Animals

[Gareeh]

Yes Matt shouldn't speak out against corrupt rich people that screw over eveone else, guess that means he isn't allowed to speak out against hunger in Africa because he has plenty of food to eat. Give me a break.

 

THIS.

 

There is a difference between people who contribute nothing to society and steal even when they are making a loss and people who earn their money by entertaining be it sport or music.

[tlinvor]

Is it me or does Muse prove once again with this song that they are always at their strongest when making 3 part songs? Examples-

 

Citizen Erased

Exogenesis

Knights of Cydonia

Take a Bow

Unnatural Selection

 

To me each of these are fantastic, and Animals is right up there.

[FabriPav]

Is it me or does Muse prove once again with this song that they are always at their strongest when making 3 part songs? Examples-

 

Citizen Erased

Exogenesis

Knights of Cydonia

Take a Bow

Unnatural Selection

 

To me each of these are fantastic, and Animals is right up there.

 

Exogenesis is not a three parts song. It's three songs put in a suite because they share similar themes and sound.

[tlinvor]

I consider it like the Kill Bill, yes the story is split into 2 volumes, but its really the same movie.

[CarrieB]

I hate it when stupid people with the reading comprehension of a fence misconstrue what I say.

 

a) Talent has nothing to do with it

b) Class has nothing to do with it

 

 

I simply find it a bit rich that an A-list millionaire musician who leads a life vastly different to the norm, refers to himself and listeners as 'us', specifically in this context, which is financial. It is unlikely the banking crisis has affected him/Muse at all.

 

As a loose parallel, imagine a politician singing Uprising/KoC or the Pope singing Megalomania.

 

It's a lyrical theme he uses all the time, using 'us' to include the listener and create a sense of belonging to something bigger.

 

 

 

I do like the song though!

 

Good arguments have already been made to counter this opinion, but I would add that it is often the elite who speak out. Not that I think of Muse as elite since they come from humble backgrounds and have no more power to change the system than we do, but there's no reason why wealth should stop them identifying with, or, more importantly perhaps, caring about those who are not wealthy. You think Karl Marx was poor?!

 

Plus the word "us" is only used once in this song, in "do us all a favour". While I don't condone the "kill yourself" part, after the damage that has been inflicted, the billions that have been spent to clear up their mess, the catastophe it has caused, and, believe me, the kind of people the lyrics refer to are fucking laughing behind the scenes, I think it is actually quite insulting to put Muse in the same bracket as "them" excluding them from being in solidarity with "us".

 

Sorry got a bit angry thinking about it.

[Riveon]

Imo this is more interesting than either the studio versions of US and MK Ultra were (although I never loved the latter quite as much as most people did here). My only problem with this song is that some of the outro sections don't work nearly as well as I'm guessing they would live.

[HannahG123]

This is 10x better than US and mk ultra as is almost everything else on T2L in my opinion (a rare one I know) I've always found those 2 songs really boring and ive always thanked the fact I discovered TR first with Muse or I would have been bitterly dissapointed last time. I was worried there would be a couple of those for me on T2L but nope

[Tim59]

Wow this song's awesomeness just hit me. Can't get it out of my head. It's like the better version of Screenager. I really wasn't expecting this kind of song from this album. Only complaint is that the outro and 'heavier' parts aren't as heavy as they should be, and never fully reach their potential. But still this song

[Dramatic Hammer]

Yes Matt shouldn't speak out against corrupt rich people that screw over eveone else, guess that means he isn't allowed to speak out against hunger in Africa because he has plenty of food to eat. Give me a break.

 

Actually, there is plenty of controversy out there over the alleged hypocrisy of the liveaid/bandaid/etc stuff but I am not saying that at all - please re-read my comments and apply some reading comprehension.

 

 

 

Good arguments have already been made to counter this opinion, but I would add that it is often the elite who speak out. Not that I think of Muse as elite since they come from humble backgrounds and have no more power to change the system than we do, but there's no reason why wealth should stop them identifying with, or, more importantly perhaps, caring about those who are not wealthy. You think Karl Marx was poor?!

