Muse's Uprising?

[cop an Attitude]

I was driving home the other day when Muse's new song of their album titled “The Resistance” came on the radio. It was WAAF, a major corporate rock station in Boston. Notorious for playing “Nu Rock” like avenged sevenfold, nickelback and stained, I was surprised that they picked this track to play. Then, a couple days later my sister called me into the living room. Uprising was on the VH1 countdown. I found it odd that Muse, which has Warner as their label, could write such a revolutionary song (complete with a music video where they smash storefront windows). Given that Muse has always have been left leaning do you think this is just another ploy to make a buck off of a counter culture, or a genuine cry out to anyone that may be listening, which is now millions. It’s nothing groundbreaking but notable none the less.



Muse Uprising off of "the Resistance"

The paranoia is in bloom,
The PR, the transmissions, will resume,
They'll try to push drugs to keep us all dumbed down,
And hope that we will never see the truth around,
SO COME ON!

Another promise, another scene,Another package not to keep us trapped in greed,
With all the green belts wrapped around our minds,
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined,
SO COME ON!

They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
And we will be victorious!
SO COME ON!

Interchanging mind-control,
Come, let the revolution take its toll,
If you could flick a switch and open your third eye,
You'd see that we should never be afraid to die,
SO COME ON!

Rise up and take the power back,
It's time that the fat cats had a heart attack,
You know that their time's coming to an end,
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend!
SO COME ON!

They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
And we will be victorious!

SO COME ON!

(3X) OI! OI! OI! OI!
They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
And we will be victorious!
SO COME ON!

OI! OI! OI! OI!

[Nwoye]

Muse aren't left-leaning, they're vulgar libertarians. and this song is garbage: it's your standard libertarian whining about the government being too big and oppressive and being ruled by some international conspiracy blah blah. Their new record is filled with comparisons of the EU to the states in 1984 and shit like that. Their a bunch of fucking tossers.

[Sam_b]

or a genuine cry out to anyone that may be listening, which is now millions

No, no I don't. I think its extremely tokenistic, and one of these things you'd find really hard to hold sympathy with if you were a millionaire rockstar.

As much as it isn't that big a piece of useful or insightful analysis, I agree with the above poster: this band, for me, are garbage 'epic stadium rock' nonsense which I can't stand.

[Wanted Man]

Strangely enough, I've managed to get through life knowing who Muse are, but never having listened to a single song by them. Everyone I know really likes them because they're really artful or something. Thanks to this thread, I've finally listened to the song mentioned in the thread title. I really don't see what the hype is all about. It sounds boring.

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

Muse aren't left-leaning, they're vulgar libertarians. and this song is garbage: it's your standard libertarian whining about the government being too big and oppressive and being ruled by some international conspiracy blah blah. Their new record is filled with comparisons of the EU to the states in 1984 and shit like that. Their a bunch of fucking tossers.

It's one thing to not like a band's message or their music, but calling them ''fucking tossers'' is going a bit too far, don't you think?

But anyway, I don't think that song is anything special and it definitely doesn't say anything new, but they are left-leaning and I think they genuinely believe what they're singing about rather than just jumping on the anti-American, anti-government bandwagon.

Btw, their earlier music wasn't at all bad. They've just become too commercialised and dull.

[jake williams]

I've liked their music, although yeah, it's not as good as it used to be. The lyrics are bland at best but in recent years they've gotten sillier. I don't really care though. It's just music I enjoy listening to, he's so squealy I hardly know what he's saying half the time.

Most of the time music with politically sophisticated (or even vaguely progressive) lyrics sounds like shit anyway. See: almost all 'left-wing' punk and folk music.

[cop an Attitude]

Personally, I don't find their work too great either but it did strike me that the common radio stations have a ninch for radical speak. Radical poppy art rock I guess has its audiences (if you notice in the song they replace the common “hey” for “oi”). Actually, come to think of it, Muse fits their ninch pretty well I guess, however distastful it may be.

[Uncle Hank]

Muse is a nice little stadium act, but they're fairly apolitical as far as I can tell. If I didn't know better I might think those lyrics were written by a 30something conspiracy theorist living in near total seclusion. Actually, given what little I know about the band and song writer(s), that doesn't sound very inaccurate. :lol:

[IrishWorker]

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH you bastards have just destroyed my Muse bubble they will never be the same again I used to love them but you are right they are wankers.

[Sugar Hill Kevis]

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH you bastards have just destroyed my Muse bubble they will never be the same again I used to love them but you are right they are wankers.

You could say, just enjoy their music? Rather than focusing on their wafer thin politics.

