Reapers (song)
| Muse song | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reapers |
| Album/single | Drones |
| Length | 5:59 |
| Alternative titles | |
| First live performance | 15th March 2015 (full), 4th November 2009 (riff) |
| Latest live performance | 23rd May 2015 |
| Recorded | 2014/2015 - The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, Canada |
| Writer/composer | Matthew Bellamy |
| Producer | Muse, Robert "Mutt" Lange |
| Song Nav | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy | < | Reapers | > | The Handler |
Information
The song features a large amount of falsetto singing and guitar solos.
There are 'Drones' under the name "MQ-9 Reaper", Muse used photos of various drones with a similar look to this kind of drones in their instagram photos.[1]
The riff used to be played as an outro to Plug In Baby in The Resistance Tour with the riff developing through the same tour.[2][3]
Composition and analysis
Reapers is perhaps one of the most progressive songs in Muse's catalog, featuring prominent use of modulation, demanding guitar work and an uncharacteristically improvised solo.
Guitar feedback and pounding drums introduce the song before Bellamy lunges into a tapped guitar solo with an unstable tonal center. Eventually rooting in D minor, the verse establishes an urgent air of desperation, as Bellamy sings of domestic conflict and drone warfare. The lyrics make reference to the "AGM-114 Hellfire" air-to-surface missile commonly used in aerial combat vehicles. The verse follows the Andalusian cadence twice, a chord progression also found in Citizen Erased and Resistance, with Wolstenholme's bass walking across the ninth of each chord.
Bellamy and Wolstenholme play in unison for the primary guitar riff, which uses the D minor pentatonic scale and is backed by a "Drones!" chant. The riff climbs chromatically to establish a new tonal centre in the G Mixolydian mode, providing a strong chorus for Bellamy's declaration that he is ready to become a reaper. Before long, the stop-start chugging guitars give way to another tapping solo, and eventually the verse and chorus repeat again.
Following the second chorus, Howard drums in unison with Bellamy as he plays the primary riff. Wolstenholme continues this motif as Bellamy launches into a guitar solo, filled with pitch-shifting effects, tapping and chromatic melodies. The riff ascends as the key changes to E minor, eventually climbing through the fourth and fifth to revisit the chorus one last time.
As the final chorus ends, riffs give way to arpeggiated chords as the song builds to a dramatic climax, at which point the tempo suddenly drops and Bellamy howls over a chromatic bassline played by Wolstenholme. As the intensity builds, Bellamy doubles the bassline on his guitar as air raid sirens sound and Wolstenholme repeatedly screams "CONTROL!" into the microphone.
Lyrics
Incomplete
[Verse 1]
Home It's becoming a killing field There's a crosshair locked on my heart With no recourse And there's no one behind the wheel Hellfire You are wiping me out Killed by...
Drones! (Killed By) Drones! (Killed By)
[Chorus]
You rule with lies and deceit And the world is on your side You’ve got the CIA babe And all you’ve done is brutalize
[Verse 2]
War War just moved up a gear I don't think I can handle the truth I'm just a pawn And we're all expendable Incidentally, electronically erased By your
Drones! (Killed By) Drones! (Killed By)
[Chorus]
You kill by remote control The world is on your side You've got reapers and horsemen Now I am radicalised
[Solo]
[Final chorus]
You rule with lies and deceit And the world is on your side You’ve got the CIA babe And all you’ve done is brutalize
Kill under my control Bodies on the shore You've got reapers and horsemen
Now I am radicalised
References
- ↑ Instagram. (2015-02-). #MuseDrones. Muse. Retrieved 2015-03-18 from instagram.com.
- ↑ Youtube. (2009-11-04). Plug In Baby Live from Sheffield Arena 2009 (3:38-3:50). Retrieved 2015-04-15 from Youtube.
- ↑ Youtube. (2015-05-11). Plug In Baby Live from Seattle 2010 (4:32-5:55). Retrieved 2015-04-15 from Youtube.