The General Muse Discussion Thread

[serpentsatellite]

Easily, Hysteria.

[serpentsatellite]

And I just saw that last interview with Chris talking about taking a "much longer break" after this tour, so 2018 at the earliest, likely.

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

I've never heard that interpretation of Cave before. With one or two possible lyrical exceptions, I'm not really sure Muse have songs about sex tbh. But then I could be wrong or just could be interpreting them differently.

 

Agitated, maybe?

"You do it to me sweetly / To my yeah yeah".

 

EDIT: Or Muscle Museum, or Overdue, or Easily.

[serpentsatellite]

Easily is absolutely about sex.

 

Hysteria is more than likely super dirty.

Soaked is about casual sex and one night stands.

Overdue is about revenge cheating/sex.

I have my suspicions about Spiral Static.

 

Out of all of them, Cave is very unlikely to be about sex. At least directly. In the way you're thinking.

[forevermusic]

My interpretation of Hysteria has always been as much about obsession that drives you over to insanity, although there are some sexual connotations - not least given the history of the actual word. I swear once seeing on here that someone who went to the Liverpool Arena gig in 2009 overheard a girl saying to her friend something along the lines of "I hope they play Hysteria tonight as its me and my boyfriend's sex song." Not sure if I actually do remember that accurately though.

 

I knew Agitated's "do it to me sweetly" chorus was about it, and the verses might refer a bit too. Not that you can read too much into it, mind. Thinking about it, there maybe bits of it in Supermassive and TIRO, although I did say I saw sex stuff more in the odd lyric rather than the whole song. Overdue does have that vibe. I like Easily but that really had passed me by.

 

Matt has apparently said Spiral Static is "something about giving birth". Dunno what the fuck its about to me tbh, although I do like the instrumentals and vocal scale. Can't imagine him doing that song now though - probably a bit too vocally strange.

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

My interpretation of Hysteria has always been as much about obsession that drives you over to insanity, although there are some sexual connotations - not least given the history of the actual word. I swear once seeing on here that someone who went to the Liverpool Arena gig in 2009 overheard a girl saying to her friend something along the lines of "I hope they play Hysteria tonight as its me and my boyfriend's sex song." Not sure if I actually do remember that accurately though.

 

I knew Agitated's "do it to me sweetly" chorus was about it, and the verses might refer a bit too. Not that you can read too much into it, mind. Thinking about it, there maybe bits of it in Supermassive and TIRO, although I did say I saw sex stuff more in the odd lyric rather than the whole song. Overdue does have that vibe. I like Easily but that really had passed me by.

 

Hysteria has a sex session song? A bit... disturbing for my tastes. * shrugs *

SMBH and TIRO could definitely have some sexual undertones in their lyrics, but, I don't know, Muse has always been a rather "clean" band about it.

[forevermusic]

Hysteria has a sex session song? A bit... disturbing for my tastes. * shrugs *

SMBH and TIRO could definitely have some sexual undertones in their lyrics, but, I don't know, Muse has always been a rather "clean" band about it.

Cleaner than most, yeah. Alex Turner's definitely become a bit of a horny little git over the last few albums he's written.

 

Plug in Baby and Bliss could be too a little, although the former could really be about anything while the other seems to be about other stuff.

[serpentsatellite]

My interpretation of Hysteria has always been as much about obsession that drives you over to insanity, although there are some sexual connotations - not least given the history of the actual word. I swear once seeing on here that someone who went to the Liverpool Arena gig in 2009 overheard a girl saying to her friend something along the lines of "I hope they play Hysteria tonight as its me and my boyfriend's sex song." Not sure if I actually do remember that accurately though.

 

I knew Agitated's "do it to me sweetly" chorus was about it, and the verses might refer a bit too. Not that you can read too much into it, mind. Thinking about it, there maybe bits of it in Supermassive and TIRO, although I did say I saw sex stuff more in the odd lyric rather than the whole song. Overdue does have that vibe. I like Easily but that really had passed me by.

 

Matt has apparently said Spiral Static is "something about giving birth". Dunno what the fuck its about to me tbh, although I do like the instrumentals and vocal scale. Can't imagine him doing that song now though - probably a bit too vocally strange.

 

I remember a friend of the band saying Hysteria was about the female orgasm. Which the title supports, while the lyrics could be about any sort of obsession.

Stuff like TIRO are just songs about having conflicted feelings about a relationship, imo, and sex is just a part of that.

 

Spiral Static seemed pretty clearly about being covetous about a friend's girlfriend, to me. I had a friend who said that the ending sounded like it was meant to represent ejaculation, but he was sort of a gross fellow anyways, and he thought that about everything.

