrew's contribution to the sexual passion is subliminal with taunting vocals that intensifies Nunn's pipes."[15]
In a glowing review in Melody Maker, Chris Roberts wrote "This is a colossus of a record...ironic and yet thoroughly serious, the spoof vulture of youth culture chimes in belalugubriously [sic] ...Gothic only as in arch, this is as far from indie as it gets. A black (comedy) beauty".[16]
Larry Flick for Single Reviews in Billboard lauded the "Pure gothic tune from this descendant act of Bauhaus et al" writing "Vocals blend beautifully in chorus" while opining "the emphasis on max atmosphere may make track obtuse for newcomers."[17]
Artists' commentary
Terri Nunn (April 2002): "[Andrew Eldritch] asked if I was going to use it for my record, and since I couldn't get anybody excited about it... It was really strange and dark, and he said 'Well, I want to do it, why don't we sing it?' It was called 'Under the Gun', and we sang it for the Best of Sisters album." "My record company rejected this song for my own record."[18][19][20]
Andrew Eldritch (1993): "The tape I was working from already had her vocal on it. Although I met her once in the mid-80's I didn't meet her to make the record. I just fucked around with the tape that her vocal was already on. But that was one of the reasons for my wanting to cover that song and change it around, because I thought her vocal on it was great! So I used the original demo because I don't see the point in re-recording something that is already so great to start with. So I edited it, I changed the bass, the drums and keyboards around what was already there a little bit. I got a friend of mine from Leeds [Adam Pearson] to put some electric guitars on, and then sang my stuff. So the original version sounds kind of like, I don't know, a sort of Jennifer Rush song I suppose, and the new song sounds like Jennifer Rush from hell!"[21]