 

Plus the word "us" is only used once in this song, in "do us all a favour". While I don't condone the "kill yourself" part, after the damage that has been inflicted, the billions that have been spent to clear up their mess, the catastophe it has caused, and, believe me, the kind of people the lyrics refer to are fucking laughing behind the scenes, I think it is actually quite insulting to put Muse in the same bracket as "them" excluding them from being in solidarity with "us".

 

Sorry got a bit angry thinking about it.

 

Calm yourself down, I'm not saying Muse cannot/should not care about the plight of the the non-'elite' (in fact I would argue that it is perhaps their duty to do so), simply that the use of a first-person 'us' rings a little bit hollow to me in this case.

 

It's a lyrical technique Muse use a lot - it creates a sense of belonging and unity - listening to it (or indeed shouting along at a gig) makes us all feel part of something bigger. The same reason football chants are 'we are' and 'us', not 'the team is' and 'them'.

A cynical person might say it's a deliberate effort to be all-inclusive and appeal to the masses, I would say it's probably not a concious decision but there is an element of reverting to default 'muse lyric'.

 

I realise the word is only used once but the foaming at the mouth fan responses I have received irritate me enough to defend my initial observation.

[Gareeh]

Actually, there is plenty of controversy out there over the alleged hypocrisy of the liveaid/bandaid/etc stuff but I am not saying that at all - please re-read my comments and apply some reading comprehension.

 

Mate I've been to Africa to work with kids and the poverty, AIDs and Malaria epidemics are so bad that any publicity is good, no matter how much the actual event may not help the cause directly. If rich people are trying to expose politicians and bankers, fair enough, what the hell is wrong with that? Stop being so blindly arrogant.

[Dramatic Hammer]

Mate I've been to Africa to work with kids and the poverty, AIDs and Malaria epidemics are so bad that any publicity is good, no matter how much the actual event may not help the cause directly. If rich people are trying to expose politicians and bankers, fair enough, what the hell is wrong with that? Stop being so blindly arrogant.

 

Says you

 

 

Please read what I've actually written and stop arguing with straw men!

[Gareeh]

You have said Muse are hypocritical because they can't speak for us several times, what's not to get?

[Dramatic Hammer]

You have said Muse are hypocritical because they can't speak for us several times, what's not to get?

 

That's not what I said at all, please don't make me quote myself..!

[Gareeh]

You said because he is rich he can't say he is one of 'us.' You can say it means something else but it's pretty clear what you mean. He is rich so he can't have views the same as us.

[Dee3Dee]

You said because he is rich he can't say he is one of 'us.' You can say it means something else but it's pretty clear what you mean. He is rich so he can't have views the same as us.

 

[Gareeh]

You laugh because it's Matt Bellamy. But in general it's such a narrow-minded view to have.

[Dee3Dee]

You laugh because it's Matt Bellamy. But in general it's such a narrow-minded view to have.

 

I think you're misunderstanding. I don't think Dramatic Hammer's point was that Matt couldn't or shouldn't have the same views as us. His annoyance is with Matt singing about "we" and "us" when he clearly isn't us. He's loaded. He's famous. He has millions of fans. That's not me. It's certainly not you.

[MCLink]

anyone thought the short part after "buy yourself an ocean" is not loud enough?

[Gareeh]

I think you're misunderstanding. I don't think Dramatic Hammer's point was that Matt couldn't or shouldn't have the same views as us. His annoyance is with Matt singing about "we" and "us" when he clearly isn't us. He's loaded. He's famous. He has millions of fans. That's not me. It's certainly not you.

 

Shit so once you make it you can't relate to normal people like you and me?

 

I better not say 'us' again because I've never met someone that doesn't have major differences to me. A lot of shit being spewed here.

 

What annoys me is the Uprising lyrics which he thinks he can feed teenage angst with and build an army of wannabe government rebels. Apart from I see nothing wrong with 'Kill yourself, come on and do us all a favour.' Bankers selfishness favours no-one. And it's rich people's money there gambling with too

[Dee3Dee]

Shit so once you make it you can't relate to normal people like you and me?

 

I better not say 'us' again because I've never met someone that doesn't have major differences to me. A lot of shit being spewed here.

