Survival (song)
| Muse song | |
|---|---|
| Name | Survival |
| Album/single |
|
| Length | 4:17 |
| Alternative titles | - |
| First live performance | |
| Latest live performance | |
| Recorded | 2011-2012 |
| Writer/composer | Matthew Bellamy |
| Producer | Muse |
| Song Nav | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supremacy | < | Survival | > | Unsustainable |
Description
By error of Bellamy, Howard, Wolstenholme or Kirk, the name of the song was leaked by a photo on Twitter, until it was deleted.
On the 27th of June 2012, Survival was announced as the official song for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The song was premiered on 27th June 2012 by Zane Lowe on his BBC Radio One show at 7:30pm along with a short prelude which was followed by an interview with the band.
Bellamy said:
- "It's about total conviction and pure determination to win."[1]
Reception
The song was subject to a large number of extremely negative reviews by professional critics, bloggers and fans, to the extent at which the Metro, Britain's largest free newspaper, published an article entitled "Muse's 2012 anthem fails to lift their fans into orbit".[2] Editor of NME Hamish MacBain asked "Have muse jumped the shark?", saying the song left "the unmistakeable [sic] sense of a band with nowhere left to go" and that the lyrics were "REALLY crap",[3] while Jamie Gambino of WithGuitars.com described it as "excruciating and quite possibly aneurism inducing". [4] Ian Port, blogging on SF Weekly, implied Survival was not a song, and was instead "just a very loud aggregation of dramatic noises.[5] Forbes focused on criticising the song's lyrics for not well representing the spirit of the Olympics as it purported to, reflecting that "the truisms about competition Bellamy lazily rolls out on “Survival” feel entirely antithetical to the event the song is supposed to represent", while musically it was a "tasteless, lackluster number".[6]
The song did receive some praise too. Diffuser.fm rated the song 9/10, saying the song left them "definitely looking forward to ‘The 2nd Law‘ album".[7] A poll by The Telegraph revealed that 81.5% of voters thought the song was "pop gold", while 18.5% described it as a "false start".[8] Digital Spy thought that it was the "right decision" to use the song for the Olympics, adding that it has "all the hallmarks of a classic British anthem".[9]
Lyrics
Race Life's a race But I'm gonna win Yes, I'm gonna win And I'll light the fuse And I'll never lose And I choose to survive Whatever it takes You won't pull ahead I'll keep up the pace And I'll reveal my strength To the whole human race Yes, I am prepared To stay alive I won't forgive Vengeance is mine And I won't give in Because I choose to thrive Yeah, we're gonna win Race It's a race But I'm gonna win Yes, I'm gonna win And I will light the fuse And I'll never lose And I choose to survive Whatever it takes You won't pull ahead Cause I'll keep up the pace And I'll reveal my strength To the whole human race Yes, I'm gonna win Yes, I'm gonna win
References
- ↑ NME. (2012-06-27). Muse's new single 'Survival' to be London 2012 Olympics official song. NME. Retrieved 2012-06-29 from bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ Muse's 2012 anthem fails to lift their fans into orbit (2012-06-29). Metro. [verify]
- ↑ Hamish MacBain. (2012-06-28). Have Muse Jumped The Shark With Their Olympics Track?. NME. Retrieved 2012-06-29 from nme.com.
- ↑ Jamie Gambino. (2012-06-28). MUSE - SURVIVAL. NME. Retrieved 2012-06-29 from withguitars.com.
- ↑ Ian Port. (2012-06-28). Muse's Official Olympic Song "Survival" Is Decidedly Not a Victory for the World. SF Weekly. Retrieved 2012-06-29 from blogs.sfweekly.com.
- ↑ Leor Galil. (2012-06-28). The Problem With Muse's Official Olympic Song, 'Survival'. Forbes. Retrieved 2012-06-29 from forbes.com.
- ↑ Chad Childers. (2012-06-28). MUSE, ‘SURVIVAL’ – SONG REVIEW. Forbes. Retrieved 2012-06-29 from diffuser.fm.
- ↑ Muse song Survival unveiled as the official London 2012 Olympic theme tune (2012-06-28). Retrieved 2012-07-01 from telegraph.co.uk.
- ↑ Muse: 'Survival' - Single review (2012-07-02). Retrieved 2012-07-02 from digitalspy.co.uk.