Repress and restrain
Still the pressure and the pain
Wash the blood off your hands
This time she won't understand

Change in the air
And they'll hide everywhere
And no one knows who's in control

You're working so hard
And you're never in charge
Your death creates success
And you'll build and suppress

Change in the air
And they'll hide everywhere
And no one knows who's in control

Change in the air
And they'll hide everywhere
And no one knows who's in control



Lyrics submitted by Aerion, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Track duration: 04:52

"Ruled by Secrecy" as written by Matthew James Bellamy

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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Ruled by Secrecy song meanings
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39 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's about him loving a girl but he's unable to tell her.
    She won't understand, so he has to repress and restrain those feelings all the time.
    But he loves her so much, that this secrecy of his secret rules his entire life.
    Flag musicapacityon November 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:
    Matthew Bellamy: "It's about this man who's come back from work and he's just shot everyone and killed everyone, and he's come back to his wife with a load of blood all over his hands going 'I've just blown it ... I lost it ... I lost the plot.'

    "The reason being because its slowly dawning on him that everything he is doing is out of his power."
    i found this off of musewiki.org/…
    Flag Mcksteveon November 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Piano is definitely king in this song.
    Flag Skoorbon November 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Muse played this at Wembley while I was watching on Saturday past.....the piano is absolutely amazing......notes or chords that you just don't expect that have the effect of making it really scary and manacing......I so hope that gig was recorded and all us fans of the song get to see it close up
    Flag unintended61on September 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The piano in this song is THE most beautiful thing I've ever heard.

    This song is a work of art. One of the best songs of all time.
    Flag xohopelessromanticon February 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Well here's EXACTLY what Matt said:

    "It's about this man who's come back from work and he's just shot everyone and killed everyone, and he's come back to his wife with a load of blood all over his hands going 'I've just blown it ... I lost it ... I lost the plot.'

    "The reason being because its slowly dawning on him that everything he is doing is out of his power."

    Musewiki

    Hope this is helpful:)
    Flag WeWillBeVictorious95on January 28, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Matt (I love that guy!) said that it was about how this man is 'working so hard' only to discover that what he did in society didn't make the tiniest bit of difference, and there was a higher authority making all the decisions.
    So he went into a rage and killed all the people who he thought had been lying to him, and telling him he could be someone, and make a difference.
    He feels he now has no purpose in life, everything he thought he had (power) had never even existed.

    You can understand how that would tear someone apart.
    (I am only 14, so sorry if this is all wrong)
    Flag WeWillBeVictorious95on January 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This is one of my favorites songs of Muse, beacause you can actually feel the frustration and you can understand it even without hearing the lyrics. It is clear that in this song the protagonist is being consumed by some kind of inner hate, mostly beacause he is " working so hard" and he is "never in charge" the only thing thats not so clear about these lyrics is that sometimes you get the feeling that he is actually doing something :"washed the blood of your hands" like he would killed someone which corresponds with M.Bellamy but the thing that makes me feel the he actually NEVER did something its the title it's something secret that should stay like that.
    Flag luisjomen2aon January 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is one of my favorites songs of Muse, beacause you can actually feel the frustration and you can understand it even without hearing the lyrics. It is clear that in this song the protagonist is being consumed by some kind of inner hate, mostly beacause he is " working so hard" and he is "never in charge" the only thing thats not so clear about these lyrics is that sometimes you get the feeling that he is actually doing something :"washed the blood of your hands" like he would killed someone which corresponds with M.Bellamy but the thing that makes me feel the he actually NEVER did something its the title it's something secret that should stay like that.
    Flag luisjomen2aon January 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think that this song is about a political leader who is beginning to see the pain he has caused the world and now feels mind-numbingly guilty about it.
    But I also think it's about how, with the government, the one who's supposed to be in charge (president, prime minister, king, etc) is actually just a pawn in someone else's hands.
    Flag Invincible500on July 20, 2009   Link

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