Easily is absolutely about a sexual encounter, and Overdue is actually TOO blunt about it's subject matter.

 

I don't even know the words to Agitated; I probably haven't listened to it (unless during a gig I was streaming) in a decade or more.

 

SMBH, like TIRO, is just about personal problems with relationships. I think Matt's description of it was probably 100% accurate (for once,) sadly.

PiB and SMBH, like Cave, are attributed with very literal, immature sexual meanings that probably are completely inaccurate (despite Matt's apparent sense of humor.)

Although, in the case of PiB, Dom did say once it was about Matt's wang.

It seems highly unlikely it's about anything other that Matt's guitar, but the original lyrics do have that "technology is evil" vibe.

[Nicklord]

Cleaner than most, yeah. Alex Turner's definitely become a bit of a horny little git over the last few albums he's written.

 

Plug in Baby and Bliss could be too a little, although the former could really be about anything while the other seems to be about other stuff.

 

"My propeller won't spin and I can't get it started on my own

When are you arriving?"

[forevermusic]

I remember a friend of the band saying Hysteria was about the female orgasm. Which the title supports, while the lyrics could be about any sort of obsession.

Stuff like TIRO are just songs about having conflicted feelings about a relationship, imo, and sex is just a part of that.

 

Spiral Static seemed pretty clearly about being covetous about a friend's girlfriend, to me. I had a friend who said that the ending sounded like it was meant to represent ejaculation, but he was sort of a gross fellow anyways, and he thought that about everything.

Easily is absolutely about a sexual encounter, and Overdue is actually TOO blunt about it's subject matter.

 

I don't even know the words to Agitated; I probably haven't listened to it (unless during a gig I was streaming) in a decade or more.

 

SMBH, like TIRO, is just about personal problems with relationships. I think Matt's description of it was probably 100% accurate (for once,) sadly.

PiB and SMBH, like Cave, are attributed with very literal, immature sexual meanings that probably are completely inaccurate (despite Matt's apparent sense of humor.)

Although, in the case of PiB, Dom did say once it was about Matt's wang.

It seems highly unlikely it's about anything other that Matt's guitar, but the original lyrics do have that "technology is evil" vibe.

Yeah, its been mentioned the word Hysteria has its origins as a female sex diagnosis. I guess it can be a general obsession tune and if you can see sex in it, then the ideas are there and fair. Tbh, I always saw more of a general love obsession.

 

I remember a gig in 2010 when Matt sang "You will fuck the life out of me" in TIRO, which probably broke the subtlety a bit. Same too with the original "since ovulation" misprint in some copies of Absolution. In a way though, both TIRO and SMBH was more fragments leaning towards sex than being a whole, and the general theme of the bad bits of relationships fits better for both.

 

I have absolutely no idea what I think Plug in Baby is about. Could cross all sorts of ideas, be it sex, love, drugs, technology, genetic engineering, a devotion to being a musician/playing guitar or maybe even artificial sex robots like in the video. Did Dom really once say Matt wrote it about his dick?

 

Maybe Spiral Static is about affairs or something, I dunno. Been ages since I heard it tbh, even if it was a favourite back when I was 17/18. Certainly, its not as unsubtle as Overdue.

"My propeller won't spin and I can't get it started on my own

When are you arriving?"

I had others in mind - most of AM is about hook-ups or trying to get one, and so to some degree is a lot of stuff on the new Shadow Puppets LP. Though tbf, would you write a song comparing your penis to a propeller and you need help getting it up?

 

In fairness, Turner has said exactly that. And nothing he's written is as bad as "put my log in your fireplace", like Kiss once did.

[serpentsatellite]

Spiral Static isn't quite as on the nose as most of Showbiz is, but to me it seems pretty openly about seeing a girl you fancy dating another person, and trying to find out if that person treats her as well as he would, and possibly steal her away.

 

Anyways, for some people, sex really drives and defines a relationship for them, so it could be a moot point discussing if these songs are about sex or just relationships.

I'm just happy that they so far haven't really gotten lewd with their music, because I really hate that sort of thing. Even the obviously sexual stuff like Easily is done tastefully, imo.

 

I firmly believe PiB is simply about how playing music can make you forget your problems, and how likely playing guitar was an escape and an empowerment for him. Performing made him feel like a stronger, more confident person. That sort of thing.

But yes, there's an interview out there where Matt gave one of his crazy PiB explanations, and Dom says something like "I thought it was about your dick" and Matt replies "you think everything is about my dick."