 

What annoys me is the Uprising lyrics which he thinks he can feed teenage angst with and build an army of wannabe government rebels. Apart from I see nothing wrong with 'Kill yourself, come on and do us all a favour.' Bankers selfishness favours no-one. And it's rich people's money there gambling with too

 

I think you've misunderstood again. It's meant in a much more general sense than you seem to think. Or at least that's how I see it.

 

And for the record, I don't mind the lyrics. I don't even care to be honest.

[Dramatic Hammer]

I think you're misunderstanding. I don't think Dramatic Hammer's point was that Matt couldn't or shouldn't have the same views as us. His annoyance is with Matt singing about "we" and "us" when he clearly isn't us. He's loaded. He's famous. He has millions of fans. That's not me. It's certainly not you.

 

Yep, pretty much. It's a lyrical trope Muse use a lot and it doesn't work for me this time.

 

Shit so once you make it you can't relate to normal people like you and me?

 

I better not say 'us' again because I've never met someone that doesn't have major differences to me. A lot of shit being spewed here.

 

What annoys me is the Uprising lyrics which he thinks he can feed teenage angst with and build an army of wannabe government rebels. Apart from I see nothing wrong with 'Kill yourself, come on and do us all a favour.' Bankers selfishness favours no-one. And it's rich people's money there gambling with too

Again, that's a straw man. I'm objecting to the use of a cheap [in my view] lyrical trope.

 

It could have been 'the world' instead of 'us all', which means essentially the same thing but is less MUSE ARMY UNITE!"!!

[Dramatic Hammer]

Anyway, if you weren't being such an obtuse berk about it we could have moved on from this tiny phrasing issue ages ago

[hyper_chondriac_muser]

Interesting that the noise at the end is from the trading floor at Wall Street. I thought it was a sampled riot sound

 

Also thought Matt would have gone for something more loud and angry with this anti-bankers message – a bit like Uprising or TaB – but I actually like that it's soft and tranquil… until you get to the end!

[CarrieB]

Actually, there is plenty of controversy out there over the alleged hypocrisy of the liveaid/bandaid/etc stuff but I am not saying that at all - please re-read my comments and apply some reading comprehension.

 

 

 

 

 

Calm yourself down, I'm not saying Muse cannot/should not care about the plight of the the non-'elite' (in fact I would argue that it is perhaps their duty to do so), simply that the use of a first-person 'us' rings a little bit hollow to me in this case.

 

It's a lyrical technique Muse use a lot - it creates a sense of belonging and unity - listening to it (or indeed shouting along at a gig) makes us all feel part of something bigger. The same reason football chants are 'we are' and 'us', not 'the team is' and 'them'.

A cynical person might say it's a deliberate effort to be all-inclusive and appeal to the masses, I would say it's probably not a concious decision but there is an element of reverting to default 'muse lyric'.

 

I realise the word is only used once but the foaming at the mouth fan responses I have received irritate me enough to defend my initial observation.

 

I understand what you are saying but I don't agree with it.

 

I can't see anything wrong with Muse wanting to be inclusive. Why ever not? This album, in particular, is basically about our society, our world, of which Muse are just as much a part of as we are. They have no more control over the effects of neoliberalism than we do.

 

It is true that bankers also have little control over the world they are born into but this song focuses on their selfish actions, of which Muse had no part. Conceptually it is about human behaviour at its worst when it gets the most selfish. It is nothing to do with who has money and who doesn't. It just happens that our current reality has involved bad actions by bankers.

 

If Muse want to make a stand and identify themselves as of "the people" in their conceptual album, fair play to them. Take out the "us" and it could easily be patronising. Solidarity is better than Noblesse Oblige imo.

 

I don't think of the guys in Muse as being somehow removed from the rest of us (other than through necessity). I'm proud of them for at least trying to put over a message in their songs. I'm really not sure how you would expect them otherwise to approach it. We need more effort put in to building solidarity imo, not less. And I am very happy to share solidarity with Muse or anyone else who happens to speak out against the system as long as what they say is something I believe. I just wish there was more of it.

 

And btw the passion increases while listening to the music at the same time. That's what Muse do for me they enhance the passion.

[haarpuna]

My "positive surprise" song so far. I'm really loving the slow build-up over the entire song and the sinister atmosphere. I agree with the Screenager comparisons, too.