Screenager (song)
| Muse song | |
|---|---|
| Name | Screenager |
| Album/single |
|
| Length | 4:19 |
| Alternative titles | |
| First live performance | 6th January 2000 |
| Latest live performance | 28th May 2002 |
| Recorded | Real World Studio Wiltshire, 2001 |
| Writer/composer | Matthew Bellamy |
| Producer | John Leckie |
<flashmp3>http://www.musewiki.org/images/Screenager.mp3%7Crightbg=0xDDEEFF%7Cleftbg=0xDDEEFF%7Cbg=0xFFFFFF</flashmp3>
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Description
Played a lot in 2000 and in 2001 (sometimes on the piano), a rare quiet moment from Origin of Symmetry.
Features Spanish-esque guitar and soft vocals by Matt.
Matthew Bellamy definition of Screenager
"Screenager is a modern teenager being brought up by the screen who develops a distorted image of their body because of pictures in magazines and because technology is rejecting the physical bodies we live in. It's also a bit about people who cut themselves because I used to have friends who did it and I didn't know why. I tried to grasp that it's needing something quite brutal to remind you what your body's about"[4]
Additional information
It is about technology and how it separates people even further rather than bringing them closer together. Also, it is the track with the infamous bubble wrap, shopping bag and skeleton bone percussion sounds, inspired by Tom Waits.
Also about self harm.
Trivia
Bellamy's voice cuts out for a split second at 3:33.
During the 2001 tour, as seen on the Hullabaloo DVD, the song was preceded by Rachmaninov's prelude in C♯ minor, which was transposed down to C minor to match Screenager.
Lyrics
Who's so phony and always surrounded? Stop your screaming - no one can hear All the scars on your skin: 'Post no bills' Who you were Was so beautiful Remember who Who you were Hide from the mirror - the cracks and the memories Hide from your family - they won't know you now For all the holes in our souls host no thrills Who you were Was so beautiful Memories who - Who you were
Extra verse
In early live performances, Bellamy sang an extra verse, and sang the first two verses together before the chorus:
Who's so phony and always surrounded? Stop your screaming - no one can hear All the scars on your skin: 'post no bills' Hide from the mirror - the cracks and the memories Hide from your family - they won't know you now For all the holes in our souls host no thrills Who you were Was so beautiful Remember who Who you were I always hoped that things could be beautiful And I thought underneath you'd be called other names All the holes in our souls host no thrills Who you were Was so beautiful Remember who Who you were