Guardian 2012-09-28 – Muse: US rightwing conspiracy theorists tried to hijack our music
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Muse: US rightwing conspiracy theorists tried to hijack our music
Matt Bellamy tells the Observer that his band turned down requests from political right to use the single Uprising in rallies
Guardian music
@guardianmusic
Fri 28 Sep 2012 12.00 BST
Muse have revealed the extent to which US politicians and political pundits have attempted to appropriate their music. In an interview to be published in the Observer on Sunday, singer Matt Bellamy discusses Fox News presenter Glenn Beck's embrace of their 2009 album The Resistance and the use of their hit single Uprising in rightwing conspiracy videos on YouTube.
"In the US the conspiracy theory subculture has been hijacked by the right to try to take down people like Obama and put forward rightwing libertarianism," Bellamy said. Defining himself as "a left-leaning libertarian – more in the realm of Noam Chomsky," he added: "Uprising was requested by so many politicians in America for use in their rallies and we turned them down on a regular basis."
Bellamy added that when writing lyrics, his motives are more therapeutic than polemical. "When I dabble in watching the news and reading about current events I tend to get a future negative view and that's something I've dealt with through music," he said. "It's quite possible I'm slightly paranoid. But I'd say making music is an expression of feelings of helplessness and lack of control that I think a lot of people can relate to."
Conservative pundit Beck is a long-standing fan of the Devon band, despite their labelling him previously as "a crazy rightwinger".
Muse's new album The 2nd Law is released on Monday.