Lyric discussion by factfreak 

It means that Muse is not a fan of tyranny or forced control into the collective (social justice) but rather believes that we must rise up to face it AND fight it, in the name of our personal liberty. I know that the UK has a long history of social control and tyranny and we are just now learning to love it here in the US. I think this song is directed here (as is very trendy with UK and Aussie bands...at least when Bush was pres). Regarding the fat cats line; You could interpret as directed towards big business or capitalism but they are out for profits, not outright control over every detail of the peoples lives. That kind of power and control over the citizens is the mainstay of large central government and the bubble-dwelling elitists that manipulate it. I would think he is directing that towards the establishment fat cats (read as: barney frank/nancy pelosi/chris dodd/harry reid and yes even the chosen one himself). I would add some republicans in there as well but since they aren't in power at this time and haven't really been in the last 3 years...I would say this anti-tyranny song is most likely directed at the current over-reaching, power grabbing, liberty destroying control whores currently running the show both here and abroad. The ones telling us every day to shut up, sit down and get down with the progressive landslide that is swallowing us up whole. I may be personalizing too much to assume it is geared towards the US, as it is equally applicable to the current socialist agenda in the UK and the rest of Europe (no you can't have that breast cancer treatment, because we can't provide it to everybody...take two aspirin and call me when you reach stage 4, we have some great suicide drugs that provide ample savings). However, I have to ask myself where they plan to make more money on touring and cd/ipod sales...here or in the UK. Marketing 101.

Oh my God, factfreak, I love ya!! You said it all perfectly...it's just perfect. The very first time I heard this song, the line that caught my ear was "They will not force us". Of course, interpretation is left to the individual...and like you, that is exactly where my mind went - the "unprecedented" power trip that is going down in D.C. Each time I heard the song, I really focused to see if the rest of the lyrics fit my theory. The only line I questioned was the 'fat cats' one...but believe it or...

I think all our political biases are going to affect our interpretation of a political song. I'm slightly left-of-centre so disagree that this is anything to do with the Obama adminsitration, and would point out as evidence that when Glenn Beck started claiming that the song expresses support for his view, the band asked him to stop playing it and dissociated themselves from those opinions.

  • Self interested politicians manifested in America by demands for pork-barrel spending which does benefit an individual congressman's area but probably not the best use of taxpayers money, and who sell their votes in return for campaign contributions.
  • Bankers (not sure if the song was written before the banking crisis started). The crisis was caused by a system which encouraged greed by bankers, rewarding them for lend money to dodgier and dodgier borrowers regardless of the risks, knowing that ultimately it's not their money they're gambling.
  • Too bad Matt is admittedly a leftist, economically and socially, so to say that their "Resistance" is in reference to resisting left-leaning government would be the exact opposite of what they actually believe. lulz

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