Difference between revisions of "United States of Eurasia (song)"
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'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaTPw8M0NbM |Listen]]''' | |||
==Description== | ==Description== | ||
Revision as of 19:34, 12 December 2019
| Muse song | |
|---|---|
| Name | United States of Eurasia
|
| Album/single | The Resistance (4) |
| Length | 5:47,[1] 3:44 (without Collateral Damage) |
| Alternative titles | - |
| First live performance | 4th September 2009, 16th September 2007 (intro)[2] |
| Latest live performance | |
| Recorded | Studio Bellini and Officine Meccaniche Studios Milan, Italy, 2009 |
| Writer/composer | Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard, Christopher Wolstenholme |
| Producer | Muse[3][4] |
| Song Nav | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undisclosed Desires | < | United States of Eurasia | > | Guiding Light |
| Album Nav | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Holes and Revelations (2006) | < | The Resistance (2009) | > | The 2nd Law (2012) |
[|Listen]
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[1] reminiscent of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen [5]. The song's piano opening closely resembles that of Christina Aguilera's "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 Nocturne Op.9 No.2 in Eb by Frédéric Chopin in its outro, "Collateral Damage".[1] "Collateral Damage" features additional sounds such as children laughing and ends with the sound of a jet fighter, merging into Guiding Light (song).[1]
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."[6]
Information
The song title was found by Muse fans from a picture on Twitter of Matt holding a score.[7] The name comes from the book "The Grand Chessboard" by Zbigniew Brzeziński, who puts forward the view that Eurasia must be controlled by the USA to secure oil supplies.[4]
In addition, it draws influence from "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell,[4] 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, 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.[8] Promotional copies were sent at such a time as to arrive at radio stations on the 20th of July.[9] The song made its radio debut on BBC Radio 1, that day at 7pm on Zane Lowe's show.[10] 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.[11]
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.
Live
As the first song to be released from The Resistance era, United States of Eurasia played a somewhat essential role in the tour setlists. Even after the end of the tour, United States of Eurasia returned for both The 2nd Law and Drones tours. After just one appearance in 2012, United States of Eurasia took a slightly larger role in 2013 setlists because of a semi-regular setlist rotation after an appearance at the February 18, 2013 War Child show. This was performed uncommonly until July 2013, when United States of Eurasia was only performed a handful of times until the end of the year.
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
- ↑ a b c d Julien Bordier. (2009-07-0?). Jai ecoute le nouveau Muse. L'Express. Retrieved 2009-07-10 from www.muselive.com. [verify]
- ↑ gundleok. (2007-09-27). "Sunburn" (Piano) by Muse @ Nokia Theatre, Grand Prairie. Retrieved 2009-08-06 from {{{dom}}}.
- ↑ Samantha Clode. (2009-06-24). Viva la Resistance!. jmag. Retrieved 2009-06-25 from www.muselive.com. [verify]
- ↑ a b c Ray Wilkinson. (2009-07). Progressive stadium rock three dream up album five. Mojo magazine, 1802. Retrieved 2009-07-05 from www.muselive.com. [verify]
- ↑ Dean Chalkley. (2009-07-07). Muse New Album - First Listen. NME magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-08. [verify]
- ↑ iTunes LP - The Resistance
- ↑ Muse. (2009-05-22). New Album Title. Official Muse website. Retrieved 2009-05-22 from muse.mu.
- ↑ Muse Management. (2009-07-08). Ununited States Of Eurasia. Muse. Retrieved 2009-07-13 from muse.mu.
- ↑ Tom Wilson. (2009-07-08). United States of Eurasia - First Single. Muselive. Retrieved 2009-07-08 from www.muselive.com.
- ↑ Tracklisting Monday 20th July (2009-07-20). BBC. Retrieved 2009-07-20 from www.bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ Tracklistings (2009). BBC. Retrieved 2009-07-20 from www.bbc.co.uk.