[IrishWorker]

You could say, just enjoy their music? Rather than focusing on their wafer thin politics.
Very true, but it still wont be the same.:(

[Angry Young Man]

I've never bought any albums, but I have noticed that the quality of their singles goes down with every album, so if the other songs are consistent with this, they've gone from total mint to total gash in ten years. Everything they've done recently has been ass.

[IrishWorker]

I've never bought any albums, but I have noticed that the quality of their singles goes down with every album, so if the other songs are consistent with this, they've gone from total mint to total gash in ten years. Everything they've done recently has been ass.
Down hill since New Born and Knights of Cydonia.

[Invader Zim]

Muse haven't been worth listening too, for their music, since 2001 as far as I am concerned; and even then they were barely tolerable. A poor imitation of Radiohead, who themselves only made a few good albums.

[IrishWorker]

Muse haven't been worth listening too, for their music, since 2001 as far as I am concerned; and even then they were barely tolerable. A poor imitation of Radiohead, who themselves only made a few good albums.
Fleet Foxes?

[Invader Zim]

Fleet Foxes?

I haven't listened to enough of their music to pass honest comment. I haven't been listening to new indie music, other than the occassional band that has been recommended, for a few years. I used to really like it, but I found myself getting more and more bored by it as it became so overplayed. Should I listen to Fleet Foxes? Or are they too a pale imitation of Radiohead in the mid-1990s?

[IrishWorker]

I haven't listened to enough of their music to pass honest comment. I haven't been listening to new indie music, other than the occassional band that is recommended, for a few years. I used to really like it, but I found myself getting more and more bored by it as it became so overplayed. Should I listen to Fleet Foxes? Or are they too a pale imitation of Radiohead in the 1990s?
Honestly lad I rarely follow bands as I usually only like one or two tracks per band but Fleet foxes Mykonos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT-dxG4WWf4

is not a bad track plus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE

[Honggweilo]

Muse aren't left-leaning, they're vulgar libertarians. and this song is garbage: it's your standard libertarian whining about the government being too big and oppressive and being ruled by some international conspiracy blah blah. Their new record is filled with comparisons of the EU to the states in 1984 and shit like that. Their a bunch of fucking tossers.

Partly true, they are not classical libertarians though, Matthew Bellamy is a bit of a conspiracy nut and also a georgist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism) , a wierd economic third way position that argues that land should be owned collectivelly and real estate be taxed for the community (to prevent profit lost due to regular taxation), but labour can still be exploited :rolleyes:. I guess they're some sort of left-wing libertarians/poudronists.


Although both advocated for workers' rights, Henry George and Karl Marx (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx) were antagonists. Marx saw the Single Tax platform as a step backwards from the transition to communism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism). He argued that, "The whole thing is... simply an attempt, decked out with socialism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism), to save capitalist domination and indeed to establish it afresh on an even wider basis than its present one."[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism#cite_note-marx-10) Marx also criticized the way land value tax theory emphasizes the value of land, arguing that, "His fundamental dogma is that everything would be all right if ground rent were paid to the state."[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism#cite_note-marx-10)

It was basically proto social-democracy

awesome band still

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8KQmps-Sog

[Angry Young Man]

Down hill since New Born and Knights of Cydonia.

They're a couple of years apart. Newborn is on Origin of Symmetry. But KoC was total crap anyhow.

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

Fleet Foxes are great. I think they're better than Muse tbh and their musical style doesn't remind me of Radiohead at all.

Radiohead still have the best albums though (minus Pablo Honey which was terrible).

[Drace]

I was driving home the other day when Muse's new song of their album titled “The Resistance” came on the radio. It was WAAF, a major corporate rock station in Boston. Notorious for playing “Nu Rock” like avenged sevenfold, nickelback and stained, I was surprised that they picked this track to play. Then, a couple days later my sister called me into the living room. Uprising was on the VH1 countdown. I found it odd that Muse, which has Warner as their label, could write such a revolutionary song (complete with a music video where they smash storefront windows). Given that Muse has always have been left leaning do you think this is just another ploy to make a buck off of a counter culture, or a genuine cry out to anyone that may be listening, which is now millions. It’s nothing groundbreaking but notable none the less.It doesn't matter if their left leaning. Only leftists themselves can interpret it as a revolutionary song. To everyone else listening, its a beat with words.

I have a friend who is a huge fan of Muse. He has no interest at all in politics and is extremely religious, saying that the Armenian Genocide happened as a way to test Armenians whether they followed God :rolleyes:

[ls]

I've never bought any albums, but I have noticed that the quality of their singles goes down with every album, so if the other songs are consistent with this, they've gone from total mint to total gash in ten years. Everything they've done recently has been ass.

