United States of Eurasia (song)

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Muse song
Name United States of Eurasia
Album/single The Resistance (4)
Length 3:42[1]
Alternative titles -
First live performance -
Latest live performance Unknown
Recorded Milan, Italy, 2009
Writer/composer Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard, Christopher Wolstenholme
Producer Muse

Description

A song featuring stringed instrumentation reminiscent of the Lawrence of Arabia soundtrack by Maurice Jarre[1] and falsetto[1] vocals reminiscent of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen,[2] as well as embodying influence from Frédéric Chopin.[1] "United States of Eurasia" ends with the sound similar to that of a missile launching.[1]

Additional information

The song title was found by Muse fans from a picture on Twitter of Matt holding a score.[3] 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.[5]

Recording

Tom Kirk uploaded a video of Muse recording the clicking featured in the song to YouTube on the 2nd March 2009.[5] This clicking was recorded over a toilet in the studio.

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 is 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...

Eurasia!
...sia!
...sia!
...sia!

Eurasia!
...sia!
...sia!
...sia!

Eurasia!
...sia!
...sia!
...sia!

References

  1. ↑ a b c d e Julien Bordier. (2009-07-0?). Jai ecoute le nouveau Muse. L'Express. Retrieved 2009-07-10 from www.muselive.com. [verify]
  2. ↑ Dean Chalkley. (2009-07-07). Muse New Album - First Listen. NME magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-08. [verify]
  3. ↑ Muse. (2009-05-22). New Album Title. Official Muse website. Retrieved 2009-05-22 from muse.mu.
  4. ↑ a b Ray Wilkinson. (2009-07). Progressive stadium rock three dream up album five. Mojo magazine, 1802. Retrieved 2009-07-05 from www.muselive.com. [verify]
  5. ↑ a b Muse Management. (2009-07-08). Ununited States Of Eurasia. Muse. Retrieved 2009-07-13 from muse.mu. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "ml20090708" defined multiple times with different content


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