Will of the People (song)
| Muse song | |
|---|---|
| Name | Will of the People[1] |
| Album/single |
|
| Length | 3:18 |
| Alternative titles | |
| First live performance | 4th June 2022 |
| Latest live performance | |
| Recorded | 2021 |
| Writer/composer | Matthew Bellamy |
| Producer | Muse, Aleks Von Korff |
| Chart position | |
| Song Nav | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| < | Will of the People | > | Compliance | |
| Album Nav | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simulation Theory (2018) | < | Will of the People (2022) | > | |
Description
Title track off of the album Will of the People. The song's name has been "officially" leaked on March 14th, 2022 via the JSON output from wontstanddown.muse.mu, which contains basic album info. In late May of 2022, Apple Music began showing the track length of the song in the album playlist, while Amazon set up a release date of June the 1st. The song itself got leaked on May 26th, 2022, while the official release date of the single, being June 1st, was announced a day later.
Will Of The People has previously been teased by Muse through a couple of short clips, on YouTube and Instagram, revealing the album's name. Upon the album announcement, Warner described it as a track that "brings playful provocation to a dystopian glam-rocker"[2]
According to Matt, the song is "like a populist parody, almost the antithesis to Uprising", adding "Whereas ‘Uprising’ was almost populist but taking it seriously, ‘Will Of The People’ is almost, ‘Do we know that we’re stupid now? Do we know how silly this sounds and looks?’ Inside of me, there’s always been this little bit of a conflict between the desire for direct democracy and a bit more actual power to the people, but then at the same time realising that sometimes the people can be mad… Because they’ve had no voice for so long, populism ends up becoming distorted and strange and spiting everything. People end up spiting things just because they don’t have any fucking say.".[3]
Instrumentation
The track starts out with a looping crowd, chanting the line "The Will of the People". The same loop appears throughout the song. The track itself is based around guitar, bass and drums, with some guitar-synth layering, which is especially noticeable during the last part. The song also features heavy use of roto-toms during the bridge part. It also features a lot of "ooh"s and "woah"s throughout the song, aswel as a high-pitched scream, at around 2 minutes and 42 seconds. The choir consists of around 150 audio tracks, all of which were put together in remote, due to all the lockdowns throughout the pandemic.[4]
Stylistically, the song is reminiscent of songs such as Uprising, Psycho and Supermassive Black Hole, featuring a similar swing-rhythm and elements of glam-rock and a punchy 50s Elvis rockabilly. The looping choir has been compared to "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson and the songs structure has been compared to that of Green Day, sounding like 'East Jesus Nowhere'. It's also been compared to Pressure and New Kind of Kick, having the same "rock'n'roll" feel with the saturated vocals. The song runs in A-Major and at a tempo of 130BPM.
The rough layout of the riff, which appears in the pre-chorus of the song, extends all the way back to 2019, when it was played by Matt as an improv riff after Unsustainable, during the Simulation Theory Tour.
Will of the People is one of three songs on the album to feature Jeff Buckley's Telecaster. It is used for the high bluesy leads during the choruses.
Music Video
Like the song itself, the music video was also used in the teaser, following the album reveal in March of 2022. The video itself tells the story of how the heads got torn down during a riot, which can be seen on the album artwork.
More here.
Trivia
Following the release of the music video, Muse posted the official lyrics under the YouTube video, but similar to other lyrical mistakes in the past (such as the various misprints in the Origin of Symmetry sleeve notes), the official lyrics contain two errors. As confirmed by Aleks Von Korff on Reddit, a line from the first verse is written as “Don't need a goon to flood with devotion”, when Matt sings ”Don't need a gun to flirt with devotion”[5], while a line from the second verse, written as “We’re gonna smash this nation to pieces” is in fact “your nation”.
The chants/crowd vocals are not only sung by Matt Bellamy. Instead, they are sung by the entire band, together with Elle, Bing Bellamy, Chris's wife Caris and his kids, Ernie, Buster, Teddi, Tabitha and Indiana.
Live
Performed live as an intro to the shows, it features a slightly extended guitar chugging intro. It was first performed live on June 4th, 2022.
More here.
Lyrics
Official lyrics as posted by Muse, however these lyrics do contain errors as noted above.
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
Let’s push the emperors into the ocean, Don’t need a goon to flood with devotion, With every hour our number increases We’ll smash your institutions to pieces
We need a transformation One we all can see We need a revolution So long as we stay free
Welcome to the desecration baby We’ll build you right up then we’ll tear you down Welcome to the celebration baby The judges are jailed and the future is ours
Free your sons and unlock your daughters We’ll throw the baby out with the bath water With every second our anger increases We’re gonna smash this nation to pieces
We need a transmutation One we all conceive We need a revolution So long as we stay free
Welcome to the desecration baby We’ll build you right up then we’ll tear you down Welcome to the celebration baby The judges are jailed and the future is ours
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the sheeple, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
The will of the people, the will of the people, the will of the will of
Welcome to the desecration, baby We'll build up you right up and we'll tear you down Welcome to the celebration, baby The judges are jailed and the future is ours
References
- ↑ https://wontstanddown.muse.mu/api/v1/catalogue/new/
- ↑ https://themusicuniverse.com/muse-announces-will-people/
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/big-reads/muse-cover-interview-2022-will-of-the-people-3243209
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CeRBJolg96L/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Muse/comments/v3wydc/are_these_the_real_lyrics_or_did_apple_music/ib2fui1/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3