Shocking Blue – Venus

About The Song

“Venus” is a song by Shocking Blue, released in 1969. It gained renewed popularity after being featured in the 2020 Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”. The song’s lyrics describe Venus, the goddess of love, as a symbol of beauty and love, depicted atop a mountain, described as a silver flame. Written by Robbie Van Leeuwen, the guitarist of Shocking Blue, “Venus” was inspired by songs like “Taurus” by Spirit and “Fire” by Jimi Hendrix.

It features a catchy guitar riff and a simple yet effective chorus. Despite being written in Dutch, the song was a worldwide success and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970, as well as topping the charts in nine other countries. It has since been covered by numerous artists, including The Monkees, The Jackson 5, and Robbie Williams, who released his own version of the song in 2004.