 

My theory is that there's no way Matt's forgotten what PiB was about, but it's an uncomfortable/cheesy sort of thing to explain, so he bullshits about it.

I mean, hell, the entire "story" of Drones is likely just something so he doesn't have to talk about his bad relationship... So why not?

 

The older PiB stuff with the "virtual reality" and "god is in me" line still actually fit that idea of someone feeling like a different, better person while making music.

Somewhere around '06 Matt was still talking about how he feels like he's channeling his songs from the universe while he writes them, and isn't totally in control of the process.

 

Although I know he's said PiB was also along the lines of New Born, being concerned about what technology would do to personal relationships in the future... so it could be one of those "it's both" situations like Drones after all.

(I'm still rather fascinated that Drones and OoS have the same basic concept... Matt certainly dwells on things for long periods of time.)

[serpentsatellite]

I can't find the dick one, but I did find this:

 

Bellamy: "I think the chorus is referring to some kind of analogy of the touring lifestyle, of what it feels like being on stage playing or whatever it might be, but kind of saying that really, I'm prepared to pretty much sacrifice everything in my personal life for the sake of playing music."

[denise3112]

I can't find the dick one, but I did find this:

 

Bellamy: "I think the chorus is referring to some kind of analogy of the touring lifestyle, of what it feels like being on stage playing or whatever it might be, but kind of saying that really, I'm prepared to pretty much sacrifice everything in my personal life for the sake of playing music."

 

Can you look again for the dick one?

[serpentsatellite]

Can you look again for the dick one?

 

I'll absolutely post it if it turns up for me. I searched for a while, but had to give it up. I can only take flipping through so much Belldom and bitching about band members' girlfriends.

[Claudia O]

I think this was at an Australian interview, video, they were sitting on a couch on stage, the audience behind them. And they answered qu.from the crowd, right?

 

No, it wasn't but...that answer at about 1:30

 

[serpentsatellite]

Sorry, searching for anything with the lockdown on these work devices is nearly impossible.

I promise you it exists. It's not something you forget once you see it.

 

The most factual one I assume was the article where he says that on Origin, lots of the songs each line can be about something different, like relationships, touring, computers, politics, etc, but that he's sorry it wasn't very philosophical or interesting, but the actual "plug in baby" is his guitar.

I think it's an old Kerrang, or something.

 

I've also found references to an interviewer asking about PiB, getting an "I don't remember" answer, and asking about Matt saying it's about genetically engineered puppies and Matt's reply is "I say a lot of things."

That's pretty much the answer to everything...

[serpentsatellite]

I think this was at an Australian interview, video, they were sitting on a couch on stage, the audience behind them. And they answered qu.from the crowd, right?

 

No, it wasn't but...that answer at about 1:30

 

 

And 4:30 explains why he doesn't want to answer lyric and meaning questions, doesn't it?

 

I had managed to never see this one!

 

So we do know he's self aware about his lyrical prowess...

[Claudia O]

Just found this one, interesting. Even if some things might not be true today, or he was thinking about differently then..but it is an open interview I would say.

 

https://youtu.be/47ws-nzaalI

[serpentsatellite]

It started really being obvious during the early pre-Drones interviews, but a lot of that interview seems still relevant, oddly enough. I read all the old articles when they did the blacked out mag covers on IG, and it was notable how the themes he's writing about haven't changed, while their personal lives and (depressingly) live shows have gone completely different.

That early German Ticketmaster interview where Matt said he'd been trying to recapture the feelings of OoS always made me think it might be sadly artificial, but he really is talking about the same exact things he was during OoS, and not just the fear of technology stuff, but from topics like losing yourself to the "characters" he puts himself into in his songs.

I do find it interesting, and hope it's not all just fan service, or attempting to reconnect with those old fans.

That someone could change so much but then still be dwelling on the same topics 15 years later is quite interesting to me.

Seeing him talk here about potential electronic style music is cool, too.

 

The "character" part always bothered me, and moreso during the newer Muse albums; I never liked the idea that he was writing things that weren't personal, just for shits and giggles, apparently. US was absolutely the crowning example of the sort of bullshit out of touch nature of that sort of thing.

 

I still wonder exactly what he means by it, and if in fact he's just saying that the songs might be about something he's thought about, or dwelled on, but they're just not exactly first person; he's never been IN the situation, but he's thought about it a lot.

I tend to, well, just because I might talk about or write about something I ponder a lot but maybe haven't exactly been in that situation, I still think of that as "me" if that makes sense. It's still personal.