INdeed.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

Organised Confusion, this does not sound like left libertarianism to me:


Rise up and take the power back,
It's time that the fat cats had a heart attack,
You know that their time's coming to an end,
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend!
SO COME ON!

[Angry Young Man]

Radiohead still have the best albums though (minus Pablo Honey which was terrible).

I love Pablo Honey but I was never taken with the Bends. Am I a bad person?

[*Viva La Revolucion*]

I love Pablo Honey but I was never taken with the Bends. Am I a bad person?

Haha, I don't understand that but no you're not. Just don't ever say anything bad about OK Computer. :p

[Cyberwave]

There's some kid at my school who listens to Muse religiously and now somehow thinks he's so political and in touch with the world. But hey. People who buy circle A wristbands from Hot-Topic MUST be so political, eh?

As for Indie, I'm a huge Indie fan. Its just annoying stuff like Muse and Radiohead that is blown completely out of proportion by Pitchfork- who I will never forgive for giving Efterklang's albums below a 10 - that I hate within the Indie scene I suppose. Fleet Foxes are amazing though,

[ZeroNowhere]

Partly true, they are not classical libertarians though, Matthew Bellamy is a bit of a conspiracy nut and also a georgist (http://www.anonym.to/?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism)Wow, those guys still exist?

Anyhow, the lyrics sound very populist and not very interesting.

[Revy]

I can't believe nobody mentioned this, but they say "rise up and take the power back". I couldn't help but think, when exactly did "we" have the power?

I suppose you could still interpret that in some way, perhaps, take back the power that the workers took in the Paris Commune and 1917 Russia.

Maybe it was a thoughtless word choice, so that they could merely rhyme it with heart attack, and therefore has no meaning.

"We have to unify and watch our flag ascend" could be a reference to the red flag...unfortunately, it's so vague ("our flag") someone might think it refers to a national flag (in this case, British or English).

[Comrade Anarchist]

i believe the band is sincere in their meaning and the record company knows that it appeals to a more leftist crowd so that means more money

[RedRise]

How could that song not have a leftist meaning? When I first heard it on the radio I was stunned they would air it. Two leftist friends of mine love it.:cool:

[RotStern]

Their music is mediocre anyways.

[Mindtoaster]

Organised Confusion, this does not sound like left libertarianism to me:

Yeah, I was waiting for someone to point that out.

"Fat cats" is a pretty much universal term for bosses and the rich, something "libertarians" wouldn't be moaning about


We have to unify and watch our flag ascend" could be a reference to the red flag...unfortunately, it's so vague ("our flag") someone might think it refers to a national flag (in this case, British or English).

I'm pretty confident it's purposely vague, to refer to any group of people in revolt.

The song is just called "uprising", not "glorious communist revolution"

[Honggweilo]

ffs did anyone read my post XD?

[Woyzeck]

I can't believe nobody mentioned this, but they say "rise up and take the power back". I couldn't help but think, when exactly did "we" have the power?

Rage Against the Machine have used a similar line and I always thought the same thing. :)

[BobKKKindle$]

Quite apart from the political meaning of their lyrics...most of their stuff is boring simply from an aesthetic point, for me anyway.

[Chimurenga.]

Their music is mediocre anyways.

Agreed. Terribly overrated band.

[Chairman Wow]

As for Indie, I'm a huge Indie fan. Its just annoying stuff like Muse and Radiohead that is blown completely out of proportion by Pitchfork- who I will never forgive for giving Efterklang's albums below a 10 - that I hate within the Indie scene I suppose. Fleet Foxes are amazing though,

Pitchfork actually give Muse fairly poor reviews (5.9 for The Resistance, 4.2 for Black Holes and Revelations) but you're right about their Radiohead infatuation. They reviewed the soundtrack to New Moon purely because Thom Yorke appeared on it.

[Black Sheep]

Rage Against the Machine have used a similar line and I always thought the same thing. :)
Maybe they are refering to primitive communism?

[Omi]

I actually like muse, especially origin of symmetry and black holes and revelations.

But the new record is pretty lame, semi-revolutionary lyrics or not. I don't care for lyrics that much anyway, the song is lame and builds towards a climax that doesn't come, which is always a huge turnoff.

[I.Drink.Your.Milkshake]

Muse are Glenn Beck's favourite current band.

ugh.

I think what they try to achieve musically is pretty noble - ambitious music, going so far as to incorporate classical - but they dont quite hit the mark, for me. It just comes across bombastic, and lyrically its just bad 6th form poetry.

Matt Bellamy is a massive cokehead, apparently.