Difference between pages "Plug In Baby (song)" and "File:WOTP SignedCassettes.png"

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{{Songbox
| Name = Plug In Baby
| Album = {{drop
|[[Origin of Symmetry (album) |Origin of Symmetry]] <small>(5)</small>, [[Plug In Baby (single) |Plug In Baby]] <small>CD1 (1, 4), FR CD1 (1), CD2 (1), DE CD (1), JP CD (1)</small>,
|[[Hullabaloo (live) |Hullabaloo DVD]] <small>(19), JP DVD (20)</small>
|[[Absolution Tour (DVD) |Absolution Tour]] <small>(11)</small>
|[[H.A.A.R.P. (live)|H.A.A.R.P.]] <small>DVD (18)</small>
}}
| Length = 3:40
| AltTitles = Virtual Reality
| First = [[London_Astoria_1999-12_(gig) |17{{supo|th}} December 1999]]
| Latest = [[Wales_Newport_Centre_2015_(gig) | 19{{supo|th}} March 2015]]
| Recorded = [[Ridge Farm Studio|Ridge Farm Studios Surrey]], 2001; 1997 <small>([[1997 demo (demo) |1997 demo]])</small>
| Writer = [[Matthew Bellamy]]
| Producer = [[David Bottrill]]
| Chart position = 11
}}
<flashmp3>http://www.musewiki.org/images/PlugInBaby.mp3|rightbg=0xDDEEFF|leftbg=0xDDEEFF|bg=0xFFFFFF</flashmp3>
{{AlbumNav
| Previous = [[Hyper Music (song) | Hyper Music]]
| Current = Plug In Baby
| Next = [[Citizen Erased (song) | Citizen Erased]]
}}