So, it's always been a weird point for me, and made me wonder even retroactively to the '00s, if the themes of the songs weren't all a bit false. I like to think not, though. Just to save myself embarrassment.

[Gemsy]

I am loving the musey areas of this board rn, just to say. So nice to see proper discussions around here

[Tesseract]

Spiral Static isn't quite as on the nose as most of Showbiz is, but to me it seems pretty openly about seeing a girl you fancy dating another person, and trying to find out if that person treats her as well as he would, and possibly steal her away.

 

Interesting, I interpret Spiral Static as being about someone (or a couple) who on the surface has a seemingly perfect relationship, but on the inside they feel something is wrong. They dread the end of the relationship as it looms overhead. It's one of my favorite Muse songs both lyrically and musically, actually.

 

Edit: Obviously the original demo lyrics lend themselves much more clearly to your interpretation.

[forevermusic]

Spiral Static isn't quite as on the nose as most of Showbiz is, but to me it seems pretty openly about seeing a girl you fancy dating another person, and trying to find out if that person treats her as well as he would, and possibly steal her away.

 

Anyways, for some people, sex really drives and defines a relationship for them, so it could be a moot point discussing if these songs are about sex or just relationships.

I'm just happy that they so far haven't really gotten lewd with their music, because I really hate that sort of thing. Even the obviously sexual stuff like Easily is done tastefully, imo.

 

Interesting, I interpret Spiral Static as being about someone (or a couple) who on the surface has a seemingly perfect relationship, but on the inside they feel something is wrong. They dread the end of the relationship as it looms overhead. It's one of my favorite Muse songs both lyrically and musically, actually.

 

Edit: Obviously the original demo lyrics lends themselves much more clearly to your interpretation.

Interesting. I'd say both have merits for Spiral Static.

 

Yeah. It'd be embarrassing and weirdly lurid if more overt sex stuff featured.

I firmly believe PiB is simply about how playing music can make you forget your problems, and how likely playing guitar was an escape and an empowerment for him. Performing made him feel like a stronger, more confident person. That sort of thing.

But yes, there's an interview out there where Matt gave one of his crazy PiB explanations, and Dom says something like "I thought it was about your dick" and Matt replies "you think everything is about my dick."

 

My theory is that there's no way Matt's forgotten what PiB was about, but it's an uncomfortable/cheesy sort of thing to explain, so he bullshits about it.

I mean, hell, the entire "story" of Drones is likely just something so he doesn't have to talk about his bad relationship... So why not?

 

The older PiB stuff with the "virtual reality" and "god is in me" line still actually fit that idea of someone feeling like a different, better person while making music.

Somewhere around '06 Matt was still talking about how he feels like he's channeling his songs from the universe while he writes them, and isn't totally in control of the process.

 

Although I know he's said PiB was also along the lines of New Born, being concerned about what technology would do to personal relationships in the future... so it could be one of those "it's both" situations like Drones after all.

(I'm still rather fascinated that Drones and OoS have the same basic concept... Matt certainly dwells on things for long periods of time.)

In the Q cover feature ahead of Drones' release this time last year, there was a bit at the start of the feature about the symmetry between the guy writing Showbiz/Origin and the guy writing Drones. There is certainly curious symmetries about mixing the personal, the political, and the prevalent fear of technology on both those albums. That part, for me, was perhaps the feature most dominated by the full-circle nature of the similarities of the lyric writing. Truthfully I hadn't given it much thought, but there is a lot of interesting stuff to be said for the similarities.

 

Maybe what Plug in Baby wound up being about lyrically is something about the idea of using music and performing/writing it as an escape from a toxic personal life. But I dunno... there's all manner of explanations and interpretations, and the right one is in the eye on the person viewing the lyrics I guess. Its all subjective, innit?

[serpentsatellite]

I never thought of Spiral Static in that way. I like it.

The demo leaves little to interpretation, but there's nothing saying things didn't change in the time before recording.

 

When I first heard the song (it was the studio version) I found the first few lines really off putting and thought the song was boring.

Despite there being no age difference, I always picture super young, gangly Matt when hearing most of those old songs, too. This did not help.

 

I remember being so in love with the ending that I decided I was going to have to deal with it.

I've really loved it for a long time now.

[forevermusic]

10 years this month since Black Holes was released... where does the time go?

 

Granted I only really started listening in 2008, but still

[Hat]

I'd love for Muse's next album to take inspiration from this kind of stuff:

 

(the intro, not the song obviously)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZRjj-TmRFs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRi1OXQucpM

 

Give us haunting soundscapes and beautiful melodies. Isolated System was a great example from not too long ago.