Run through the streets at night, don’t let the guards with their black masks and big guns see you. Take the secret encrypted message to the rebels. The big bad guys have eyes and ears everywhere. Trust is the most expensive currency these days, don’t just give it away to anyone. You’ve lived enough under an Iron fist of fear and blood. Time to take a jab at them. Take the fight to their grounds now. It’s time to make them pay for all the agony they’re causing your kind. Do they even know you exist? Do they even know what pain is? Come on now, get that message to the rebels.
“Uprising” is a song by the English band “Muse”. Written by Matt Bellamy, it was released in 2009 as the lead single of their 5th - and aptly named - studio album “The Resistance” and it entailed huge success for the band as it’s still the most financially successful single of the band and even managed to break a few records.
The track hits you with a determined, kind of suspenseful, and action-packed bass, played by Chris Wolstenholme, and drums, played by Dominic Howard, in an upbeat 128 bpm tempo and D major key, complemented by handclaps, giving you the feeling of being cheered on by a group of comrades in your uprising. March on, go get ‘em! It’s such a perfect beat to head-bob to! 10 seconds in and the synths join in, sounding kinda alien but surprisingly fitting, adding another bit of suspense to the mix. At 0:48 the vocals enter the flaming fray with an anarchistic, angry and inspirational tone. “So come on!” let’s get to the chorus. In it, the synth and the vocals reach a nice sync and almost sing along to the tune. It truly inspires action. In the second verse and chorus, there’s an extra guitar harmony, adding to the action. Feels like guns blazing. And then… there’s a pause… everything falls silent, you’d be forgiven to think the song just ended. But no, the war is just beginning. The guitar solo here sounds like an anthem, both sides of the war are preparing for a full-on battle. And then the final chorus encourages the soldiers on our side. We will be victorious! The melody plays one last time. The battle against tyranny goes on.
The lyrics are unequivocally rebellious. There is not a single shred of doubt in that. It holds a strong distrust and a heavy-handed grudge against the people in power and compels the listeners to rise against them and take back what belongs to them. And well, with the way the world is going on right now, I don’t entirely disagree with them. Certainly, violence shouldn’t be the way to go, but sometimes they don’t leave us any other way I guess. What if uprising’s the way?
Look at me, an amateur music critic talking on about politics. Look for justice in your lives folks, and go and take it. I’ll see you all in the next review.