View source for United States of Eurasia (song)

{{Songbox
| Name = United States of Eurasia
*Collateral Damage <small>(outro)</small>
| Album = [[The Resistance (album)|The Resistance]] <small>(4)</small>
| Length = 5:47,<ref name="le200907">{{cite/l'express200907}}</ref> 3:44 <small>(without Collateral Damage)</small>
| AltTitles = -
| First = [[Teignmouth Den 2009 - 4th (gig)|4th September 2009]], [[Grand Prairie Nokia Theater 2007 (gig)|16<sup>th</sup> September 2007]] <small>(intro)</small><ref name="ytsunburn">
{{cite |
 title="Sunburn" (Piano) by Muse @ Nokia Theatre, Grand Prairie | desc=Amateur video recording | date=2007-09-27
|fetch=2009-08-06 | auth=gundleok | url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fz2scHnm50 | domain=youtube.com
}}</ref>
| Latest = -
| Recorded = Milan, Italy, 2009
| Writer = [[Matthew Bellamy]], [[Dominic Howard]], [[Christopher Wolstenholme]]
| Producer = Muse<ref>{{cite/jmag20090624}}</ref><ref name="mj200907">{{cite/mojo200907}}</ref>
| Chart position = -
}}
<flashmp3>http://www.musewiki.org/images/04_United_States_of_Eurasia.mp3|rightbg=0xDDEEFF|leftbg=0xDDEEFF|bg=0xFFFFFF</flashmp3>
<flashmp3>http://www.musewiki.org/images/04_Collateral_Damage.mp3|rightbg=0xDDEEFF|leftbg=0xDDEEFF|bg=0xFFFFFF</flashmp3>
{{AlbumNav |
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==Description==
A song featuring stringed instrumentation reminiscent of the ''Lawrence of Arabia'' soundtrack by Maurice Jarre and "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney, and falsetto vocals<ref name="le200907"/> reminiscent of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by [[Queen]] <ref>{{cite/nme20090707}}</ref>. The song's piano opening closely resembles that of Christina Aguilera's "You're Beautiful". Its Phrygian dominant piano riff bears similarity to the "Parade of the Slave Children" theme from the film ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''. The song also features a somewhat altered recital of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnes_Op._9_%28Chopin%29 Nocturne Op.9 No.2] in Eb  by [[Frédéric Chopin]] in its outro, "Collateral Damage".<ref name="le200907"/>  "Collateral Damage" features additional sounds such as children laughing and ends with the sound of a jet fighter.<ref name="le200907"/>

==Additional information==
The song title was found by Muse fans from a picture on Twitter of Matt holding a score.<ref name="mu20090522"> 
{{cite |
title = New Album Title | desc = Muse news | date = 2009-05-22 | fetch = 2009-05-22 | auth = Muse | pub=Official Muse website | url = http://www.muse.mu/index.php?sec=news-407 | dom = muse.mu | type = ext
}}</ref> The name comes from the book  [[The_Grand_Chessboard: American_Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives|"The Grand Chessboard"]] by [[Zbigniew Brzeziński]], who puts forward the view that Eurasia must be controlled by the USA to secure oil supplies.<ref name="mj200907"/>

In addition, it draws influence from "[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]" by [[George Orwell]],<ref name="mj200907"/> in which Eurasia arbitrarily changes between ally and enemy of Big Brother country Oceania. This is where the idiom "We have always been at war with Eurasia/Eastasia" came from, typically employed in response to the most obvious political uses of the exposure effect to convince a populace that a ruling figure or party said or did the opposite of that which was in fact actually said or done.

"United States of Eurasia" was the first song released from ''[[The Resistance (album)|The Resistance]]'', ultimately being found piece by piece as the result of the [[Ununited States of Eurasia]] microsite that was launched alongside the new [[Official Muse website]], from which "Project Eurasia" took place.<ref name="mu20090708">
{{cite |
 title = Ununited States Of Eurasia | desc = Muselive news | date = 2009-07-08 | fetch = 2009-07-13 | auth = Muse Management | pub = Muse | url = http://muse.mu/news/article/418/ununited-states-of-eurasia/ | dom = muse.mu | type = ext
}}</ref> Promotional copies were sent at such a time as to arrive at radio stations on the 20th of July.<ref name="ml20090708">
{{cite |
 title = United States of Eurasia - First Single | desc = Muselive news | date = 2009-07-08 | fetch = 2009-07-08 | auth = Tom Wilson | pub = Muselive | url = http://www.muselive.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=38848 | dom = www.muselive.com | type = ext
}}</ref> The song made its radio debut on BBC Radio 1, that day at 7pm on Zane Lowe's show.<ref>
{{cite |
 title= Tracklisting Monday 20th July | date=2009-07-20 | fetch=2009-07-20 | desc=Zane Lowe playlist | pub=BBC | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/tracklistingarchive.shtml?20090720 | dom=www.bbc.co.uk | type=ext
}}</ref> Whilst not an official single, and therefore could not enter the charts, "United States of Eurasia" was described as such and continued to receive radio play.<ref>
{{cite |
 title= Tracklistings | date=2009 | fetch=2009-07-20 | desc=Zane Lowe playlist archive | pub=BBC | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/tracklistings.shtml | dom=www.bbc.co.uk | type=ext
}}</ref>

Matt said, "Musically this is influenced by Ravel, Tchaikovsky and 1970s song writing/string arrangements. The ending features Chopin's 'Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2' with sound effects evoking innocence and then the military, towards the very end (a take on the term 'collateral damage' - a cold term used by politicians and the media to trivialise the killing of completely innocent people in war). The song is from an imaginary musical about a 'United States of Eurasia', the search for peace and the accidental creation of a new super power challenging American primacy."<ref>iTunes LP - The Resistance</ref>

==Collateral Damage==
Collateral Damage, the outro to the song, was released on 21st July 2009 by download after the final station was activated. It is a piano recital of [[Nocturne In E-Flat Major, Op.9 No.2]], by Frédéric Chopin, with a vocal/stringed accompaniment. The outro also features blurry childlike laughter, sounds of machine guns, explosions and ending with the sound of a jet fighter flying over head.

In an interview with Absolute Radio, Matt said during the recording of United States of Eurasia + Collateral Damage, they wanted to have a lot of warfare type sound effects in addition to the kids playing and the jet taking off. "We wanted to go record sounds of real warfare.. we wanted to go to the middle east but it turns out that's not a good idea is it?".

In the official sheet music for the song, there is a mistake in bar 79.  In the tenth beat of the right hand, the B natural should be a B flat, as evidenced in the original Chopin sheet music.

==Lyrics==
{{lyrics|
You and me are the same
We don't know or care who's to blame
But we know that whoever holds the reins
Nothing will change, our cause has gone insane

And these wars, they can't be won
And these wars, they can't be won
And do you want them, to go on and on and on?
Why split these states?
When there can be only one!

And must we do as we're told?
Must we do as we're told?

You and me fall in line
To be punished for unproven crimes
And we know that there's no one we can trust
Our ancient heroes, they are turning to dust

And these wars; they can't be won
Does anyone know or care how they begun?
They just promise to go on and on and on
But soon we will see
There can be only one!

United States
United States of...

Eura-sia! -sia! -sia! -sia!
Eura-sia! -sia! -sia! -sia!
Eura-sia! -sia! -sia! -sia!
}}

==References==
<references/>

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