== Description ==
"Plug In Baby" was Muse's then most successful song when it was released as the [[Plug In Baby (single)|lead single]] to ''[[Origin of Symmetry (album)|Origin of Symmetry]]'' in 2001. The song has remained popular and widely recognised ever since its release, and has been played at almost every Muse concert since it was premiered in 2000. Originating before the release of Muse's debut album ''[[Showbiz (album)|Showbiz]]'', it was the only song to be latterly revisited from Muse's large repertoire of early demos for recording, after undergoing some significant changes.
The song was originally about a protagonist's interaction with virtual reality, though the lyrics later became abstracted such they no longer explicitly explored this theme, leaving the song open to a wider interpretation, as indeed the band themselves have taken.
==Matthew Bellamy definition of Plug in Baby==
From a 2001 Interview:
"Again, that's about the path evolution can take like ‘New Born’. There's the good side and the bad side; abandoning all individuality, becoming a collective whole via cables, and genetically engineering bodies that can exist out in space, or the loss of individualism"<ref>Rock Sound - 2001</ref>
==Composition==
Plug In Baby is an electronic rock song written in B minor. It's guitar-driven, and moves at a fast tempo of 135 bpm. The guitar riff is heavily based upon the B minor harmonic scale, with a few accidentals. Similar to Showbiz, the song begins with a simple rhythm and builds, before climaxing with a very high vocal note.
Bellamy's vocal range spans from C♯3 to F♯5, one of the wider ranges in a Muse song.
== Additional information ==
In an interview with James Matheison at the [V]HQ, Bent St, Sydney, in 2004, Matt momentarily forgets the meaning of Plug In Baby.
<blockquote>
'''Fan:''' Umm, hi. This is going back a bit, but the song "Plug In Baby" - what is that about?
<br>'''Matt:''' Ah, shit. (laughs)
<br>'''Dom:''' You're on now.
<br>'''Matt:''' Umm... (laughs) Uh, I can't remember now. (Dom and Chris laugh at Matt) Umm, what is it? I read- I read some book about like- uh, I don't know what it was. Something to do with, umm... co- like, uhh... bo-bots, kind of... dunno, can't remember anymore, hold on. What was it? ''My plug in baby'', uhmm... I'm so- I'm sorry, I don't know. I can't remember. Sorry.
<br>'''James:''' Was it about you, uh, travelling around the world, and you've got-?
<br>'''Matt:''' It's- It's all random, it just comes out- I mean, it's random, I've got no idea what I'm singing about at all, sorry. It's just like- It's just kind of like, write a few chords and that, and then just... improvise a few words, and just hope it means something. It does mean something! Trust me. But I can't work it out myself. 'Cause I'm subjective, you see. So I can't actually quite work it out, that's for you lot to work out. (laughs)
<br>'''James:''' It doesn't have anything to do with when you're travelling the globe and you have trouble, uh, finding powerpoints-
<br>'''Matt:''' (laughs)
<br>'''James:''' -that'll fit your walkman, or the like?
<br>'''Dom:''' If you want it to be. (smiles)
<br>'''James:''' Well, it is for me, then, I guess!
<br>'''Dom:''' (nods and grins) Cool.
</blockquote>
[[Dominic Howard|Howard]]: "That song’s about putting emotion into something that has no soul - like a child’s teddy bear or a computer. And also what it would be like if we could genetically engineer puppies that never grow old."
Bellamy: "I think the chorus is probably 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."<ref name="xfmdoc">{{cite/xfm20071007}}</ref>
Due to the multiple - and often contradictory - interpretations of the song's meaning, fans generally interpret it subjectively.
Although on the album ''[[Origin of Symmetry (album) |Origin of Symmetry]]'' the song begins with a crossfade from the end of previous track "[[Hyper Music (song)|Hyper Music]]", the version found on the single contains a 'clean' introduction. Likewise, the single version of "Hyper Music" has a clean ending.
Italian fencer Matteo Tagliarol suggested the song aided him in the attaining a gold medal during the 2008 Olympics, stating "I listened to 'Plug In Baby', of Muse, just before entering the field. I'm going to put the disc close to the medal!" in an interview minutes after winning.<ref>{{cite |
title=Muse & The Olympics | desc=Muselive news | date=2008-08-10 | auth=arraggiatus | url=http://www.muselive.com/index.php?m=single&id=4194 | dom=www.muselive.com | type=ext
}}</ref>
==Recording==
The band were apparently on hallucinogenic mushrooms when they recorded it. The 1997 studio demo of "Plug In Baby" lacked the main riff of the song although there were numerous similarities in the lyrics and structure of the song. "Plug In Baby" was to be re-recorded under the wishes of Maverick to coincide with an US tour promoting ''Origin of Symmetry''.<ref name="mc20020215">
{{cite |
title=Gigs and USA | desc=Microcuts news | date=2002-02-15 | pub=Microcuts | | url=http://microcuts.net/uk/news/archives/02152002-gigs_and_usa.php | dom=microcuts.net | type=ext
}}</ref> As Maverick wished Matt to tone down the falsetto on the song, Muse left the label and "Plug In Baby", as well as the rest of the album, remained unreleased in the US. It is unknown if Muse did re-record "Plug In Baby" and whether this version still exists.
== Lyrics ==
{{lyrics
|I've exposed your lies baby
The underneath's no big surprise
Now it's time for changing
And cleansing everything
To forget your love
My plug in baby
Crucifies my enemies
When I'm tired of giving, whoa
My plug in baby
In unbroken virgin realities
Is tired of living oooh
Don't confuse
Baby you're gonna lose
Your own game
Change me
Replace the envying
To forget your love
My plug in baby
Crucifies my enemies
When I'm tired of giving, whoa
My plug in baby
In unbroken virgin realities
Is tired of living
Oooh
And I've seen your loving
Mine is gone
And I've been in trouble
Wooaahhhh
}}
=== Early versions ===
An early live version can be watched [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-hLHk4vS3M here] or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzSRcWiA324 here]
In early live versions, Bellamy would sing something similar to this:
{{lyrics
|You closed your eyes, yeah baby (or: I have exposed your lies, yeah baby)
You're gonna break my compromise (or: Don't wanna make no compromise or You're gonna break my big surprise)
Don't you know
That I'm changing
And cleansing everything
To forget your love
My plug in baby
Crucified my enemies
When I'm tired of living(or giving)
Woah, God was in me(or: God is in me)
In unbroken virgin realities(or: I've broken virgin realities) 
I'm tired of living
Oooh ...(or: Yeah yeah yeah)
Don't confuse
'cause baby you're gonna lose
Your own game
Change me
Replace the envying
To forget your love
My plug in baby
Crucified my enemies
When I'm tired of giving
Woah, the cause within me(or: God is in me)
In unbroken virgin realities(or: I've broken virgin realities
I'm tired of living
Oh ... (x3)
Your truths
Are coming in
And I feel broken
Next to you
And I've been in trouble
(Baby It's Right)(?)
Oh
And I've seen your loving
And mine is gone
And I've seen your loving
Wooaahhhh
}}
=== 1997 Demo ===
This version can be listed to over on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkUtNPgARXo YouTube].
{{lyrics
|When I was poor and lonely
They give me to the floor
You're the only
I was tired of resting
But I'm not even afraid
'Cause you're the only
God is in me
and I'm in virtual reality
I'm tired of living
They come anywhere here
Anywhere in my head
'Cause I'm tired of thinking
I never meant to love these machines
But they obey my commands adeptly
I will never ever die
In their circuits I can survive
Can you hear me?
Cause I am leaving
Electric love screens
Have tempted me to jack it in
Living lively
They come anywhere here
Anywhere in my head
I'm tired of thinking
I never meant to love these machines
But they obey my commands adeptly
I will never ever die
In their circuits I can survive
Can you hear me
Cause I am leaving
}}
== References ==
<references/>
== See also ==
*[[Plug In Baby (video) |Plug In Baby video]]
*[[Plug In Baby (tablature) |Plug In Baby tablature]]
*[[Origin of Symmetry media use|Commercial use in media]]
{{Backto | Origin of Symmetry (album) | Origin of Symmetry}}

Latest revision as of 18:24, 17 March 2022